LunarWeaveEurope Cut Gas-Fired Power. It Did Not Get Off It.
After 2022, gas still generated 48% of Ireland's electricity and 45% of Italy's in 2023 — the last IRENA year before the September 2026 TTF spike.
Research
Standalone, data-led research into the questions behind the news.
Copper’s Record Was Already On The Books. Chile Still Runs A Deficit.
IMF annual copper was already at a record in 2025. Chile’s current account and budget were still in deficit.
Pay Raises Are Back To 2019. The Hiring Boom Is Not.
July 2026 private hourly raises were the slowest in five years, but they match 2018–19. Hiring does not: private payrolls added about 53,000 jobs a month versus 177,000 in 2015–19.
South Korea’s Chip Cycle Rebuilt The Surplus. It Did Not Rebuild Growth.
IMF accounts show South Korea’s current-account surplus back near a decade high in 2025 while real GDP grew only 1 percent — a chip-cycle surplus, not a growth boom.
Ukraine’s Real Economy Is Still A Fifth Smaller Than Before The Invasion
IMF accounts show Ukraine’s constant-price output still about a fifth below 2021, even as dollar GDP looks recovered.
The Black Sea Is Deadly Again. Annual Grain Prices Are Not Back At 2022.
IMF annual wheat averaged $173 a ton in 2025, about half the 2022 peak, even as Black Sea attacks again threaten grain exports.
The Border Surge Ended In February. The Asylum Crackdown Did Not.
Title 8 southwest-border encounters collapsed in February 2025 and stayed near 11,000 a month through mid-2026, long before the reported June asylum-denial spike.
Japan’s 30-Year-High Yield Is Not This Year’s Interest Bill
Japan’s 3% 10-year yield is a 30-year high, but IMF accounts still show Tokyo paying almost no net interest. Britain’s 2008-level gilt yield is already an interest bill, because the debt sto
Japan’s 3% Yield Is A Cheap-Debt Problem, Not A 2025 Blowout
Japan’s 10-year yield at 3 percent is a break with cheap borrowing, not a 2025 IMF budget blowout: the COVID deficit had already narrowed, and residual interest remained tiny beside the Unit
Nepal’s Power System Is Hydropower — And It Was Still Being Built
IRENA accounts show Nepal already generates almost all of its electricity from hydropower, and on-grid hydro capacity more than tripled from 2020 to 2025 — the construction boom sitting unde
Iceland Voted No Already Richer Than Germany — With Inflation Still The Outlier
Iceland’s 2026 EU-talks referendum was not a poor-applicant vote: IMF accounts put 2024 GDP per capita above Germany, while inflation remained the highest among European peers.
A Tenth Of Nepal’s Economy, And Almost Every Kilowatt
Nepal’s $4–5 billion glacier-flood reconstruction estimate is a tenth of 2025 output and about half a year’s public revenue, on a grid that already gets 99 percent of its electricity from hy
