Brexit? Hah! Lockdowns? Shrug! Can nothing stop London?
It has been bouncing back for 2,000 years and counting
It was not an auspicious time to open a pub in central London. When Michael Belben and his business partner took over the Eagle on Farringdon Road, Britain was in recession. Undeterred, they bought mismatched crockery from car-boot sales, removed the fruit machine and darts board and installed an open-plan kitchen and a blackboard menu. The pub was relaunched in January 1991.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Invincible city”
Briefing December 16th 2023
From the December 16th 2023 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
How many Ukrainian soldiers have died?
Three charts show the country’s losses
How will Donald Trump handle the war in Ukraine?
And how will Ukraine, Russia and Europe respond?
Elon Musk’s transformation, in his own words
Our analysis of 38,000 posts on X reveal a changed man
Elon Musk and Donald Trump seem besotted. Where is their bromance headed?
The precedents are not encouraging
The energy transition will be much cheaper than you think
Most analysts overestimate energy demand and underestimate technological advances
Donald Trump’s victory was resounding. His second term will be, too
Congress is not likely to be much of a constraint on him