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Atlas Limits Research Desk
Atlas Limits’ editorial and analytical desk.
147 published articlesPublished articles
Debt: How Far Can We Go?
United States, China, Europe, Japan and emerging economies: behind the accumulation of trillions in debt lies a more difficult question than its sheer size. At what point has a state really borrowed too much? Global debt ceased to be an anomaly a long time ago. It has become an o
Energy: What Still Keeps the World Running
Oil, gas, coal, nuclear power, renewables: behind the narrative of the energy transition lies a more complex reality. The world is rapidly transforming the way it produces energy, but it has not yet replaced the system that keeps it running. And as electricity moves to the center
Demographics: the great shift
Some transformations arrive with a crash. Others derive their power precisely from their slowness. Demography belongs to the second category. It does not trigger a market collapse in a single day, bring down a government overnight or immediately set financial markets on edge. Yet
Social Protection: The Invisible Contract
Illness, an accident, job loss, the birth of a child, an inability to work, or simply old age. Behind each of these events lies the same question: what happens to an individual when income disappears while basic needs remain? For centuries, societies answered this question throug
AI and the End of the Privilege to Create
For a long time, creation was a rare activity, not because ideas were scarce, but because turning them into works required resources that were difficult to assemble. Writing a book took months or years. Composing and recording music required instruments, technical mastery and oft
Humanoid Robots: The Next Industrial Frontier
For a long time, the humanoid robot belonged more to the realm of imagination than to the economy. It walked awkwardly through laboratories, appeared at technology fairs and occasionally fell over to the amusement of spectators. Factories, meanwhile, had chosen far less spectacul
Meta and Social Media Addiction: A Trial Without Appeal?
For a long time, the case against social media was argued far from the courtroom. It belonged to parents, psychologists, teachers, researchers and, sometimes, users themselves. Platforms were accused of fragmenting attention, invading the night, turning social comparison into a p
Inflation: A World Moving at Different Speeds
Inflation has a peculiar characteristic: it is both one of the most closely measured economic phenomena in the world and one of those whose perception most stubbornly escapes statistics. National statistical institutes calculate indices. Central banks monitor monthly variations.
Algeria: The Unfinished Equation
A glance at the map is enough to understand part of Algeria’s ambition. The country stretches across nearly 2.4 million square kilometres, making it the largest state in Africa. It commands a long Mediterranean coastline, reaches deep into the Sahara, shares borders with seven co
Desalinate to Survive: The New Geopolitics of Water
For thousands of years, the geography of water largely determined the geography of human societies. Cities developed near rivers, agriculture around fertile basins, and states according to the water resources they could capture, transport, or defend. Egypt depends on the Nile, Me
The International Justice System: Who Judges the World?
There are judges capable of ruling against states, prosecutors who can seek the arrest of heads of government, tribunals that can settle maritime boundaries or order reparations after a conflict. There are even legal rules defining the gravest crimes humanity can commit. Yet ther
The Automotive Industry: Two Centuries of Power, Production and Transformation
For more than a century, the automotive industry has been one of the main engines of global industrialization. It has consumed steel, glass, rubber and oil, employed millions of workers, reshaped cities, stimulated road construction, supported the expansion of consumer credit and