In 2011 France gave common-or-garden lawyers the right to create binding documents similar to those endorsed by notaries.

ECONOMIST: Notaries: Breaking the seals | The

This ability transformed Disney from a common-or-garden media mogul into an embodiment of the American dream, the winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a fixture on the front cover of news magazines.

ECONOMIST: America��s sorcerer

Libertarians argue that the Republican Party is too much in the pocket of ageing social conservatives such as James Dobson of Focus on the Family, activists who do not represent the views of common-or-garden Evangelicals let alone middle-of-the-road Americans.

ECONOMIST: The American right