The French, Germans and British each expect to get one of these big foreign-policy posts, and were wrestling hard this week for them.

ECONOMIST: The European Commission: New broom sweeps half-clean | The

Close to Lionel Jospin, the French prime minister, Mr Lamy will want one of the big economic or foreign jobs.

ECONOMIST: The European Commission: New broom sweeps half-clean | The

If the Japanese firm can keep up its momentum, this will be the first time that one of the Big Three has been overtaken by a foreign brand.

ECONOMIST: Going to great lengths to re-ignite sales

The one big change that lawyers think might be achievable without referendums is creating a foreign minister, which could be done by inter-governmental agreement.

ECONOMIST: The European Union constitution

The one big change that lawyers think might be achievable without referendums is creating an EU foreign minister, which could be done by inter-governmental agreement.

ECONOMIST: Dead, but not yet buried | The

Victor Meijers, a Dutchman who is the only foreign global partner in DeHeng Law Offices, one of China's big law firms, says that he gets several inquiries a month from struggling European firms looking for a Chinese white knight.

ECONOMIST: Capital and companies from China are sidling into Europe

But there is one determined outlier among fast-growing Asian economies: India, the only big country that is closed to foreign lawyers in any capacity.

ECONOMIST: Law and globalisation

Most worrying of all for Detroit is that much of the foreign firms' new capacity is to produce vehicles for the one part of the market where the big three were able to make money in the 1990s: pick-ups, SUVs and the like.

ECONOMIST: Driving downhill | The