Professors are sounding the alarm: first-year students are startlingly unprepared for university and college courses. The Economist ran some numbers, and found that 8% of learners in tertiary education tested no better than what is expected of ten-year-olds for literacy. Covid and AI have plenty to answer for. But that’s not all.

Kevin Warsh, the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, argues that AI calls for lower interest rates. In making this case he has cast himself as the heir to the late Alan Greenspan, the jazz-loving former Fed chair who earned a reputation as the maestro of money policy. Our Free Exchange columnist wonders just how carefully Mr Warsh listened to the maestro’s score.

Finally, have you followed the headlines closely this week? Test your knowledge with our latest Friday news quiz.

As Ukrainian strikes hit infrastructure deep inside Russia, discontent is building across Russian society

143, the number of Chinese EV brands that sold at least one model last year. Read about the country’s strange and crowded industry.