Thoughts

Thoughts

The index has recovered. The exchange hasn't

The index has recovered. The exchange hasn't

Dhaka's stock market had its best year in a decade – the DSEX rose 19% in FY26, turnover jumped 55%, and the bourse outperformed almost every Asian market in the first half of 2026. But this...

Illustration : TBS

Digitalising social protection: Towards a smarter and more inclusive welfare state in Bangladesh

Beware the risky whale: How AI is rewriting the rules of customer lifetime value

Beware the risky whale: How AI is rewriting the rules of customer lifetime value

Football fans watch the FIFA World Cup 2026 match between Argentina and Austria on a big screen, at the University of Dhaka, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 22, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

Why did a World Cup happening 12,000kms away get 12 killed in Bangladesh?

Illustration: TBS

Protection is not inclusion

Photos: Md Iqbal Hossain

The de-commonisation of the Brahmaputra: A call for transformative governance

An enormous concentration of concrete infrastructure in the deltaic landscape of earthquake-prone Bangladesh makes Dhaka a highly risky place to live. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

This city is no longer mine

Photo: TBS/File

Rethinking Bangladesh’s economic ties with the US as it turns 250

In Bangladesh, where social protection coverage is limited even for formal workers, platform workers are almost entirely excluded from health insurance, employment injury benefits, and pensions. 

ILO Convention on Decent Work in the Platform Economy, 2026: A changemaking blueprint for Bangladesh 

Bangladesh's girls value family as much as ever, yet for nearly half, marriage comes before they can choose

Bangladesh's girls value family as much as ever, yet for nearly half, marriage comes before they can choose

For many of the successful small business enterprises, accessing bank finance remains out of reach without land as collateral. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain 

Funding the unfundable: What Bangladesh's banks still cannot see

Despite the dominance of Argentina and Brazil in both the marketplace and popular culture, Portugal supporters may occupy only a small corner of the consumer market, but they are not voiceless. Photo: Collected.

Football fandom, consumer culture, and the politics of visibility

Delisting is not the solution: Inquiry, accountability and investor protection must come first

Delisting is not the solution: Inquiry, accountability and investor protection must come first