The carbon-capture conundrum

NATO: the good, the bad, the ugly

A special report on the Asian tigers
Our books of the year
DECEMBER 7TH–13TH 2019

Britain’s nightmare
before Christmas
 Contents The Economist December 7th 2019 7

The world this week United States

11 A summary of political 25 Refugee resettlement
and business news 26 Impeachment’s next phase
28 Christian adoptions
Leaders
29 An American theocracy
13 Britain’s election
30 Lexington Joe Biden’s
The nightmare before
Christmas stickiness
14 NATO’s summit
The Americas
Good, bad and ugly
31 “Wexit” in Canada
14 Unrest in the Arab world
System failure 32 Desi Bouterse’s murder
conviction
16 Sergey Brin and Larry
Page leave Alphabet 34 Bello Jair López Obrador
On the cover
Search result
A divided country faces an 18 Climate change
election that will tear it still Reverse gear
further apart: leader, page 13. Asia
Under Boris Johnson, the Letters 35 India’s wilting economy
spectre of no-deal would
20 On billionaires, groceries, 36 Smuggling in Central Asia
return in December 2020,
page 54. If the Lib Dems surge, the National Health 37 Measles and Samoa
they could hurt the Tories as Service, wind power, 37 Falsehood in Singapore
much as Labour, page 85 Kurt Vonnegut
38 Banyan Onions in Indian
• The carbon-capture politics
Briefing
conundrum Thinking seriously 22 Negative emissions
about pulling carbon dioxide out China
The chronic complexity
of the atmosphere is difficult, of carbon capture 41 Battling in the UN
but necessary: leader, page 18. 42 The China-Russia border
Climate policy depends on being
Special report: 44 Chaguan More babies
able to trap carbon dioxide. That
Asian tigers needed, without quotas
is hard: briefing, page 22
Still hunting
• NATO: the good, the bad, the After page 44
ugly New troublemakers have
emerged in the alliance: leader, Middle East & Africa
page 14. NATO marks its 70th
anniversary in chaotic fashion, 45 Iraq’s uncertain future
page 50 46 Arabs lose faith
• A special report on the Asian 46 Repression in Iran
tigers After half a century of 47 Algeria’s unfair election
success, South Korea, Taiwan, 47 Sudan’s terrible traffic
Hong Kong and Singapore must 48 Identity in Africa
reinvent their economies, after
page 44
Bagehot Truth has been
• Our books of the year The
the first casualty of
best books of 2019 were about
Britain’s election, page 57
the IRA, Harper Lee’s lost work,
rational economics and an Ohio
housewife, page 79. And by our
own staff: this year our writers
went to the Moon and back,
page 82

1 Contents continues overleaf

8 Contents The Economist December 7th 2019

Europe Finance & economics

49 German politics 67 Scrambled ESG
50 NATO comes to London 68 Trumpeting tariffs
51 France faces huge strikes 69 Transatlantic tax tensions
51 Turmoil in Malta 69 Euro-zone reforms come
52 China and the Czechs a cropper
53 Charlemagne The Five 70 Buttonwood Investing in
Stars burn out rehab economies
71 Insurance in Myanmar
Britain 71 Which currencies are best?
54 If the Tories win… 72 P2P’s perilous punt
55 ...and if they don’t 73 Free exchange Japanese
56 Rehabilitating terrorists lessons
57 Bagehot Pants on fire
Science & technology
75 Replacing satellites fast
76 Rome’s timber trade
International
76 Malaria lingers on
58 PISA results: the parable
77 Trillion-transistor chip
of Finland
77 Maternal centipedes
78 To save fuel, mimic birds

Books & arts

79 Books of the year
Business 82 Books by our writers
60 Aramco’s listless IPO
61 Mining Guinea’s iron
mountain
62 Italy’s steel saga
62 China’s cow cash Economic & financial indicators
63 Bartleby How to 84 Statistics on 42 economies
Christmas party
64 Alphabet turns a Page Graphic detail
and a Brin
85 If the Lib Dems surge, they could hurt the Tories as
65 Schumpeter Corporate much as Labour
conquistadors
Obituary
86 Jonathan Miller, accidental cultural icon

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The world this week Politics The Economist December 7th 2019 11

education. He had been re- tions of bribery in connection Russia activated a 3,000km
leased on temporary licence. with the allocation of fishing natural-gas pipeline to supply
Questions were raised about rights to Iceland’s biggest the Chinese market. The pipe-
the effectiveness of a rehabili- fishing firm. line cost $55bn and will pro-
tation programme for jiha- vide 38bn cubic metres of gas a
dists, which the killer, who was The un’s World Food year to China by 2024.
tackled by the public and shot Programme said it will double
dead by police, had completed. the number of people it is
feeding in Zimbabwe to 4.1m, Just in time for Christmas
as rising inflation and a col- The impeachment proceed-
In the dock lapsing economy push nearly ings against Donald Trump
A military court in Suriname 8m people into hunger. moved to the House Judiciary
The political leaders of nato convicted the country’s presi- Committee, after the Intelli-
countries gathered in London dent, Desi Bouterse, of murder gence Committee released its
for a meeting. Donald Trump and sentenced him to 20 years Watching the news report, finding that the presi-
sparred with both Emmanuel in prison. In 1982 soldiers The government of Singapore dent “subverted us foreign
Macron, the president of killed 15 opponents of the used its new “fake-news” law policy towards Ukraine…in
France, who recently described military regime then led by Mr for the first time, ordering favour of two politically moti-
the military alliance as being in Bouterse. He will not begin his Facebook, among others, to vated investigations”. The
a state of “brain-death”, and sentence until a decision is publish a notice next to a post Judiciary Committee will now
with Justin Trudeau, Canada’s made on his appeal. He may be explaining that the authorities consider whether to bring
prime minister, who was re-elected president next year. deemed it to contain formal charges.
caught on camera mocking the falsehoods.
American president. Despite A court in Honduras The Senate confirmed Dan
these mini-rows, nato, at 70 sentenced the killers of Berta Australia’s government re- Brouillette as America’s energy
years old, is in better shape Cáceres, an environmental pealed a law allowing asylum- secretary. He replaces Rick
than it sometimes looks. activist, to 50 years in prison. seekers held in offshore deten- Perry, one of the “three amigos”
She was murdered in 2016 after tion centres to be brought to who managed Mr Trump’s
Germany expelled two campaigning to prevent the Australia for medical treat- contacts with Ukraine.
Russian diplomats in retalia- building of a dam that would ment under exceptional cir-
tion for the killing of a Che- have flooded land inhabited by cumstances. It argues that the
chen separatist in Berlin in the Lenca people, an indige- measure encouraged unautho-
August. The government has nous group to which she rised immigrants to try to
been slow to act over the case. belonged. reach the country by boat.

Finland’s prime minister, During a surprise visit to

Antti Rinne, resigned after a Regime change Afghanistan, Donald Trump
key political ally withdrew Adel Abdul-Mahdi, the prime said that America would re-
support. He had been in office minister of Iraq, said he would sume peace talks with the
for just six months. step down amid large protests Taliban. He also implied that a
over corruption, poor gov- ceasefire would be part of any
The prime minister of Malta, ernance and unemployment. deal—an idea the Taliban have
Joseph Muscat, said he would His resignation is unlikely to long resisted. Kamala Harris withdrew from
stand down, though not until satisfy the demonstrators, who the Democratic race for presi-
January, as allegations over the want other changes too. The China said it had suspended dent. A year ago Ms Harris was
murder of an investigative authorities have killed over port calls in Hong Kong by seen as a possible front-runner
journalist who had been look- 400 people since October, American navy vessels in for the nomination, but she
ing into official corruption when the unrest began. response to America’s new law never hit her stride, squeezed
threatened some of his closest in support of democracy in the between her party’s progres-
associates. Human-rights groups said up territory. China also reacted sive and moderate wings. Joe
to 450 Iranians were killed angrily to the passage by Amer- Biden said he would consider
With a week to go before an during protests over a rise in ica’s House of Representatives her as a possible running-
election, Britain’s political the state-controlled price of of a draft law that would re- mate, should he win.
parties tried to limit last-mi- fuel last month. The regime quire sanctions to be imposed
nute blunders. Boris Johnson, was accused of trying to hide on Chinese officials for vio- Lori Lightfoot, the mayor of
the Conservative leader, con- the scale of its crackdown by lations of human rights in the Chicago, sacked Eddie John-
tinued to dodge scrutiny from shutting down the internet. far-western region of Xinjiang. son as chief of police. Mr John-
the bbc’s fiercest interviewer, son led America’s second-
who has already mauled other Hage Geingob won a second Riot police clashed with biggest police force through a
candidates. The Tories enjoy a term as president of Namibia hundreds of people protesting tumultuous three years. But
ten percentage-point lead, but in an election overshadowed in Wenlou, a town in southern Ms Lightfoot said she fired him
are worried they may again fail by claims of corruption against China about 100km from Hong for lying to her about an
to get a majority. senior members of swapo, Kong, over the building of a incident where he was found
which has ruled since the crematorium. The police fired asleep at the wheel of his car.
Two people were murdered in country’s independence in tear-gas and reportedly beat Mr Johnson said he didn’t
London by a convicted terro- 1990. Two former ministers and detained dozens of “intentionally mislead or
rist at a conference on prison have been arrested on allega- protesters. deceive” anyone.
12
The world this week Business The Economist December 7th 2019

In an unexpected move, Sergey it imposed in October on a UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank, In the wake of lvmh’s offer to
Brin and Larry Page stepped range of European goods fol- said it would cut 10% of its take over Tiffany, more con-
down from their respective lowing the wto’s first ruling. workforce, close 500 branches solidation beckoned in the
roles as president and chief and take other measures to cut luxury-goods industry as
executive of Alphabet, In contrast with souring trade costs, as it seeks approval for a Kering, a French group that
Google’s parent company. The relations elsewhere, Japan’s €2bn ($2.2bn) share buy-back includes the Gucci and Saint
pair founded the internet giant Diet approved a trade deal with programme. After years of Laurent brands in its stable,
in a garage while at Stanford in America that slashes tariffs on paltry profits, it is rare for a was said to be interested in
1998. They will retain their American beef and pork im- European bank to return cash buying Moncler, an Italian
combined voting majority in ports in return for lower levies to investors; UniCredit must skiwear-maker.
the company and continue to on Japanese industrial goods. convince the European Central
sit on the board. Sundar Pichai The limited agreement is a Bank that it can do so without Mike Pompeo, America’s secre-
becomes Alphabet’s chief substitute for a Pacific-wide weakening its capital buffers. tary of state, strongly urged
executive in addition to his job trade pact that Mr Trump with- European countries to shut out
running Google, expanding his drew America from. Separately, Huawei from building 5g
brief to oversee “moonshot” Japan’s government unveiled a Crude oil net* imports networks, because of fears over
United States, barrels per day, m
projects, such as driverless cars larger-than-expected ¥13trn data security. The eu is to
15
and electricity-generating ($120bn) spending plan to discuss the matter at a forth-
12
kites. Messrs Brin and Page stimulate the economy. coming meeting. Huawei
9
assured Mr Pichai they would 6
responded angrily, describing
still be around to offer “advice Brazil’s gdp was 1.2% higher in 3
Mr Pompeo’s allegations as
and love, but not daily the third quarter than in the 0
“defamatory and false”.
nagging.” same three months last year. -3
The pace of its economic ex- 1973 80 90 2000 10 19
pansion is quickening follow- In the hot seat
Source: EIA *Includes petroleum products
Playing a game ing a severe recession in The un announced that Mark
Stockmarkets had an unsettled 2015-16. Consumer spending America exported more crude Carney will become its envoy
week amid uncertainty about and business investment rose oil and refined petroleum on financing climate action
America and China reaching a in the quarter, helped by falling products in September than it when he steps down as go-
trade deal before December interest rates. imported, the first time it has vernor of the Bank of England
15th, when tariffs are due to been a net exporter of oil for a next year. The job may present
rise on a raft of Chinese goods. Also pulling out of the dol- whole month since records more headaches for Mr Carney
Donald Trump’s ruminations drums, Turkey’s economy began in the 1940s. Boosted by than Brexit ever did. This
about being prepared to wait expanded by 0.9% in the third production from lighter shale week’s climate-change summit
until after November’s presi- quarter, following nine oil, America’s net exports in Madrid declared the past
dential election to reach an months of contraction. Growth averaged 89,000 barrels a day decade to be the hottest on
agreement spooked investors was spurred by agriculture and in September, the difference record. New research suggest-
at first, but was then dismissed industry. Construction, which between the 8.7m it imported ed that emissions may have
as a negotiating tactic. has been championed by the and the 8.8m it exported. declined in America and the eu
government, continued to American refineries still rely this year, but risen in China,
Mr Trump said he wanted to struggle, shrinking by 7.8%. on heavier foreign crude oil. India and the rest of the world.
raise tariffs on metal imports
from Brazil and Argentina,
accusing both countries of
manipulating their currencies.
Finding himself on a roll, the
president also threatened to
impose 100% tariffs on $2.4bn-
worth of French goods, in-
cluding champagne, after the
United States Trade Repre-
sentative found that France’s
digital tax discriminates
against American companies
such as Amazon, Facebook and
Google, and is “inconsistent
with prevailing tax principles”.

The World Trade Organisation

rejected the European Union’s
claim that it no longer provides
illegal state aid to Airbus, a
second victory in recent
months for Boeing in the pair’s
15-year dispute. In response the
ustr said it would look to
increase the retaliatory tariffs
 Leaders Leaders 13

Britain’s nightmare before Christmas

A divided country faces an election that will tear it still further apart
interventionist and culturally conservative one. Angling for
B ritish voters keep being called to the polls—and each time
the options before them are worse. Labour and the Conserva-
tives, once parties of the centre-left and -right, have steadily
working-class, Leave-voting seats in the north, he has proposed
extra state aid, buy-British government procurement and a
grown further apart in the three elections of the past four years. sketchy tax-and-spending plan that does not add up. Also, he has
Next week voters face their starkest choice yet, between Boris absorbed the fatal lesson of the Brexit campaign: that there is no
Johnson, whose Tories promise a hard Brexit, and Jeremy Cor- penalty for lying or breaking the rules. He promised not to sus-
byn, whose Labour Party plans to “rewrite the rules of the econ- pend Parliament, then did; he promised not to extend the Brexit
omy” along radical socialist lines. Mr Johnson runs the most un- talks, then did. This chicanery corrodes trust in democracy. Like
popular new government on record; Mr Corbyn is the most Mr Corbyn he has normalised prejudice, by displaying his own
unpopular leader of the opposition. On Friday the 13th, unlucky and failing to investigate it in his party (both men are thought
Britons will wake to find one of these horrors in charge. racist by 30% of voters). For all these reasons this newspaper can-
At the last election, two years and a political era ago, we re- not support the Conservatives.
gretted the drift to the extremes. Today’s manifestos go a lot fur- That leaves a low bar for the Liberal Democrats, and they clear
ther. In 2017 Labour was on the left of the European mainstream. it. They, too, have become more extreme since we backed them
Today it would seize 10% of large firms’ equity, to be held in funds in 2017. Under a new leader, Jo Swinson, they have gone beyond
paying out mostly to the exchequer rather than to the workers the idea of a second referendum for an irresponsible promise to
who are meant to be the beneficiaries. It would phase in a four- reverse Brexit unilaterally. This has deservedly backfired. Yet
day week, supposedly with no loss of pay. The list of industries to their economic approach—a moderate increase in spending,
be nationalised seems only to grow. Drug patents could be forc- paid for by broad-based tax increases—is the most sensible of
ibly licensed. The bill for a rapid increase in spending would fall the main parties, and is the only one to be honest about the cost
on the rich and companies, whose tax burden would go from the of an ageing society. On climate change and social policy they
lowest in the g7 to the highest. It is an attempt to deal with 21st- strike the best balance between ambition and realism. As last
century problems using policies that failed in the 20th. time, they are the only choice for anyone who rejects both the
Nor has Mr Corbyn done anything to dampen hard Brexit of the Conservatives and the hard-
concerns about his broader worldview. A critic left plans of Labour.
of Western foreign policy and sympathiser with Yet they will not win. So why back them? The
dictators in Iran and Venezuela who oppose it, practical reason is to restrain whoever ends up
he blamed nato for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Downing Street. Voters worry that backing
in 2014. Last year he suggested samples of a the Lib Dems plays into Mr Corbyn’s hands, but
nerve agent used to poison a Russian former spy our modelling suggests that votes and seats
in Salisbury should be sent to Moscow, so Vladi- would come fairly evenly from both parties (see
mir Putin could see if it was his. Under such a Graphic detail). Mr Corbyn is preparing to gov-
prime minister, Britain could not rely on receiving American in- ern with the Scottish National Party, which would back most of
telligence. Nor has Mr Corbyn dealt with the anti-Semitism that his programme in return for another independence referendum.
has taken root in Labour on his watch. Some Remainers might Having more Lib Dems would check his plans. Likewise, they
swallow this as the price of a second Brexit referendum, which would rein in Mr Johnson. Some Tories cling to the hope that if
Mr Corbyn has at last promised. We have long argued for such a he wins a big majority he will drop the populist act and rediscov-
vote. Yet Mr Corbyn’s ruinous plans at home and bankrupt views er his liberal instincts. They are deluded. If he wins the Brexit-
abroad mean that this newspaper cannot support Labour. backing seats he is targeting with his promises of more state aid,
The Conservatives, too, have grown scarier since 2017. Mr do they expect him to switch back to the fantasy of building Sin-
Johnson has ditched the Brexit deal negotiated by Theresa May gapore-on-Thames? The opposite is true: the bigger the Tory ma-
and struck a worse one, in effect lopping off Northern Ireland so jority, the more drastic the party’s transformation.
that Britain can leave the European Union’s customs union. The The principled reason is that the Lib Dems are closest to the
public are so sick of the whole fiasco that his promise to “get liberalism on which this newspaper was founded. A strong Lib
Brexit done” wins votes. But he would do no such thing (see Brit- Dem showing would signal to voters who favour open markets
ain section). After Britain had left the eu early next year, the hard and a liberal society that the centre is alive. The past few years
work of negotiating a trade agreement would begin. Mr Johnson have shown why Parliament needs good people such as Sam Gyi-
says he would do this by the end of 2020 or leave without one. mah, who left the Tories because of their extremism, and Chuka
No-deal is thus still on the table—and a real prospect, since get- Umunna, who left Labour because of theirs. The course of Brexit
ting a deal in less than a year looks hard. The best estimates sug- has been repeatedly changed for the better by independent-
gest that leaving without a deal would make average incomes 8% minded mps making the running. If Britain withdraws from the
lower than they would otherwise have been after ten years. eu in January, the Lib Dem mps will be among the best advocates
Brexit is not the only problem with Mr Johnson’s new-look of a deep trade deal and the strongest opponents of no-deal.
Tories. He has purged moderates and accelerated the shift from There is no good outcome to this nightmare of an election. But
an economically and socially liberal party into an economically for the centre to hold is the best hope for Britain. 7
14 Leaders The Economist December 7th 2019

NATO’s summit

The good, the bad and the ugly

New troublemakers emerge in the alliance

S o much talk of “crisis” has surrounded nato’s 70th-birthday

year that it has been easy to forget there are reasons to cele-
brate. Not only has the alliance proved remarkably durable by
that, given Turkey’s actions in Syria, it might not be able to count
on the mutual defence enshrined in Article Five.
The most surprising troublemaker, and the reason relations
historical standards, but since 2014 it has responded aptly to have turned ugly, is Mr Macron himself. In a recent interview
Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, refocusing on its core mission of with The Economist he said that nato was experiencing “brain-
collective defence. It has deployed multinational battlegroups death”. He champions a stronger European defence, which Eu-
into the three Baltic states and Poland and committed to im- rope needs, and on December 4th insisted that this would “not
proved readiness. Goaded by criticism from President Donald be an alternative to nato but one of its pillars”. But there is lin-
Trump, its members have raised their spending on defence. gering suspicion of his intentions among other allies. That is
Though many countries, notably Germany, still fall short of their partly because of his enthusiasm for a “strategic dialogue” with
promises, nato now estimates that between 2016 and 2020 its Russia. He has emphasised the threat of terrorism over the task
European members and Canada will shell out an extra $130bn. of defending against Vladimir Putin’s aggression. Mr Macron is
This new money helps explain one welcome development at taking a long view and is seeking to stimulate fresh thinking, but
the meeting of nato leaders in Britain this week. most of his allies understandably hear his
Mr Trump, previously the disrupter-in-chief, words as a threat to the progress of the past five
who used to call the organisation “obsolete” and years (see Europe section). Russia’s actions, not
caused consternation at a summit in Brussels in just in Ukraine but also on nato territory (in-
2018 by threatening to withdraw if Europeans cluding by sending assassins to Salisbury in
failed to take on a fairer share of the burden, Britain and, possibly, Berlin’s Tiergarten), call
has—however briefly—become a defender. In for a strong response. Any desire for conces-
London this week he blasted President Emman- sions will be seen in Moscow as weakness.
uel Macron’s criticism of the alliance as “nasty” In Britain nato papered over the cracks. The
and “disrespectful”. He made no sign of blocking stern words on summit’s declaration affirmed its members’ commitment to Ar-
Russia or the reiteration of Article Five of nato’s treaty, the cor- ticle Five and proclaimed that “Russia’s aggressive actions con-
nerstone of the alliance. America’s commitment will be on dis- stitute a threat to Euro-Atlantic security”. That is welcome, but
play next year, when some 20,000 of its troops are to practise re- the alliance needs to find a new strategic coherence. Even if Mr
inforcing Europe in an exercise called Defender 2020. Trump remains in favour, America’s focus is shifting ineluctably
The bad news is that other disrupters have emerged. The vis- to its rivalry with China in Asia and beyond. Exercises and in-
cerally anti-nato Jeremy Corbyn could conceivably become creasing readiness will cement the alliance at a military level—
prime minister of one of its leading members after next week’s and this will endure while the politicians come and go. Work on
British general election. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdo- newish areas such as space and cyberwarfare will help, too.
gan, has caused consternation by buying a Russian anti-aircraft Eventually, a strategic dialogue with Russia might make sense.
system, obstructing nato’s decisions on eastern Europe and in- But to thrive nato also needs a greater common purpose. Once
vading northern Syria without regard for his allies’ interests. He the impetus came from America. Mr Macron was right to point
responded with personal insults to a suggestion by Mr Macron out that in future Europe will have to play a larger part. 7

Unrest in the Arab world

System failure
Time for Iraq and Lebanon to ditch state-sponsored sectarianism

A s many arab leaders have fallen in the past year as did dur-
ing the Arab spring. And still the wave of protests over cor-
ruption, unemployment and threadbare public services contin-
constructed a sectarian political system long before the civil war
of 1975-90, and buttressed it afterwards. Iraq’s system was set up
in 2003, after America’s invasion. It did not prevent Sunnis from
ues to sweep across the Middle East and north Africa. Turnover at fighting Shias. But the civil war is over in Iraq, as in Lebanon. It
the top has not mollified the masses, because rather than pro- would seem risky to upset these fragile arrangements.
ducing real change it has reshuffled entrenched elites. Particu- Leaving them be would be even riskier. Start with Iraq, where
larly in Iraq and Lebanon, many of the protesters now want to America aimed to satisfy all groups but instead created a system
tear down entire political systems. It is a dangerous moment. Yet that encourages patronage and empowers political parties (and
the protesters are right to call for change. militias) which entrench the country’s ethnic and sectarian divi-
Both Iraq and Lebanon divvy up power among their religions sions. It is difficult to get ahead in Iraqi politics—or indeed in
and sects as a way of keeping the peace between them. Lebanon life—without associating with one of these parties. They treat 1
16 Leaders The Economist December 7th 2019

2 ministries like cash machines and hand out government jobs in both countries, especially the young, appear to be losing their
based on loyalty, not merit. Many people depend on them for ac- personal faith, too (see Middle East and Africa section).
cess to health care, education or a salary. Hence politicians long The people of Iraq and Lebanon deserve political systems that
ago exposed as corrupt and incompetent can remain in power. do more to reflect their views and represent their interests. That
The situation is similar in Lebanon, where the warlords who means unpicking state-backed sectarianism. Increased transpa-
razed the country became politicians who loot it. The govern- rency would help expose the worst patronage schemes; stronger
ment has racked up huge debts to fund Sunni, Shia and Christian institutions might curb them. Militias should be brought under
patronage schemes. The World Bank estimates that the waste as- the official chain of command. If Lebanon stopped forcing can-
sociated with the power-sharing system costs Lebanon 9% of didates to compete for seats that are allocated by religion, more
gdp each year. The government cannot even keep the lights on. might run on secular platforms, not sectarian ones. In Iraq the
Or perhaps it does not want to, since the businessmen who sell electoral law helps entrench big parties, while the electoral com-
generators are often connected to sectarian leaders. With a fi- mission caters to elites. Both need reform.
nancial crisis looming, Lebanon must restructure its debt and Such steps may not satisfy the protesters. And they will be re-
introduce reforms. Its leaders seem incapable of doing so. sisted by vested interests and their foreign supporters. Hizbul-
Sectarian government is not only ineffective—it is also un- lah, a Shia militia-cum-political party in Lebanon, and the Shia
representative. Lebanon has not held a census since 1932, but The militias of Iraq thrive under today’s system and fear being con-
Economist obtained voter-registration lists from 2016. They show strained. They are backed by Iran, which uses them to extend its
that the allotment of parliamentary seats to each religion does influence. But Iran has also been rocked by big protests. The les-
not match the share of voters from each faith. Polls show that Ira- son for it is the same. Reform a political system that has failed
qis have lost trust in religious parties and leaders. Many people the people, or risk seeing it come crashing down. 7

Sergey Brin and Larry Page leave Alphabet

Search result
Google’s departing co-founders leave three unanswered queries

“Y eah, ok, why not? I’ll just give it a try.” With those words
Sergey Brin abandoned academia and poured his energy
into Google, a new firm he had dreamed up with a friend, Larry
azon began in e-commerce, for example, but is now big in cloud-
computing. In China Tencent has shifted from video games to a
huge array of services. Alphabet has not stood still: it bought
Page. Incorporated in 1998, it developed PageRank, a way of cata- YouTube in 2006 and shifted to mobile by launching Android, an
loguing the burgeoning world wide web. Some 21 years on, operating system, in 2007. But it still makes 85% of its sales from
Messrs Brin and Page are retiring from a giant that dominates the search-advertising. A big bet on driverless cars has yet to pay off.
search business. Alphabet, as their firm is now known, is the As the firm matures, it should start paying a dividend.
world’s fourth-most-valuable listed company (see Business sec- The second question is how closely the company might end
tion), worth $910bn. In spite of its conspicuous success, they up being regulated. Alphabet’s monopoly in the search business
leave it facing three uncomfortable questions—about its strat- has led to worries that it may squeeze other firms unfairly. Its
egy, its role in society and who is really in control. huge store of data raises privacy concerns. And because it is a
Silicon Valley has always featured entrepreneurs making conduit for information and news, its influence over politics has
giant leaps. Even by those standards Google come under ever more scrutiny. All this augurs
jumped far, fast. From the start its search engine much tighter regulation. Alphabet has already
enjoyed a virtuous circle—the more people use paid or been subject to $9bn in fines in the eu,
it and the more data it collects, the more useful and in America politicians on both sides of the
it becomes. The business model, in which ad- aisle support tighter rules or, in some cases, a
vertisers pay to get the attention of users around break-up. If it were to be regulated like a utility,
the world, has printed money. It took Google profits could fall sharply.
just eight years to reach $10bn in annual sales. The last question is who will be in control.
Its peak cumulative losses were $21m. By com- Messrs Page and Brin famously sought “parental
parison, Uber has incinerated $15bn and still loses money. supervision” in 2001 and hired an external chief executive. Both
Today Alphabet is in rude health in many respects. Its search founders will now relinquish any executive role, handing the
engine has billions of users, who find it one of the most useful reins to Sundar Pichai, a company stalwart. Yet dual-class shares
tools in their lives. One recent study found that the typical user mean they will still control over 50% of the firm’s voting rights.
would need to be paid $17,530 to agree to forfeit access to a search This structure is popular in Silicon Valley. But there is little evi-
engine for a year, compared with $322 for social-media sites, dence that it ages well. Of today’s digital giants, two have so far
such as Facebook. Alphabet cranks out colossal profits. Many faced succession—Microsoft and Apple. They have prospered
pretenders have tried to mimic the Google approach of having a partly because their founders or their families did not retain vot-
vast customer base and exploring network effects. Only a few, in- ing control after they left the scene. Alphabet’s founders should
cluding Facebook, have succeeded at such a scale. forfeit their special voting rights and gradually sell their shares.
There are uncertainties, however. Take strategy first. Other Their firm faces deep questions—best to give someone else the
tech giants have diversified away from their core business—Am- freedom to answer them. 7
18 Leaders The Economist December 7th 2019

Climate change

Reverse gear
Pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere will be difficult, but it is necessary

O f the wisdom taught in kindergartens, few commandments That raises two problems, one technological, the other psy-
combine moral balance and practical propriety better than chological. The technological one is that sucking tens of billions
the instruction to clear up your own mess. As with messy tod- of tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere every year is
dlers, so with planet-spanning civilisations. The industrial na- an enormous undertaking for which the world is not prepared.
tions which are adding alarming amounts of carbon dioxide to In principle it is simple to remove carbon dioxide by incorporat-
the atmosphere—43.1bn tonnes this year, according to a report ing it in trees and plants or by capturing it from the flue gas of in-
released this week—will at some point need to go beyond today’s dustrial plants and sequestering it underground. Ingenious new
insufficient efforts to stop. They will need to put the world mach- techniques may also be waiting to be discovered. But planting
ine into reverse, and start taking carbon dioxide out. They are no- trees on a scale even remotely adequate to the task requires
where near ready to meet this challenge. something close to a small continent. And developing the engi-
Once such efforts might have been unnecessary. In 1992, at the neering systems to capture large amounts of carbon has been a
Rio Earth summit, countries committed themselves to avoiding hard slog, not so much because of scientific difficulties as the
harmful climate change by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, lack of incentives (see Briefing).
with rich countries helping poorer ones develop without exacer- The psychological problem is that, even while the capacity to
bating the problem. Yet almost every year since Rio has seen ensure negative emissions languishes underdeveloped, the
higher carbon-dioxide emissions than the year before. A stagger- mere idea that they will one day be possible eats away at the per-
ing 50% of all the carbon dioxide humankind has put into the at- ceived urgency of cutting emissions today. When the 2°C limit
mosphere since the Industrial Revolution was added after 1990. was first proposed in the 1990s, it was plausible to imagine that it
And it is this total stock of carbon that matters. The more there is might be met by emissions cuts alone. The fact that it can still be
in the atmosphere, the more the climate will shift—though cli- talked about today is almost entirely thanks to how the models
mate lags behind the carbon-dioxide level, just as water in a pan with which climate prognosticators work have been revised to
takes time to warm up when you put it on a fire. add in the gains from negative emissions. It is a trick that comes
The Paris agreement of 2015 commits its signatories to limit- perilously close to magical thinking.
ing the rise to 2°C. But as António Guterres, the This puts policymakers in a bind. It would be
un secretary-general, told the nearly 200 coun- Global CO2 storage reckless not to try to develop the technology for
tries that attended a meeting in Madrid to ham- Cumulative, tonnes, m negative emissions. But strict limits need to be
300
mer out further details of the Paris agreement kept on the tendency to demand more and more
200
this week, “our efforts to reach these targets Global daily CO2 of that technology in future scenarios. As at kin-
emissions, 2018 100
have been utterly inadequate.” dergarten, some discipline is necessary.
The world is now 1°C (1.8°F) hotter than it was 0 The first discipline is to keep in mind whose
before the Industrial Revolution. Heatwaves 1970 80 90 2000 10 19 mess this is. One of the easiest routes to nega-
once considered freakish are becoming com- tive emissions is to grow plants. And the world’s
monplace. Arctic weather has gone haywire. Sea levels are rising cheap land tends to be in poor places. Some of these places would
as glaciers melt and ice-sheets thin. Coastlines are subjected to welcome investment in reforestation and afforestation, but they
more violent storms and to higher storm surges. The chemistry would also need to be able to integrate such endeavours into de-
of the oceans is changing. Barring radical attempts to reduce the velopment plans which reflect their people’s needs.
amount of incoming sunshine through solar geoengineering, a The second discipline is for those who talk blithely of “net
very vexed subject, the world will not begin to cool off until car- zero”. When they do so, they should be bound to say what level of
bon-dioxide levels start to fall. emissions they envisage, and thus how much negative emitting
Considering that the world has yet to get a handle on cutting their pledge commits them to. The stricter they are about its use,
emissions, focusing on moving to negative emissions—the re- the less they are in reality accommodating today’s polluters.
moval of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere—might seem pre-
mature. But it is already included in many national plans. Some Government capture
countries, including Britain, have made commitments to move The third discipline is that governments need to take steps to
to “net zero” emissions by 2050; this does not mean stopping all make negative emissions practicable at scale. In particular, re-
emissions for all activities, such as flying and making cement, search and incentives are needed to develop and deploy carbon-
but taking out as much greenhouse gas as you let loose. capture systems for industries, such as cement, that cannot help
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates but produce carbon dioxide. A price on carbon is an essential
that meeting the 1.5°C goal will mean capturing and storing hun- step if such systems are to be efficient. The trouble is that a price
dreds of billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2100, with a me- high enough to make capture profitable at this stage in its devel-
dian estimate of 730bn tonnes—roughly 17 times this year’s car- opment would be unfeasibly high. For the time being, therefore,
bon-dioxide emissions. In terms of designing, planning and other sticks and carrots will be needed. Governments tend to
building really large amounts of infrastructure, 2050 is not that plead that radical action today is just too hard. And yet those very
far away. That is why methods of providing negative emissions same governments enthusiastically turn to negative emissions
need to be developed right now. as an easy way to make their climate pledges add up. 7
Executive focus 19

The OPEC Fund for International Development

The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund), based in VICE-RECTOR IN EUROPE/DIRECTOR UNU Institute for
Vienna, Austria, is the development finance institution established by the Environment and Human Security (D-1)
member countries of OPEC in 1976. Duty Station: Bonn, Germany

The OPEC Fund works in cooperation with developing country partners The United Nations University (UNU) has been a go-to think tank for impartial
research on the pressing global problems of human survival, conflict prevention,
and the international donor community to stimulate economic growth
development and welfare, for the past four decades. With more than 400 researchers
and alleviate poverty in developing countries across the world. The in 13 countries, UNU’s work spans the full breadth of the 17 SDGs, generating policy-
organization is unique in supporting only developing countries other than relevant knowledge to effect positive global change in furtherance of the purposes and
its own members. principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
To date, the OPEC Fund has made commitments of more than US$23 UNU-EHS Director and UNU Vice-Rector in Europe
billion to development operations across more than 134 countries. UNU is recruiting a Director for the UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security
(UNU-EHS) who will concurrently serve as UNU’s Vice-Rector in Europe, dividing his/her
The OPEC Fund is striving to help improve the lives of even more people. time equally between both positions.
To help with this work, candidates are sought for the following positions: The Institution: UNU-EHS aims to carry out cutting edge research on risks and
i. Director for Communication (VA803/2019) adaptation related to environmental hazards and global change. The Institute’s
ii. Director for Policy, Market and Operational Risk research promotes policies and programmes to reduce these risks, while taking into
(VA3007/2019) account the interplay between environmental and societal factors.
iii. Director for Credit Risk (VA3008/2019) The Position: The Director is the chief academic and administrative officer of UNU-
EHS. The UNU Vice-Rector in Europe (UNU-ViE) represents the UNU Rector outside of
Successful candidates will be offered an internationally competitive Japan in selected high-level UN forums, in meetings with Member States and donors,
remuneration and benefits package, which includes tax-exempt salary, and vis-à-vis UNU institutes located in Europe and Africa.
dependent children education grant, relocation grant, home leave Qualifications: The Director should have academic qualifications that lend to UNU-
allowance, medical and accident insurance schemes, dependency EHS prestige in the international scholarly community; guarantee scientific excellence;
allowance, annual leave, staff retirement benefit, diplomatic immunity and and provide leadership and guidance for activities at UNU-EHS and UNU-ViE.
privileges, as applicable. Experience: Strong research background and publications in areas related to
Interested applicants are invited to visit the OPEC Fund’s website at www. addressing risks and societal change. Demonstrated administration experience.
Successful influencing of policymakers. Strong contributions to knowledge sharing
opecfund.org for detailed descriptions of duties and required qualifications, communities. Strong international fundraising skills and past success in securing
and for information about how to apply. Applicants from the OPEC Fund’s support from multiple funders. Proven sensitivity to gender factors.
member countries are especially encouraged to apply. Fluency in English is required. Fluency in German and official languages of the United
The deadline for the receipt of applications is December 20, 2019. Nations is desirable.

Due to the expected volume of applications, only short-listed candidates Application deadline: 12 January 2020
will be contacted. Full details of the position and how to apply: https://unu.edu/about/hr
20
Letters The Economist December 7th 2019

and lower prices (“Power to the no good promising larger for perhaps 10% of health.
Taxing the super rich people”, November 16th). hospitals if standards cannot Income is the main determi-
The political left gets many I’m perplexed by your zig- be maintained. School leavers nant of health. Spending more
things wrong, but by identi- zag approach. In one edition prefer to do a social-science on health care crowds out
fying billionaires as a “policy Disney’s takeover of Lucasfilm degree rather than join a prac- spending on things like hous-
failure” they are exactly right. is rent-seeking profiteering, in tical nurse-training scheme, ing, education, the environ-
As you say, on average billion- the next it is good for the con- which involves unsocial hours, ment and benefits, which are
aires inherit one-fifth of their sumer. I agree with the second discipline and the stress of more important for health. The
wealth (“In defence of billion- argument. Mr Lucas generated dealing with patients who are nhs doesn’t need more money,
aires”, November 9th). These a great amount of entertain- often poor, old and sick. it needs a radical rethink.
transfer payments are unrelat- ment for millions and deserves Other problems include the richard smith
ed to any effort or talent. his reward. European Working Time Direc- Former editor of the
Therefore, high inheritance tim kilpatrick tive, which abolished the British Medical Journal
taxes would not just be “wel- Brussels requirement for newly trained London
come” but are necessary for a doctors to be resident in hospi-
well-functioning capitalist Taxes on the rich do not demo- tals in order to gain full regis-
system. Furthermore, the tivate them from trying to tration. The supervisory sys- More on wind power
inequality of income and, become richer. Nor do taxes tem that was akin to a firm, Kit Beazley (Letters, November
more importantly, wealth, is a demotivate the not-yet-rich where consultants and senior 23rd) missed the point about
disincentive for the vast major- from trying to become rich. nurses maintain standards and wind power. The worry I raised
ity of individuals who can’t When Bill Gates launched teach doctors and nurses on a (Letters, November 9th) is that,
expect to be millionaires when Microsoft in 1975 the top rate of designated ward, has been as wind-turbine towers, foun-
they are toddlers (hello, Do- tax was 70%. demolished. Doctors leave dations and infrastructure get
nald Trump). Research has ben aveling university with huge debts. seriously bigger, particularly
shown that inequality can Sydney Small wonder therefore that, offshore, are the carbon foot-
suppress economic growth. particularly in general practice, print figures silently getting
William Nordhaus con- trainees opt for limited hours worse, not better? The project-
flates billionaires and innova- The sell by date and no home visits. Hence the ed financial cost per megawatt
tors when he says that the The time a consumer saves by deluge of patients attending hour is central to every wind-
latter collect only 2% of the shopping for groceries online accident and emergency. farm project and is public
value they create. To the extent is indeed important (Schum- Three measures are needed. knowledge. If the projected
that billionaires have made peter, November 16th). But First, the reinstitution of pay carbon footprint was pub-
their fortunes in property, unlike shopping in a physical and accommodation for nurses lished as an equally important
where corruption abounds, or store, the customer does not in training. Second, pilot pro- figure for every wind-farm
in finance, where “innova- get to select the quality of the jects in hospitals where the globally, all calculated on an
tions” can remove vast food, or more important, get to ward/firm/residents’ mess agreed basis, we would know,
amounts of value in crises, this check the expiry date. Super- system can be reintroduced. project by project, if we are
argument falls flat. markets have identified the Third, upping the pre-registra- actually making technical
kenneth reinert online-delivery channel as one tion status of qualifying doc- progress or not. It is these
Professor of public policy where they can distribute their tors from one to two years, detailed numbers that I want
George Mason University close-to-out-of-date goods, with the second year including the public to have. Then we can
Arlington, Virginia cleaning out their inventory. six months in a&e and in gen- have a meaningful conversa-
m.j. faherty eral practice. tion on sustainability.
You condemned George Lucas London f.d. skidmore jim platts
for the money he made by Consultant surgeon Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
selling Lucasfilm to Disney, London
reasoning that it rewards him The pulse of a nation
for “Star Wars”, a film he made Regarding the politics of Brit- Increased demand in the nhs A green lament
over 40 years ago. However, the ain’s National Health Service is usually put down to ageing, Your article on the Kurt Vonne-
price Disney paid was for the (“Spin doctors”, November and it does play a role. More gut museum (“So it goes”,
commercial behemoth (I pur- 16th), senior medics are ac- important is “supply-led de- November 16th) reminded me
posely avoid the word empire cused of being traditionalists mand”. Constant innovation of his epitaph for the 20th
here) created through the life because a lifetime of ethical means that there is more that century: “The good Earth—we
of the franchise. The fact that practice tells us what will doctors can do. But many of could have saved it, but we
the Star Wars brand has flour- work. The ministers in charge those innovations lead to what were too damn cheap and lazy.”
ished and is still evident in have had zero training in the has been described by Alain patrick leach
everyday life (the Pentagon’s complex interaction between Enthoven, an economist, as Adjunct faculty
jedi contract being a good medical science and the man- “flat of the curve medicine”: no Colorado School of Mines
example) is testament to the agement of hospitals and or minimal improvement at Denver
creativity and ingenuity of the doctors, relying instead on high cost. This is particularly
firm that Mr Lucas created. civil servants, who provide true when we move towards
Indeed, in your next issue you them with top-down plans to death, with around 20% of Letters are welcome and should be
glorified Disney’s new stream- reform clinical practice. health-care budgets being addressed to the Editor at
The Economist, The Adelphi Building,
ing service offering “Star Wars” The acute problem facing spent on the last year of life. 1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT
and described the sale of Lu- the nhs is a lack of adequate Another common mistake Email: [email protected]
casfilm as benefiting the con- applicants for nursing and is to confuse health care and More letters are available at:
Economist.com/letters
sumer through more choice paramedical professions. It is health. Health care accounts
22
Briefing Negative emissions The Economist December 7th 2019

The chronic complexity of mosphere by the end of the century if the

Paris goals were to be reached; the median
carbon capture value was 730bn tonnes–that is, more than
ten years of global emissions.
This is where what is going on at Drax
comes in. Plants and algae have been suck-
ing carbon out of the atmosphere and turn-
D R A X , YO R KS H I R E
ing it into biomass for over a billion years.
Climate policy depends on being able to trap carbon dioxide in exhaust gases and
It is because the carbon in biomass was,
from the atmosphere. It is not being done
until recently, in the atmosphere that

O n one side of a utility road at the edge

of Drax power station in Yorkshire sits
a vast pile of deep black coal. On the other
rather than returning it to the atmosphere,
it hopes to pioneer a process which climate
policymakers see as vital: so-called “nega-
burning it in a power station like Drax
counts as renewable energy; it just puts
back into the atmosphere what the plants
side, trains loaded to the brim with com- tive emissions”. took out. The emissions from procuring
pressed wood pellets. “The old and the The Paris climate agreement of 2015 and transporting the biomass matter too,
new,” says a worker. calls for the Earth’s temperature to increase but if the supply chain is well managed
Opened just under half a century ago, by no more than 2°C over pre-industrial they should be quite small in comparison.
Drax (pictured) was not only the biggest levels, and ideally by as little as 1.5°C. Al- The pellets at Drax are mostly made from
coal-fired power station ever built in Brit- ready, temperatures are 1°C above the pre- sawmill refuse and other by-products in
ain: it was the last. Now only two of its six industrial, and they continue to climb, dri- America; they are then transported by rail,
mighty boilers are still fired by coal, and at ven for the most part by CO2 emissions of ship and rail to the site where they will be
the end of November they had sat idle since 43bn tonnes a year. To stand a good chance pulverised and burned.
March. In the first half of 2019, coal ac- of scraping under the 2°C target, let alone If, instead of burning the biomass, you
counted for just 6% of Drax’s electricity the 1.5°C target, just by curtailing green- just let it stand, the carbon stays put. So if
output. The rest came from those wood house-gas emissions would require cuts you increase the amount of vegetation on
pellets. Biomass burned at Drax provides far more stringent than the large emitting the planet, you can suck down a certain
11% of Britain’s renewable electricity— nations are currently offering. amount of the excess CO2 from the atmo-
roughly the same amount as all the coun- Recognising this, the agreement envis- sphere. Growing forests, or improving
try’s solar panels combined. ages a future in which, as well as hugely re- farmland, is often a good idea for other rea-
And soon Drax—the power plant is ducing the amount of CO2 put into the at- sons, and can certainly store some carbon.
owned by a company of the same name— mosphere, nations also take a fair bit out. But it is not a particularly reliable way of
hopes to be more than an electricity suppli- Scenarios looked at by the Intergovern- doing so. Forests can be cut back down, or
er. It hopes to be a carbon remover. By mental Panel on Climate Change (ipcc) last burned—and they might also die off if,
pumping the CO2 it produces from its pel- year required between 100bn and 1trn overall, mitigation efforts fail to keep the
lets into subterranean geological storage, tonnes of CO2 to be removed from the at- climate cool enough for their liking. 1
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Briefing Negative emissions 23

2 But the biggest problem with using new courage such investment. The greens who of CO2 is nothing new. Not long after the
or restored forests as carbon stores is how lobby for action on the climate do not, for great British chemist Joseph Priestley first
big they have to be to make a serious differ- the most part, want to support ccs. They made what he called “fixed air” in the 1760s,
ence. The area covered by new or restored see it as a way for fossil-fuel companies to an ingenious businessman called Johann
forests in some of the ipcc scenarios was seem to be part of the solution while stay- Jacob Schweppe was selling soda water in
the size of Russia. And even such a heroic ing in business, a prospect they hate. Elec- Geneva. CO2, mostly from natural sources,
Johnny Appleseeding would only absorb tricity generators have seen the remarkable is still used to make drinks fizzy and for
on the order of 200bn tonnes of CO2; less drop in the price of wind and solar and in- other things. Many greenhouses make use
than many consider necessary. vested accordingly. of it to stimulate the growth of plants.
The sort of bioenergy with carbon cap- Thus Drax’s ccs facility remains, at the
ture and storage (beccs) power station that moment, a pair of grey shipping containers The use case
Drax wants to turn itself into would allow sitting in a fenced-off area outside the The problem with most of these markets
more carbon to be captured on the same main boiler hall, dwarfed by the vast build- from a negative-emissions point of view is
amount of land. The trick is to use the bio- ings and pipes that surround them. Inside that the CO2 gets back into the atmosphere
mass not as a simple standing store of car- the first container, the flue gases—which in not much more time than it takes a
bon, but as a renewable fuel. are about 10% CO2 by volume—are run drinker to belch. But there is one notable
through a solvent which binds avidly to exception. For half a century oil companies
A question of combustion CO2 molecules. The carbon-laden solvent is have been squirting CO2 down some of
The original use envisaged for carbon cap- then pumped into the second container, their wells in order to chase recalcitrant oil
ture and storage (ccs) technology was to where it is heated—which causes it to give out of the nooks and crannies in the
take CO2 out of the chimneys of coal-fired up its burden, now a pure gas. rock—a process known as enhanced oil re-
power plants and pump it deep under- This test rig produces just one tonne of covery, or eor. And though the oil comes
ground; do it right and the power station CO2 a day. The pipe through which the flue out, a lot of the CO2 stays underground.
will be close to carbon-neutral. Apply the gases enter it is perhaps 30cm across. High The oil industry goes to some inconve-
same technology to a biomass-burning above it is another pipe, now unused, nience to capture the 28m tonnes of CO2 a
plant and the CO2 you pump into the depths which in coal-burning days took all the flue year it uses for eor from natural sources
is not from ancient fossils, but from re- gases to a system that would strip sulphur (some gas wells have a lot of CO2 mixed in
cently living plants—and, before them, the from them. It is big enough that you could with the good stuff). That effort is reward-
atmosphere. Hey presto: negative emis- drive down it in a double-decker bus with ed, according to the International Energy
sions. And beccs does not just get rid of another double-decker on top. That is the Agency, with some 500,000 barrels of oil a
CO2: it produces power, too. The solar ener- pipe that Drax would like to be able to in- day, or 0.6% of global production. That
gy that photosynthesis stored away in the vest in using. seems like a market that ccs could grow
plants’ leaves and wood gets turned into In some circumstances, you do not into—though the irony of using CO2 pro-
electricity when that biomass is burned. It need a subsidy, a carbon price or any other duced by burning fossil fuels to chase yet
is almost as if nature were paying to get rid intervention to make capturing CO2 pay. more fossil fuels out of the ground is not
of the stuff. Selling it will suffice. The commercial use lost on anyone. 1
There are, as you might expect, some
difficulties. Even if you regularly take some
away for burning, growing biomass on the Do the carbon shuffle
requisite scale still takes a lot of land. Also, Carbon flows between atmosphere, biosphere and solid earth
the bog-standard ccs of which beccs is
meant to be a clever variant has never really Fossil-fuel burning (provides energy) Growing forests and improving farms (neutral)
Carbon from fossil fuels is emitted into the atmosphere Carbon from the atmosphere is stored in the biosphere
made its mark. It has been talked about for
decades; the ipcc produced a report about Atmosphere Atmosphere
it in 2005. Some hoped that it might be-
come a mainstay of carbon-free energy Biosphere Biosphere
production. But for various reasons, tech-
Solid earth Solid earth
nical, economic and ideological, it has not.
The world has about 2,500 coal-fired
power stations, and thousands more gas- Carbon capture & storage (CCS) (can provide energy) Bioenergy (provides energy)
fired stations, steel plants, cement works Carbon from fossil fuels is stored back Carbon from biomass is emitted back into the
and other installations that produce indus- in the solid earth atmosphere whence it recently came
trial amounts of CO2. Just 19 of them offer
Atmosphere Atmosphere
some level of ccs, according to the Global
Carbon Capture and Storage Institute Biosphere Biosphere
(gccsi), a ccs advocacy group. All told,
roughly 40m tonnes of CO2 are being cap- Solid earth Solid earth
tured from industrial sources every year—
around 0.1% of emissions. Direct air capture (requires energy) Bioenergy with CCS (provides energy)
Why so little? There are no fundamental Carbon from the atmosphere is Carbon drawn from the atmosphere into the
technological hurdles; but the heavy in- stored in the solid earth biosphere is stored back in the solid earth
dustrial kit needed to do ccs at scale costs a
lot. If CO2 emitters had to pay for the privi- Atmosphere Atmosphere
lege of emitting to the tune, say, of $100 a Biosphere Biosphere
tonne, there would be a lot more interest in
the technology, which would bring down Solid earth Solid earth
its cost. In the absence of such a price, there Sources: Nature; The Economist
are very few incentives or penalties to en-
24 Briefing Negative emissions The Economist December 7th 2019

steady increase in projects to capture and

Few and far between store, or use, CO2. But the trend needs to be
Large-scale carbon capture, utilisation treated with caution. First and foremost,
and storage facilities, October 2019 global carbon capture is still measured in
the tens of millions of tonnes, not the bil-
lions of tonnes that matter to the climate.
What the Gorgon project stores in a year,
the world emits in an hour.
Second, the public support the sector
has received in the past has often proved
fickle or poorly designed. In 2012, the Brit-
Minimum
ish government promised £1bn in funding
capture for ccs, only to pull the plug in 2015. Two
capacity projects which had been competing for the
Tonnes of CO2 money, a Scottish one that would have
per year, m
trapped CO2 at an existing gas plant and one
8 in Yorkshire which planned to build a new
1
Operating Under construction In development coal-fired power station with ccs, were
both scrapped. This history makes the
Source: Global CCS Institute
£800m for ccs that Boris Johnson, the
prime minister, has promised as part of the
2 The fact that oilfields in Texas regularly prompting a trend towards clusters that current election campaign even less con-
use eor has made the state a popular site could share the storage infrastructure. vincing than most such pledges.
for companies trying out new approaches Equinor, Shell and Total, two more oil com- But there are some reasons for opti-
to carbon capture. A startup called net panies, are proposing to turn ccs into a ser- mism. In 2008 America enacted a tax cred-
Power has built a new sort of gas-fired pow- vice industry in Norway. For a fee they will it, 45q, that was to reward the first 75m
er plant on the outskirts of Houston. Most collect CO2 from its producers and ship it to tonnes of CO2 sequestered through ccs.
such plants burn natural gas in air to heat Bergen before pushing it out through a Unfortunately, not knowing from the out-
water to make steam to drive a turbine. The pipeline to offshore injection points. In set whether a given project would end up
net Power plant burns natural gas in pure September, Equinor announced that it had emitting the lucrative 74th-millionth
oxygen to create a stream of hot CO2 which seven potential customers, including Air tonne or the otiose 76th-millionth tonne
drives the turbine directly—and which, be- Liquide, an industrial gas provider, and tempered investor enthusiasm. Last year
ing pure, needs no further filtering in order Acelor Mittal, a steelmaker. 45q was amended. Instead of a 75m tonne
to be used for eor. cap, there is now a time limit: all projects
Also in Texas, Occidental Petroleum is Return to sender that are up and running before January 1st
developing a plant with Carbon Engineer- Similar projects for filling up the emptied 2024 will be eligible. This has created a
ing, a Canadian firm which seeks to pull gasfields of the North Sea are seeking gov- flurry of activity.
CO2 straight out of the air, a process called ernment support in the Netherlands, The European Union has also recently
direct air capture. Because CO2 is present in where Rotterdam’s port authority is cham- announced financial support for ccs, in
air only at a very low concentration pioning the idea, and in Britain, where the the form of a roughly €10bn innovation
(0.04%) dac is a very demanding business. main movers are heavy industries in the fund aimed at ccs, renewables and energy
But oil recovered through eor that uses at- north, including Drax. storage. The first call for projects goes out
mospheric CO2 can earn handsome credits This is part of what the gccsi says is a in 2020. Christian Holzleitner, head of the
under California’s Low-Carbon Fuel Stan- eu’s Directorate-General for Climate Ac-
dards cap and trade programme. The tion, emphasises that the fund’s purpose is
scheme aims to be pumping 500,000 not to decarbonise fossil-fuel energy, but
tonnes of CO2 captured from the air into rather to focus on ccs development for the
Occidental’s nearly depleted wells by 2022. difficult-to-decarbonise industries such as
Not all the CO2 pumped into the ground steel and cement. With renewables on a
by oil companies is used for eor. Equinor, roll, that makes a lot of sense.
formerly Statoil, a Norwegian oil company, Tax breaks, experimental capture
has long pumped CO2 into a spent field in plants, new fangled ways of producing
the North Sea, both to prove the technology electricity and talk of infrastructure hubs
and to avoid the stiff carbon tax which Nor- amount to an encouraging buzz, but not yet
way levies on emissions from the hydro- much more. A ccs industry capable of pro-
carbon industry. As a condition on its lease ducing lots of beccs plants remains a long
to develop the Gorgon natural-gas field off way off, as does the infrastructure for gath-
the coast of Australia, Chevron was re- ering sustainably sourced biomass for use
quired to strip the CO2 out of the gas and in them. Carbon Engineering and its rival
store it. The resultant project is, at 4m dac companies, such as Climeworks and
tonnes a year, bigger than any other not Skytree, remain very expensive ways of get-
used for eor, and the world’s only ccs facil- ting pure CO2. If they can find new markets
ity that could handle emissions on the and push their costs down both by learning
scale of those from Drax. better tricks and through economies of
In Europe, the idea has caught on that scale, they may yet be part of the solution.
the costs of operating big CO2 reservoirs But for now, it looks like most of the CO2 be-
like Gorgon’s will need to be shared be- ing pumped into the atmosphere will stay
tween many carbon sources. This is Wood that it were so simple there for a very long time. 7
 United States The Economist December 7th 2019 25

Also in this section

26 The impeachment inquiry
28 Evangelical adoption
29 From theocracy to democracy
30 Lexington: Joe Biden’s stickiness

Refugee policy group”. The recent dip in resettlement

numbers mostly reflects the shrinking fed-
Denying opportunities costs eral cap on them (see chart). A narrower de-
finition of who may claim asylum would
also keep numbers low.
Stricter resettlement policies come
with a cost. They run the risk of shutting
H E LE N A , M O N TA N A
out people like Wilmot Collins. As a young
A former refugee running for the Senate in Montana shows what America could
man ensnared in Liberia’s civil war in 1990,
lose by curtailing resettlement
Mr Collins cheated death. Trapped in gun
2014 that Guatemalan women with repres- battles in Monrovia, the capital, he was
A merica did not settle a single refugee
in October. In November it admitted
under 1,500, the lowest total for that month
sive male companions could count as a
group deserving refugee status. In 2016 it
twice almost killed by government sol-
diers. Seized by a rebel while he foraged for
since the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. A added a similar ruling to cover Salvadorean food, he narrowly avoided execution. Else-
new federal cap imposes a limit of 18,000 to women who are abused. But the Trump ad- where, rebels beheaded his brother. Half-
be resettled next year, down from 85,000 in ministration is trying to curtail the broad- starved and sick with malaria, he fled with
2016. Canada now welcomes more refugees ening of who can count as a “persecuted his wife aboard a cargo ship.
than its more populous neighbour. Four years later—and only after lengthy
The decades-long period in which vetting by un and American officials while
America resettled more refugees than the Going low in Ghana—he reached Helena, Montana’s
rest of the rich world combined has come United States, refugee resettlement, ’000 sleepy capital. He and his wife left, he re-
to an end. The country long abided by an 250 calls, with “nothing but the clothes on our
international convention that individuals backs”, arriving in an alien, snow-flecked
Annual cap
who feared persecution because of their 200 place. They stand out. Barely 0.6% of Mon-
political opinions or their membership of tanans are African-American. Explore Hel-
particular social groups should get asylum. 150 ena’s dainty streets, cafés or offices and al-
During the cold war, refugees were over- most only white faces appear.
whelmingly perceived as democrats flee- 100 Montanans mostly offered the Col-
ing communist repression. linses a generous welcome, but not all.
50
Definitions have since expanded. That Someone daubed “kkk” on a wall by their
is partly due to changes in attitudes and do- 0 house; Mr Collins’s car was vandalised; a
mestic laws. In 1994 the first asylum-seeker 1980 90 2000 10 20
fake plane ticket came in the post, with a
won sanctuary on the basis of fearing per- Fiscal years ending September 30th
message saying “Go back to Africa”. He
secution over sexual orientation. The Source: Refugee Processing Centre
shrugged that off as the ranting of “crazy
Board of Immigration Appeals ruled in people”. Now when he hears politicians, 1
26 United States The Economist December 7th 2019

2 including the president, saying similar Three others are vying in the Democratic few countries would Mr Collins’s story be
things he says he feels “rotten”. He wants to primary, which takes place in June. All possible. The candidate himself, a congen-
show that people who are granted sanctu- would be overshadowed if Steve Bullock, ital optimist, expects America’s readiness
ary in fact help to make America stronger. Montana’s Democratic governor, were to to take in refugees to return. “On the whole,
Public attitudes to refugees are sharply run for the Senate. Whoever ends up taking Americans have an open door,” he says, de-
divided. Three-quarters of Democrats see a on the Republican incumbent, Steve scribing how he was met at the airport in
duty to take them in, according to a Pew Daines, could struggle. Mr Daines raised a Helena, in 1994, by a crowd of strangers
poll last year; only one-quarter of Republi- mountainous $1.2m in the latest quarter; who held a banner that read “Welcome
cans agree (a drop from the previous year). Mr Collins lacks big donors. In the same home Wilmot”. But the America of 2019 is
Some Republicans worry about security, period he gathered only $84,000. less welcoming than before. The refugee
though rigorous vetting helps to ensure That, though, is not really the point. In squeeze is just one sign of that. 7
refugees are overwhelmingly law-abiding.
In May the Cato Institute, a libertarian
think-tank, estimated that an American
has but a one in 3.86bn chance per year of
being murdered by a refugee in a terrorist
attack. The chance of being murdered by a
native-born terrorist is about 1 in 28m.
Others claim refugees are an economic
drain. Yet where workers are scarce, they
are likely to be a boon. Most refugees are
employed within 180 days of arrival, points
out David Miliband of the International
Rescue Committee (irc), which he says has
resettled 350,000 in America. Mr Miliband
is a former British foreign secretary.
A few years back, after the mayor of Mis-
soula, a city in western Montana, asked for
more refugees, the irc opened a resettle-
ment office. Many refugees now work in
supermarkets, hotels and other businesses
in the city. Theo Smith, who owns Masala, a
restaurant, says his workers from Congo,
Iraq and Syria are loyal and capable. The The impeachment inquiry
(Republican) governor of nearby Utah,
Gary Herbert, appears to agree. He wrote to Uncommon grounds
Mr Trump in October asking for more refu-
gees, whom he called valuable “contribu-
tors” to his state.
Within days of Mr Collins’s arrival, a
chance meeting with Montana’s governor
WA S H I N GTO N , D C
led to his first job, at a children’s home. He
Duelling reports and a chaotic hearing inaugurate the inquiry’s next phase
has since been a caretaker and teacher. Six
months after getting to Helena he also en- two parties’ strategies, in both the hearing
rolled in the National Guard. Long spells in
the navy and army reserves followed.
D oug collins, the highest-ranking Re-
publican on the House Judiciary Com-
mittee, and Bernie Sanders, the socialist
and their reports about the House Intelli-
gence Committee’s findings, remained rel-
Two years ago he turned to politics. In senator from Vermont seeking the Demo- atively constant, with Democrats focused
his speeches he has confronted miscon- cratic nomination for president, differ in on Mr Trump’s actions, and Republicans on
ceptions that refugees pay no tax, take oth- almost every way but one. They both have process. They are playing to different
ers’ jobs or even get free cars. He jokes in- just two volume settings: full and off. On crowds. Democrats are trying to shift pub-
dignantly that somehow he missed out on December 4th Mr Collins’s committee in- lic opinion, which is probably a fool’s er-
such mythical goodies. (In fact, those given vited four law professors to testify about rand. Republicans are trying to prevent sig-
sanctuary must accept any job offered by a the constitutional basis for impeachment nificant congressional defections, at
resettlement agency, such as the irc, and and the nature of impeachable offences. In which they will probably succeed.
repay some of the cost of getting to Ameri- his opening statement, Mr Collins, a law- The Democrats’ report is precise, foren-
ca, such as their plane tickets.) school graduate himself, peered at the four sic and thorough. Like the Mueller report, it
In 2017 Mr Collins made history when witnesses present and shouted, “Hey, we has two sections: the first focusing on Mr
Helena’s voters picked him to run their city. got law professors here! What a start of a Trump’s actions regarding Ukraine, and the
He became the first black mayor ever elect- party!...America will see why most people second on conduct that Democrats believe
ed in Montana. After moderate early suc- don’t go to law school!” has obstructed their investigation.
cess as mayor—a funding boost for local Of course, any congressman-law pro- According to their report, Mr Trump’s
services, a plan for affordable homes—he is fessor colloquy risks breaking the logor- efforts to pressure Ukraine’s president, Vo-
running for the Senate with a promise to rheic scale. And Wednesday’s hearing un- lodymyr Zelensky, into investigating Joe
make Washington more civil. Montanans, covered no new facts. But it was not Biden did not consist of just one phone
even rural folk in remote areas, have been intended to: the professors were there to call. It was a sprawling, months-long cam-
nothing but supportive, he says. define terms before the committee de- paign spearheaded by Rudy Giuliani, Mr
His chances of becoming the junior cides, perhaps by next week, whether to Trump’s personal lawyer. Call records
senator from Big Sky Country are slender. draw up articles of impeachment. Yet the show extensive contact between Mr Giu- 1
28 United States The Economist December 7th 2019

2 liani and the Office of Management and Adoption ganised fostering and adoption place-
Budget, which implemented the hold on ments in America. The reason is their re-
Ukraine’s assistance funds; as well as Mike Fostering enmity fusal to consider placing children with
Pompeo, the secretary of state, and Devin lgbt parents, a requirement of the anti-
Nunes, the highest-ranking Republican on discrimination laws that followed the le-
the House Intelligence Committee. Mr Giu- galisation of gay marriage in 2015. In 2017,
liani also received calls from someone list- after St Vincent told two lesbian would-be
ed just as “-1”, who tended to ring soon after foster parents that it did not work with
Anti-discrimination laws jolt Christian
he called or texted White House numbers. same-sex couples, the American Civil Lib-
child-welfare services
The report concludes that Mr Pompeo, erties Union sued the state of Michigan,
Vice-President Mike Pence, Mick Mulva-
ney, the chief of staff, and others were
“knowledgeable of or active participants
T he first lesson Melissa Buck taught
her eldest child was that she was not go-
ing to hit him. The 37-year-old stay-at-
with which St Vincent has a contract. Set-
tling the case this year, Michigan said it
would cut funding to agencies that dis-
in” Mr Trump’s efforts to make military as- home mother from Holt, Michigan and her criminate on religious grounds. In Septem-
sistance conditional on Ukraine announc- husband had fostered the then four-year- ber, after St Vincent, along with the Buck
ing investigations that would be of perso- old and his two younger siblings after a pa- family, sued the state, a federal judge ruled
nal political benefit to him. rishioner at their church told them that the that religious agencies could continue to
It also lays out which officials declined children, having been removed from their refuse to work with same-sex couples. The
to take part in the impeachment inquiry mother, were at risk of being separated. All decision is likely to be appealed against.
and what information Congress wants. The three were traumatised by physical abuse A similar battle is playing out in Phila-
report argues that Mr Trump’s blanket re- and neglect. The little boy was plainly terri- delphia, where the city stopped funding a
fusal is unprecedented—Andrew Johnson, fied, Mrs Buck recalled, that he would be Christian foster agency because it would
Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton all com- beaten if his younger brother and sister not work with same-sex couples. In other
plied with House requests for informa- made too much noise. states which have passed laws protecting
tion—and that such defiance represents Over the next five years the Bucks fos- religious agencies from requirements that
“an existential threat to the nation’s consti- tered two more children: a girl with a rare conflict with their beliefs, more cases are
tutional system of checks and balances genetic condition who needed frequent being fought. As long as Christian agencies
...and rule of law”. hospital stays, and the autistic younger go on insisting that marriage is only be-
The Republican report rejects virtually half-brother of two of their older foster- tween a man and a woman, their continued
all those claims. It paints the impeachment children. “I was so nervous at the begin- existence is under threat.
inquiry as an effort “to undo the will of the ning,” says Mrs Buck. “What if they started The issue, inevitably, has been politi-
American people”. It argues that no evi- a fire or ran away; what if I loved them too cised. President Donald Trump, who pre-
dence establishes that Mr Trump pressured much? But the Bible makes clear that taking sented himself as a warrior for religious
Ukraine, orchestrated a “shadow foreign care of the orphaned, the parentless, is our freedom to the evangelicals who helped
policy” or “covered up the substance” of his job.” She could not, she says, have coped elect him in 2016 and on whom he still de-
conversation with Mr Zelensky. It notes, without the agency that arranged the place- pends, has entered the fray. This month his
correctly, that Ukraine has a history of cor- ments, St Vincent Catholic Charities in administration issued a proposed rule al-
ruption, and that during the 2016 election Lansing, Michigan. Though Mrs Buck and lowing religious providers to follow their
some Ukrainian officials were publicly her husband have now formally adopted all beliefs. It would replace an Obama-era rule
sceptical of Mr Trump, which, given his five children, they still depend on the orga- from 2016 that forbids recipients of federal
avowed fondness for Russia and their op- nisation to help them find the myriad med- funding to discriminate on the ground of
pression by it, makes sense. Some of Mr ical and educational services needed by sexual orientation. Though rules do not
Trump’s defenders have tried to equate their children. have the power of laws, the change is likely
these isolated, individual statements of St Vincent may soon stop doing this to lead to further legislation and more legal
preference with Russia’s extensive, covert work—along with innumerable other battles on the issue. Right-wing Evangeli-
meddling in the 2016 election, but the two Christian organisations that have long or- cal leaders have greeted the planned rule-
things are not remotely similar. change with jubilation.
The two sides continued speaking past Some conservative Christians argue
each other at the hearings. The three pro- that if religious adoption and fostering
fessors whom Democrats invited all testi- agencies are forced to close, fewer children
fied that Mr Trump had committed im- will find proper homes. Assessing this
peachable offences; the lone invited by the claim is less straightforward than it might
Republicans disagreed. It sounded as seem, because no data exist on the propor-
though Democrats were laying the ground- tion of placements organised by religious
work to draw impeachment articles on agencies. But Christian organisations have
abuse of power and obstruction. undoubtedly played a huge role in finding
That will not change public opinion. homes for children who cannot live with
Support for impeachment rose steeply, to their own families. Around a quarter of the
around 50%, after the inquiry began, but more than 400,000 children now in foster
there it has stayed, just as Mr Trump’s ap- care in America will never return to their
proval rating has remained in the low 40s. families. Many religious agencies recruit
Without an unlikely shift, congressional in churches with great success. Research by
Republicans will still fear a primary chal- the Barna Group, an evangelical research
lenge from the right, if they support im- outfit, found that practising Christians
peachment, more than a general-election were twice as likely to have adopted chil-
loss. Which means that Mr Trump still dren as other Americans. Although some
looks likely to be impeached, but then tried Christians would doubtless adopt and fos-
and acquitted. 7 Handle with care ter children from secular agencies if no re- 1
 The Economist December 7th 2019 United States 29

2 ligious ones existed, others would not. 114,000 same-sex couples raising children which meant ostracisation by believers,
Yet it is unlikely that fewer children will in America, 25% of them are bringing up even spouses and children—Mr Jeffs took
be fostered or adopted if anti-discrimina- adopted or fostered ones, compared with control of the priesthood and therefore of
tion laws prevail. Not all Christian agencies 3% of heterosexual couples with children. the town’s resources and government, as
will be forced to close. A number of them But in some places, especially in the most residents and city office-holders were
have long placed children with lgbt par- South, where religious agencies dominate church members. He began to exercise to-
ents, though they have tended to do so qui- adoption and fostering services, their ab- tal authority over relationships, starting by
etly. More important, the number of lgbt sence will be keenly felt. And Christian fos- marrying many of his stepmothers. He re-
Americans who want to foster and adopt ter parents and adopters will mourn lost moved all flds children from public
seems likely to make up for any shortfall connections. Mrs Buck says she would like school and banned television, books other
that arises when Christian organisations to offer a home to any future offspring of than approved scripture, toys and red
lose their funding. Research by the Wil- her children’s biological parents. But if St clothing. Mr Jeffs was arrested in 2006 after
liams Institute, part of the University of Vincent’s is no longer arranging place- a stint on the fbi’s most-wanted list for
California, Los Angeles, found that of the ments, she may not get the chance. 7 charges related to sexual abuse of a minor.
He is serving a life sentence in Texas.
Mr Jeffs’s arrest did not end Short
Creek’s legal troubles. The United States be-
gan court proceedings against Colorado
City and Hildale City in 2012, alleging that
city officials and local utility providers had
acted in concert to “deny non-flds indi-
viduals housing, police protection, and ac-
cess to public space and services”. The flds
filled the local marshal’s office with loyal
members who turned a blind eye to under-
age marriages and food-stamp fraud. The
marshal’s office trained and equipped a
formal security force, called “Church Secu-
rity”, with the primary purpose of helping
church leaders evade the law. They held
mock fbi raids to be ready for the real
thing, and even helped burgle the business
of an ex-flds member who had evidence
that Mr Jeffs had raped a 12-year-old in the
presence of other girls.
The two cities lost their case in 2016.
Both then appealed, though Hildale City
withdrew in 2018. The ruling was upheld by
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Au-
Small towns gust of this year.
Over the course of the proceedings,
Theocracy in America Short Creek has changed dramatically.
Many true believers have moved away,
while the town has seen both the return of
ex-flds members and an influx of new-
comers. Though the government of Colora-
CO LO R A D O CI T Y, A R I ZO N A A N D H I LDA LE CI T Y, U TA H
do City is still controlled by flds members,
A community begins to move beyond its disturbing past as a fundamentalist
Hildale City elected non-flds councillors
Mormon fief
and an ex-flds mayor in 2017, causing a
by its shops, Short Creek seems early 1930s Short Creek was such a place. number of flds city employees to resign.
Judging
more like a trendy suburb of somewhere The settlement was largely ignored by Most of the towns’ businesses opened
like Portland than a small town on the the outside world, apart from the occasion- recently. The Edge of the World Brewery
Utah-Arizona border with just shy of 8,000 al court case over polygamy and an ill-ad- served its first beer in March 2018. The
people. There are two health-food stores, a vised raid by the state of Arizona in 1953, Black Cloud vape shop opened three
bakery and a vape shop. The occasional when 263 children were taken from their months later. Few flds-run businesses re-
sight of women in prairie dresses and the parents and held for up to three years, in- main. And the children have returned to
huge houses with thick walls are the only citing widespread sympathy for the town. class. An old flds storehouse has since be-
conspicuous evidence Short Creek was Short Creek ultimately incorporated as two come Water Canyon High School.
once home to an American theocracy. places: Hildale City, Utah in 1962 and Colo- With these changes has come a new-
When the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- rado City, Arizona in 1985. It was not until found democratic zeal. At a town-hall
ter-Day Saints (lds), better known as the the turn of the century that outsiders start- meeting on October 21st the citizens of Hil-
Mormon church, abandoned several con- ed paying attention again. dale City debated paving the town’s many
troversial doctrines in 1890, there were dis- Short Creek’s church, by then called the dirt roads. Mr Jeffs’s name came up only
senters. Some, seeking to preserve aban- Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of one time, invoked by a man who had
doned institutions such as “plural Latter-Day Saints (flds), had long been moved in relatively recently. There is a long
marriage” (polygamy) and communal headed by a “prophet”. The church’s most road still to travel to escape Mr Jeffs’s lega-
ownership, formed communities practis- famous, Warren Jeffs, assumed the title in cy, but the community of Short Creek has
ing “Old-Fashioned Mormonism”. By the 2002. By excommunicating dissenters— set off in the right direction. 7
30 United States The Economist December 7th 2019

Lexington The stickiness of Joe Biden

The former vice-president is dated, gaffe-prone but still well placed to take on Donald Trump
like those of an ageing game-show host, recall a time when Ameri-
cans were happier to take their leaders at glossy face value.
The many commentators who doubt that Mr Biden is the man
to beat Donald Trump have other jarring things to cite. Though a
cornerstone of the Democratic establishment, he is struggling for
money and top-level endorsements—above all from Mr Obama.
(Recent reports suggest the revered former president is not merely
agnostic, as he claims to be, but critical of Mr Biden’s candidacy.)
That reflects Mr Biden’s struggle in the early-voting states—which
is even more of an indictment than it may seem. Small and sparse-
ly populated, Iowa and New Hampshire are famously won by
pressing the flesh, which is his speciality.
Working his way around the post-event mêlée in Emmetsburg
(where he appeared to know many in attendance), he offered inex-
haustible bonhomie, including selfies, joshing greetings and
naughty kisses for delighted ladies. (“God love you!” he muttered,
between planting peckers on one aged cheek: “Thank you! [peck]
Thank you! [peck] Thank you!”) Famously bereaved, he also of-
fered consolation. A burly farmer was reduced to tears, and warm-
ly embraced by Mr Biden, as he described his late wife’s esteem for
him. And yet the Iowan and New Hampshire voters who have seen
most of Mr Biden, the polls suggest, have the biggest doubts about
him. “He’s a quality person. His age is a concern,” said a retired
I t would be too much to describe Joe Biden’s “No Malarkey” bus
tour through Iowa this week as a desperate measure. Despite
much negative commentary on his candidacy, the former vice-
nurse—and newly registered Democrat—looking on.
Yet he keeps clinging on. And none of Mr Biden’s rivals looks
president continues to lead the Democratic primary field in na- clearly able to depose him. Ms Warren is in decline, Mr Sanders ap-
tional polls. With strong support from African-Americans, who pears to have hit his ceiling, Mr Buttigieg, though rising, still has
like his loyalty to Barack Obama and don’t love his rivals, he is also little support from non-whites. This is starting to make Mr Biden’s
ahead in second-phase primary states such as Nevada and South resilience look as significant as his weaknesses. It may be the most
Carolina. Yet in Iowa and New Hampshire he is now trailing Pete important story of the election to date. And a day spent observing
Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. And as few candi- his campaign also offered a couple of possible explanations for it.
dates have lost those early states and still won the nomination, his One is that, having a choice to make, voters tend to weigh a poli-
eight-day, 650-mile tour through icy Iowa had a lot riding on it. tician’s flaws against his competitors’. And the underappreciated
One long day on the trail started in Emmetsburg, northwestern moderation of most Democratic voters made them relatively toler-
Iowa, across the road from a Lutheran retirement home. The ant of Mr Biden’s platitudes when the main alternative was the ex-
white-haired crowd might have been made up of its residents. Bi- cessive miserabilism of Mr Sanders and Ms Warren. If he is incuri-
den supporters skew old, as pollsters say. Perhaps that makes them ous about the economy’s weaknesses, the left-wingers seem
more forgiving of the 77-year-old’s regular befuddlements; he re- unable to account for its current strength—illustrated by rows of
cently confused last year’s Parkland school shooting, which left 17 gleaming trucks outside Mr Biden’s events. Mr Buttigieg, the first
dead and the youthful Democratic base aroused in anger, with the formidable moderate challenger Mr Biden has faced, may be erod-
massacre at Sandy Hook six years earlier. ing that advantage. Hence Mr Biden’s big push this week.
Biden supporters are certainly more receptive than younger
Democrats to his folksy language and 1990s view of America. Not- Kindness to strangers
withstanding a bold climate-change plan—which he mentions at His apparent economic incuriousness, though disappointing in
odd moments and often—he appears to have little interest in most itself, also allows him to focus on his strongest suit: attacking Do-
of the problems, such as slow wage growth, student debt and over- nald Trump. At his intermittent best, Mr Biden offers a powerful
concentration of corporate power, that exercise his rivals. In his critique of the president’s behaviour. He marvels, as if briefly hor-
telling, America is broadly as it ever was, a country of strivers put- ror-stricken, at “the language the president uses, the way he refers
ting “one foot in front of another”, wanting government out of the to people…It’s so degrading.” The fact that Mr Biden and Mr Trump
way almost as much as they want its help. “You don’t want govern- are close in age lends an air of authority to such denunciations. So
ment to fix all your problems but you want it to understand them,” does the fact that the president plainly fears him—or else why did
he says. “You’re hardworking, decent people, the soul of America.” he try to nobble him in Ukraine?
It can sound complacent, especially from a man first elected to So, too, does the contrast with Mr Trump that such criticisms
the Senate almost 50 years ago. That underlines what an odd front- raise. Though rather sanctimonious, Mr Biden is rightly known for
runner Mr Biden is turning out to be. Unlike their opponents, civility and patience. He has never been called a scoundrel. And if
Democrats overall are forward-looking. It is a posture reflecting those qualities seem less decisive when Mr Biden is seen up close,
the party’s commitment to social justice, which unites its dispa- only Iowans and New Hampshirites will get the chance to do so.
rate parts. Yet the 77-year-old former vice-president’s age, record The gaffe-obsessed media should not discount how far Mr Trump
and nostalgic politics all point to the past. Even the cosmetic mea- has lowered the presidential bar. That Mr Biden is decent and pre-
sures he appears to have taken do. His taut and polished features, sumably has some idea how to do the job could yet be enough. 7
 The Americas The Economist December 7th 2019 31

Canada economy when oil prices are high. It is a big

net contributor to the federal budget and to
“Wexit” doesn’t mean Wexit other provinces. Alberta was also the ful-
crum of Mr Trudeau’s climate and energy
policies. He had hoped to win its support
for a national price on carbon by approving
the expansion of the Trans Mountain oil
pipeline to the country’s west coast. The
E D M O N TO N
province rejected this grand bargain by
But Alberta’s secessionist movement spells trouble for Justin Trudeau
scrapping the carbon tax on consumers.
katchewan. Mr Trudeau appointed Alberta-
T he 700 people who gathered on a re-
cent Saturday night at the Boot Scootin’
Boogie Dancehall in Edmonton, the capital
born Chrystia Freeland, the foreign minis-
ter in the last government, to be deputy
Though rich, Alberta has had a run of
bad luck. It began when global oil prices fell
in 2014, causing a recession and a jump in
of the western Canadian province of Alber- prime minister and minister of intergov- unemployment to a high of 9% in 2016 (see
ta, came not to boogie but to vent. Baseball ernmental affairs. One of her main jobs will chart on next page). The economy has since
caps for sale bore such slogans as “Make Al- be to soothe western feelings. Canada’s go- recovered, but Alberta still struggles to sell
berta Great Again”, “The West Wants Out” vernor-general was expected to outline the its oil. In part that is because existing pipe-
and “Wexit”. On stage, before a Canadian government’s ideas for bridging regional lines are full. This forces producers to ship
flag held between hockey sticks and point- divisions, among other priorities, in a oil expensively by train to the United
ed upside down, Peter Downing recited the “speech from the throne” as The Economist States, where it competes against cheaper
grievances that drew the crowd: cancelled went to press on December 5th. They are American shale oil, or to store it. Extracting
plans to build oil pipelines, subsidies paid unlikely to include a big reduction in Al- oil from Alberta’s oil sands consumes a lot
to the rest of Canada and snobbery towards berta’s net transfers to the rest of the coun- of energy, and it is harder to refine than
Alberta from the central Canadian prov- try. But its drive for greater autonomy lighter crudes. Each barrel contributes
inces. The country’s prime minister, Justin could be a model for reshaping how the more to climate change than does one from
Trudeau, would get what’s coming to him, federation works. most other sources.
Mr Downing pledged. Someone near the Alberta’s 4m people are Canada’s rich- These problems have led to an exodus of
back muttered, “Hopefully, a bullet.” est. The province is a motor for the national oil companies. Shortly after the election
The anger at the Boot Scootin’ would be Encana said it would move its head office
easy to ignore, except that it will be one of from Calgary, Alberta’s business centre, to
Also in this section
the dominant themes of Mr Trudeau’s sec- Denver. It is changing its name to Ovintiv.
ond term in office, which began when he 32 Suriname’s unsinkable president In November this year Sweden’s central
narrowly won re-election in October. His bank said it would sell its holdings of
34 Bello: What AMLO and Jair Bolsonaro
Liberal Party was wiped out in Alberta and bonds issued by Alberta because its carbon
have in common
in its equally resentful neighbour, Sas- footprint is too large. Royal Dutch Shell has 1
32 The Americas The Economist December 7th 2019

in the confederation closer to that of Que- On most money matters Alberta can do
Regional roller-coaster bec, the French-speaking province. little on its own. Since 2000 the difference
GDP, % change on a year earlier Mr Kenney’s fair deal is likely to include between what it has sent to the federal gov-
9
a new force to take over provincial policing. ernment and what it receives in transfers
Quebec and Ontario already have forces and services has amounted to 8% of the
Alberta that operate alongside the Royal Canadian province’s gdp. Much of the anger focuses
6
Mounted Police. Alberta, rather than the on “equalisation”, a transfer from rich
3 central government, might collect rev- provinces to poorer ones, mainly Quebec,
enues destined to be spent within the prov- that is supposed to even out social spend-
Canada 0 ince, as Quebec now does. The province ing. During the provincial election cam-
may also try to opt out of some federal pro- paign in May, Mr Kenney promised to hold
-3 grammes, such as the Trudeau govern- a referendum on equalisation if the federal
ment’s plan to pay for patients’ prescrip- government did not expand the Trans
-6 tions. Alberta could withdraw from the Mountain pipeline.
Canadian Pension Fund as long as, like It would have no legal force. Mr Trudeau
2000 05 10 15 18
Quebec, it sets up one with comparable is unlikely to cut Alberta’s subsidy to the
Source: Statistics Canada
benefits. That might lower Albertans’ con- rest of Canada, even though it largely de-
tributions (because its population is rela- rives from oil dollars. Nor is he likely to
2 sold almost all its oil-sands assets. tively young) and raise those of other Cana- scrap his environmental policies. He and
Albertans blame many of these setbacks dians. Many of these measures would Ms Freeland will no doubt seek other ways
on Mr Trudeau. He is the son of a prime increase administrative costs, which is one to placate the west. But these will probably
minister, Pierre Trudeau, who during the reason the province has rejected such ideas not overcome its sense of alienation. Wexi-
1970s and 1980s forced Alberta to sell its oil in the past. Quebeckers, for example, com- teers may be gathering at the Boot Scootin’
domestically at a discount to world prices. plete two tax returns. dance hall for years to come. 7
Although Mr Trudeau’s government
bought the Trans Mountain pipeline and
the project to expand it, which is to begin Suriname
laying pipe this month, it has vetoed other
pipeline projects. Canada needs to phase Desi’s unjust desserts
out the oil sands, he has said. The national
carbon price, which will be imposed on Al-
berta after it scrapped its own scheme, is
another insult to the oil patch. Albertans
are just as angry about an overhaul of the
law for giving regulatory approval for infra-
A murder conviction will not much trouble the president
structure projects, including pipelines.
This gives the public more say and obliges
builders to consider such issues as climate
change and gender equity.
T wo days after a military court found
Desi Bouterse, Suriname’s president,
guilty of murdering 15 political foes, he re-
and held them in Fort Zeelandia, built in
the 17th century. They were summarily
tried, then tortured and shot. Mr Bouterse
A third of Albertans now think they turned home from a visit to China. A claimed at the time that they had been try-
would be better off outside Canada, the throng of supporters, many wearing the ing to escape.
highest level on record, according to a poll purple of his National Democratic Party, He went on to fight a civil war. This pit-
by Ipsos. In November advocates of turned up to greet him at Paramaribo’s in- ted the army against disgruntled ethnic
Wexit—western exit—applied to be recog- ternational airport on December 1st. Mr groups, especially Maroons, descendants 1
nised (by the federation they want to leave) Bouterse brought back a promise of $300m
as a political party. Wexit Canada imagines to upgrade airports and roads and install
that if Alberta secedes, neighbouring Brit- solar power and 5g internet services. But
ish Columbia—which resembles Califor- the welcome was a defiant show of loyalty
nia the way Alberta does Texas and has a to a leader who has dominated his tiny
coast—will have no choice but to join it. country’s politics for four decades.
Alberta’s leaders, and most Albertans, Mr Bouterse’s conviction for murders
are more realistic. Among the hurdles on that took place in 1982, and the 20-year sen-
the road to separation are old treaties tence that goes with it, are unlikely to dis-
signed by indigenous First Nations with lodge him. He helped lead a “sergeants’
Canada’s rulers. These would be difficult to coup” against an elected government in
change. Moreover, separatist sentiment 1980, five years after independence from
caused one firm to cancel plans to put its the Netherlands. He was elected democrat-
headquarters in Calgary. That cost the city ically as president in 2010 and re-elected
1,000 jobs, says its development agency. five years later. He may well repeat that feat
Last month the province’s canny Con- next year. Few Surinamese expect Mr Bou-
servative premier, Jason Kenney, argued terse to serve a day of his sentence. The ap-
that separation would landlock Alberta’s peal process could drag on for ten years,
oil. He said he would host town halls and says the vice-president, Ashwin Adhin.
convene a panel with a more modest aim: The murder victims were foes of Mr
to devise a “fair deal” for Alberta within Bouterse’s regime—journalists, lawyers,
Canada. This is likely to be a package of scholars, soldiers and businessmen. Fear-
measures that the province can take unilat- ing a counter-coup backed by the Nether-
erally. They may give Alberta a status with- lands, the regime rounded them up at night Bouterse soldiers on
 one story, everyone’s concern

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34 The Americas The Economist December 7th 2019

2 of escaped slaves. In 1986 the army massa- 1999 he has avoided visiting or even pass- a “united people’s assembly”, composed of
cred 39 people in the home village of the ing through the Netherlands, where he all elected national and local representa-
Maroons’ leader. Democracy was restored could be arrested. tives. Mr Bouterse can probably extend his
in 1991, under a coalition of parties that had Surinamese overlook his chequered hold on power, if he wants to.
not taken part in the war. reputation. A charismatic strongman with That would alarm democrats. They wor-
In 2000 a newly elected government set a jokey man-of-the-people style, Mr Bou- ry that part of the money from China will
in motion a magistrate’s inquiry into the terse outshines rival politicians. The eth- pay for a “safe city” project, which includes
murders of 1982, just ahead of the deadline nic tensions that sparked the civil war no technology to track licence plates, and a fa-
set by the statute of limitations. Mr Bou- longer define politics. cial-recognition surveillance system. But
terse and 25 others, mostly army officers, Mr Bouterse says he will be a candidate at 74 Mr Bouterse is showing his age. He
were indicted in 2004. He accepted politi- in the legislative election, due to be held in may step aside for Mr Adhin or someone
cal responsibility for the murders but has May. The president is elected indirectly, ei- younger. If he decides to run, he is more
never admitted guilt. Since a Dutch court ther by a two-thirds majority of the legisla- likely to serve a third five-year term as pres-
convicted him of trafficking cocaine in ture or, if that fails, by a simple majority of ident than a 20-year murder sentence. 7

Bello The difficulties of Jair López Obrador

The surprising similarities between the presidents of Brazil and Mexico

T o all appearances they are oppo-

sites and foes. Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro
is a foul-mouthed former army captain
Neither has much respect for the sep-
aration of powers. During Mr Bolsonaro’s
election campaign one of his sons,
shrink unsustainable fiscal commit-
ments have found support in congress,
despite the president rather than be-
of the hard right. Mexico’s Andrés Ma- Eduardo, said it would take only “a soldier cause of him. The economy grew by 0.6%
nuel López Obrador is a would-be revolu- and a corporal” to close the supreme court. in the third quarter compared with the
tionary of the left. Mr Bolsonaro appeals Both Eduardo and Paulo Guedes, the econ- second. Mexico had a solid fiscal posi-
to the worst in Brazilians, with his dia- omy minister, have mused about reviving tion. But amlo introduced his own ver-
tribes against women and gays, casual a1-5, a decree under which the dictatorship sion of austerity, cutting government
racism and fondness for guns and chop- suspended freedoms and purged congress. salaries and what he sees as waste. He
ping down the Amazon’s trees. Mr López In Mexico amlo’s government strong- and private business are suspicious of
Obrador (known as amlo) invokes the armed a supreme-court justice into resign- each other. Mexico’s economy has sunk
noble purpose of making Mexico fairer ing. His critics fear that he will take control into a mild recession.
and less unequal. Yet for all their differ- of the electoral authority when new mem- On crime, Mr Bolsonaro can be
ences, the two most important presi- bers are chosen next year. Both men dis- blamed for a rise in killings by police,
dents in Latin America are strikingly like ngos, which they see as meddlers. Mr which he has encouraged. He can take
similar in many ways. After roughly a Bolsonaro has made preposterous claims little credit for a sharp fall in overall
year in office, each faces difficulties. that ngos (and Leonardo DiCaprio, an murders this year, which began before he
Both are reactionaries in the purest American film star) were behind fires in took office and owes much to the end of a
sense, conjuring up an imagined golden the Amazon. amlo cancelled government vendetta between drug syndicates. amlo
past. Mr Bolsonaro lionises Brazil’s funding to outfits providing child care and has even less to crow about: Mexico’s
military dictatorship of 1964-85. amlo, fighting people-trafficking. murder rate continues to rise, with mas-
who stresses that he is a democrat, be- Both presidents were elected on similar sacres by drug gangs almost every
lieves that everything was better in Mexi- promises: to revive their economies and, month. His policy of “hugs, not bullets”,
co before a turn to “neoliberalism” in the by force of will, eliminate corruption and of helping unemployed young people,
1980s. Both are nationalists with little crime. They are going about these tasks shows no sign of working. He has failed
interest in the outside world and would differently, and with varying success. The to strengthen corruption-fighting in-
rather the outside world reciprocated. efforts of Mr Bolsonaro’s economic team to stitutions. Mr Bolsonaro’s government
They are believers, and have inserted has tried to block an investigation that
religion into the political discourse of has revealed links between his sons and
hitherto secular states. Mr Bolsonaro, a paramilitary militias in Rio de Janeiro.
Pentecostal protestant, campaigned on What really unites these seemingly
the slogan “Brazil above all, God above contrasting presidents is that both are
everyone”. amlo implicitly compares populists. They see themselves as sav-
himself to Christ, who was “sacrificed iours, and claim a special bond with “the
…for defending the poor”. Both defend people”. Measured by popularity, amlo is
traditional family values, though they the winner. His approval rating is 68%
see different threats to them: left-wing compared with 42% for Mr Bolsonaro.
political correctness in Mr Bolsonaro’s How long will that last? Mr Bolsonaro,
case, neoliberalism for amlo. Although who has outsourced economic policy to
Mr Bolsonaro, whose cabinet is stuffed Mr Guedes, knows what he doesn’t know,
with officers, more obviously relies on while amlo thinks he knows better than
military help, amlo has also bolstered anyone else. Brazil has more checks on
the army’s role. He called it “the people, presidential power than does Mexico.
in uniform” and put a retired general in That means amlo has nobody else to
charge of a new National Guard. blame as things start going wrong.
 The Economist December 7th 2019 35
Asia

Also in this section

36 Corruption in Kyrgyzstan
37 Measles sweep Samoa
37 Freedom of speech in Singapore
38 Banyan: South Asia’s onion raj

India’s economy low, external imbalances are modest and

oil prices are bearable. The decline began
Searching for a landing site with a loss of confidence not among for-
eign investors, but among the country’s
own consumers.
Their spending began slowing in early
2018, according to some measures. Matters
then took a sharp turn for the worse in Sep-
tember 2018 with the default of Infrastruc-
Output is growing at its slowest pace since 2013
ture Leasing and Financial Services

G lobal investors once fell in love with

India’s growth “story” because of peo-
ple like Shanmuga Subramanian. Educated
Back then, India suffered from chronic
inflation, high oil prices and an unsustain-
able current-account deficit, fragilities
(il&fs), one of many lenders outside the
traditional banking system that had be-
come a growing source of credit. Its failure
in mechanical engineering, he became a that were all cruelly exposed by a sudden cast doubt on many similar institutions,
computer programmer, working with Cog- deterioration in global investor sentiment interrupting the flow of financing for pur-
nizant, an outsourcing firm, and Lennox, known as the “taper tantrum”. The present chases of big-ticket items like homes and
which makes heaters and air-conditioners. slowdown, though similar in its gravity, is cars. Sales of passenger vehicles slumped
But that was not enough to exhaust his quite different in its origins. Inflation is by 32% in September compared with a year
technological enthusiasms. He recently earlier, their 11th monthly decline in a row.
devoted four days of his spare time to scru- Other consumer-facing industries have
tinising images of the Moon’s surface, pro- Unstable orbit also suffered. Mobile-phone operators
vided by nasa, searching for any sign of an India, GDP, % increase on a year earlier have faced predatory pricing from deep-
Indian moon lander that disappeared in 10
pocketed conglomerates and “tax terro-
September. He eventually spotted an in- rism” from overzealous revenue collectors.
congruously bright pixel, which nasa this 8
Vodafone Idea reported a record loss of
week confirmed was debris from the craft’s $7bn in the third quarter, prompting Nick
crash-landing. 6
Read, Vodafone’s boss, to complain about
Unfortunately, India’s growth story is in unsupportive regulation, excessive taxes
danger of repeating the lander’s ill-fated 4 and a Supreme Court decision that forced
trajectory. The explanation offered by In- operators to share additional revenues
dia’s space agency for the crash (“the reduc- 2 with the government.
tion in velocity was more than the de- The government dawdled in its re-
signed value”) might apply equally well to 0 sponse to the economic slowdown, per-
the economy. gdp grew by just 4.5% in the haps because it was too convinced by its
2012 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
12 months ending in September. That is the own economic boasts. Rahul Bajaj, an in-
Sources: Central Statistics Office; Haver Analytics
slowest pace since 2013 (see chart). dustrialist, has said that business people 1
36 Asia The Economist December 7th 2019

2 are afraid of criticising the government percentage points a year over the five-year confirmed Mr Subramanian’s discovery of
openly. (A day after making his complaints, period from 2011-12 to 2016-17. If any conso- the crash site, the Indian agency said that it
Vodafone’s Mr Read felt the need to apolo- lation can be drawn from the latest miser- had found it weeks ago. But for some rea-
gise.) But for several months now, the eco- able gdp number, it is only that the official son it neglected to reveal the location to the
nomic debris has been too conspicuous to data are not so flawed that they cannot reg- outside world. India’s dogged and passion-
ignore. The government has responded, ister the bad news. ate professionals are one reason global in-
haphazardly at first, but with increasing India’s space agency was slow to ac- vestors fell in love with the country’s
force. It has slashed corporate taxes from knowledge that its lander had been de- growth story. Its unhelpful government in-
30% to 22% for existing firms (and to 15% stroyed (insisting at first that it was still stitutions are one reason their ardour has
for manufacturing startups), quickened trying to communicate with it). After nasa since dimmed. 7
the recapitalisation of government-owned
banks, reversed an unpopular tax increase
for foreign investors and offered some re-
lief to telecoms firms, among other things.
The government has also broached a
judicious reform of labour laws. Last
month it introduced a bill that would con-
solidate three existing laws, making it easi-
er for firms to hire workers on fixed-term
contracts (rather than employing them on
open-ended contracts that can be almost
impossible to terminate). The new bill
would still require firms with more than
100 employees to obtain government per-
mission before laying anyone off. But it
would give the government discretion to
raise that threshold in future without fur-
ther legislation.
Combined with five interest-rate cuts
from the Reserve Bank of India, the central
bank, these efforts should help stabilise
the economy. Consumption is already
growing faster than it was earlier in the Corruption in Kyrgyzstan
year. Although it will take years to unclog
the financial system properly, some of the The bilk road
panic over India’s new breed of lenders has
also dissipated. Financial institutions with
good credit ratings can now borrow almost
as cheaply as they did in early 2018 before
the default of il&fs.
One side-effect, however, is that the
A vast smuggling ring is exposed, to popular outrage
government’s own borrowing is raising
eyebrows. Last month Moody’s said the
outlook for India’s credit rating was “nega-
tive” (although a downgrade would merely
T he victim was a Chinese citizen. He
was shot in a gangland-style killing in
Istanbul, the biggest city in Turkey. But the
The money Saimaiti laundered seems
to have been made by dodging import ta-
riffs. The gang either failed to declare
move Moody’s assessment of India into smuggling racket on which he had just goods brought to Kyrgyzstan from China or
line with rival rating agencies). The gov- blown the whistle was centred on Kyrgyz- disguised them as items of little value,
ernment is almost certain to miss its deficit stan, a poor Central Asian country of 6m while bribing customs officials to look the
target of 3.3% of gdp for this fiscal year, which has been a transit point between other way. Some of the smuggled merchan-
which ends on March 31st. And if the states China and Europe for centuries. dise was sold in Kyrgyzstan. Much of the
and government-owned enterprises are in- Aierken Saimaiti said his part in the rest was sent on to Russia or to other coun-
cluded in the total, the combined fiscal def- racket had been to launder the proceeds, tries inside the customs union of which
icit could reach 8.2% of gdp, according to overseeing the removal from Kyrgyzstan of Kyrgyzstan is a member, labelled as goods
Goldman Sachs. at least $700m in dirty money between 2011 on which duty had been paid and which
The government’s reputation for eco- and 2016. Kyrgyz officials have since admit- were therefore entitled to enter duty-free.
nomic management is also now in deep ted that Saimaiti and his associates fun- The revelations have caused a furore in
deficit. In response to the latest growth fig- nelled nearly $1bn to banks in a dozen Kyrgyzstan. Police have belatedly begun an
ures, one member of parliament for the countries. (Kyrgyzstan’s gdp last year was investigation, questioning (as a witness,
ruling party said it was wrong to treat gdp $8bn.) Before his assassination last month rather than a suspect) Raimbek Matraimov,
as the truth like the “Bible, Ramayana or he told journalists from Kloop, a Kyrgyz a former deputy head of the customs ser-
Mahabharat”. Unfortunately, many econo- website, Radio Free Europe, an American- vice whom Saimaiti had accused of playing
mists now agree with him—doubt in the funded news outlet, and the Organised a part in the scheme. He denies any wrong-
veracity of the official figure has grown Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a doing, as does his brother, the governor of a
since a new methodology was introduced charity, that he had done so with the con- district bordering Uzbekistan where much
in 2015. Arvind Subramanian, who previ- nivance of Kyrgyz officials. Ordinary Kyr- of the smuggling is alleged to have oc-
ously served as the government’s chief eco- gyz are asking how such a huge scam could curred. The customs service, meanwhile,
nomic adviser, has argued that India’s have occurred under two presidents who has denied that Kyrgyz taxpayers have lost
growth may have been overstated by 2.5 styled themselves as corruption-busters. any money at all as a result of any laxity or 1
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Asia 37

2 corruption on its part. president’s “personal backing”, although Freedom of speech in Singapore
Nonetheless, another of Mr Matrai- he was dismissed from the customs service
mov’s brothers, an mp, has reluctantly the day before Mr Atambayev left office, in False witness
stepped down from the parliamentary 2017.) As it was, Kyrgyz politics was in
committee formed to investigate Saimaiti’s uproar due to the arrest of Mr Atambayev,
murder. Police have arrested on suspicion who is alleged to have helped a mafia boss
of corruption Erkin Sopokov, the consul in secure early release from prison—a claim
SINGAPORE
Istanbul when Saimaiti died, after his car he dismisses as an effort by Mr Jeyenbekov
A tough new law bolsters ministers in
was found near the scene of the shooting. to smear him.
their quest for truth
Politicians have started blaming one Street protests have toppled govern-
another for the scandal. Sooronbay Jeyen-
bekov, the president, is trying to shrug off
Mr Matraimov’s enthusiastic support for
ments twice recently in Kyrgyzstan, in
2005 and 2010. Inevitably, protesters have
taken to the streets again, although only in
“F acebook is legally required to tell
you that the Singapore government
says this post has false information,” reads
his election campaign in 2017. His prede- the hundreds so far. Whatever the truth of the message, which links to a government
cessor, Almazbek Atambayev, is trying to the various allegations, the feud between website. It appeared on November 30th on
explain how the smuggling ring became es- the two presidents and the steady flow of a post published by the States Times Re-
tablished on his watch. (Mr Matraimov scandals do not make anyone in govern- view, a blog which delights in hectoring the
once boasted of having enjoyed the ex- ment look good. 7 Singaporean authorities. The post alleged
that the country’s elections are rigged and
that the next one could “possibly turn Sin-
Measles in Samoa
gapore into a Christian state”.
Red alert The idea that the ruling People’s Action
Party is trying to turn Singapore into a the-
ocracy is absurd—even “scurrilous”, as the
W E LLI N GTO N
government put it. (The contention that it
The anti-vax movement causes an epidemic
rigs elections is more defensible, although

S amoa’s streets are silent. The only

busy spots are the country’s hospitals,
where fearful families queue for vaccina-
Such responses prompted the govern-
ment to make vaccination mandatory.
The prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele
it does so not by stuffing ballot boxes, but
by making life difficult for its critics and
threatening adverse consequences for ar-
tions. An epidemic of the measles has so Malielegaoi, has called on village coun- eas that vote for the opposition. It has won
far produced 4,000 infections and 60 cils, faith-based organisations and every general election in the past 60 years.)
deaths, in a country of 200,000 people. church leaders, among others, to per- The government, deeming the post
The government has announced a state suade the hold-outs. The authorities say false, asked its founder, who lives in Aus-
of emergency, closed all schools and 65,000 people been vaccinated in recent tralia, to publish a correction notice under
banned private vehicles from the roads. days, and the government aims to bring the Prevention from Online Falsehoods
People have been told to stay in their the rate to 90% within 48 hours. and Manipulation Act (pofma), which
homes, and hang red cloths in front of The crisis offers clear proof of the came into effect in October. He refused,
them to indicate the presence of unvacci- dangers of anti-vax propaganda. Al- noting that the Australian authorities had
nated residents. Mobile vaccination though the outbreak probably originated not asked him to remove anything, but
units are touring the country in a manda- in New Zealand, where many Samoans thanked the Singaporean government for
tory mass inoculation campaign. live, and has spread to neighbouring Fiji, boosting traffic to his site. Officials had
Measles has spread so rapidly in neither of those countries has suffered more luck with Facebook, which made the
Samoa because only a small proportion nearly so serious an epidemic because notice visible to users in Singapore. States
of children has been vaccinated. The vaccination rates are much higher. Fiji Times Review’s website is blocked in Sin-
World Health Organisation estimates also provides a lesson in how deadly gapore, so Facebook is its chief means of
that just 31% of infants received the measles can be. In 1875 an outbreak there reaching people there.
vaccine in 2018, down from 90% in 2013. killed a quarter of the population. The episode was not pofma’s only out-
Distrust of the health system was fuelled ing in recent weeks. The finance minister,
by the death last year of two babies who Heng Swee Keat, who is widely expected to
had mistakenly been administered a become the next prime minister, decided
muscle relaxant along with the vaccine. to invoke it against an obscure opposition
In response, the government put measles politician, Brad Bowyer, who had ques-
vaccinations on hold. Anti-vax activists tioned the independence and investment
spread false rumours that hospitals were nous of Singapore’s sovereign-wealth
using faulty or expired vaccines and, as funds. Mr Bowyer’s post had indeed con-
in other countries, repeated the de- tained errors, on which the authorities
bunked claim that immunisation is seized. But its main contention—that the
linked to autism. government’s investments were not as well
Although the nurses responsible for managed as they could be—is clearly a sub-
the botched vaccinations were tried and jective matter.
imprisoned, many Samoans remained The hubbub over the two orders relates
suspicious. Some responded to the out- more to the display of pofma’s powers than
break by praying instead of seeking to the details of the posts themselves. The
vaccination or treatment, or by adminis- law aims “to prevent the electronic com-
tering traditional remedies, such as munication in Singapore of false state-
oiling the red blotchy skin that is a symp- ments of fact” and “to suppress support for
tom of the disease. Better late than never and counteract the effects of such commu-
nication”, among other things. It allows 1
38 Asia The Economist December 7th 2019

2 any minister, upon declaring a particular fines of S$100,000 ($73,000) or both. So- outspoken figures. Singapore sits below
statement to be false, to order its removal cial-media firms face fines of up to S$1m. Russia, Afghanistan and many of its own
or correction. A special pofma office ad- Human rights groups, a un Special Rap- neighbours in the latest ranking of press
vises ministers on how best to act. It also porteur and a cluster of tech firms have all freedom compiled by Reporters Without
offers codes of practice to digital platforms. opposed pofma. Its vast scope—from priv- Borders, a watchdog.
The accused can only seek recourse at ate group messages to online videos and Sending fabricated messages was al-
the High Court after the minister in ques- beyond—is a particular concern. And it ready a crime under the Telecommunica-
tion has rejected an appeal (which costs joins a host of other legislation which al- tions Act. But pofma offers the govern-
about $150). The court can then rule on ready keeps critics in check. The country’s ment ways to respond to criticism it deems
whether the original statement was indeed constitution limits free speech with “such unreasonable faster and in a (slightly) less
misleading. Individuals found guilty of ig- restrictions as it considers necessary or ex- heavy-handed manner. Facebook has said
noring correction orders or of deliberately pedient”. Contempt-of-court law has been that it hopes the law will not impinge on
spreading lies face criminal penalties, in- used to target the odd journalist, cartoonist free expression. To say it already has would
cluding prison terms of up to ten years, or blogger. Defamation cases trouble other presumably attract a pofma order. 7

Banyan Tight bulb moment

How food is a fulcrum in South Asian politics

I n south asia the ruling classes ignore

the quotidian at their peril. Just ask
them about onions. This autumn the
blamed for those too.
In South Asia, a region riven by geopo-
litical faultlines, there are international
often relish their political enmity over
the huge potential benefits from trade.
However, such is India’s onion crisis, it,
humble bulb has challenged titans. implications. Upon hearing of Mr Modi’s too, is turning to Pakistan.
The trouble began when unseason- export ban, Bangladesh’s strongwoman, Though such decisions are taken at
ably heavy rains followed drought across Sheikh Hasina Wajed, admonished his the highest level, it is too much to think
the onion-growing belt of north and government for giving no warning. Her that this welcome outbreak of onion
central India. That not only all but de- country counts on Indian onions, whose diplomacy can lay South Asia’s old antag-
stroyed the crop; the wet caused more price at one point had risen fivefold in the onisms to rest. Even at home, Indian
than a third of onions in storage to rot. markets of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital. politicians are blind to some obvious
The result is a severe shortage of onions She had, she claimed, been forced to tell conclusions from the crisis, however
across India, as a result of which prices her own chef to cook without onions, no much their fate is tied to the markets for
more than tripled. small or easy thing. farm produce. Though the bjp reacts
This hardly threatens famine—some- Bangladesh immediately tendered for quickly to market stress, politicians have
thing the green revolution abolished imports to be airlifted from Egypt, Turkey done far too little to encourage decent
decades ago by boosting wheat and rice and, notably, from Pakistan. Trade be- agricultural warehousing. A conse-
yields. Yet remove the onion and you tween the two countries has been negligi- quence is that staggering proportions of
struggle to imagine Indian cuisine. It ble since Bangladesh split from Pakistan in vegetables and fruit (and even pulses and
forms the base for curries and biryanis. a terrible war in 1971. Relations have been grain) end up spoiled. The impediments
When a poor Indian has nothing else to especially strained over the recent convic- to trade and poor storage mean that even
eat, at least she has an onion with a cha- tions and executions for war crimes of modest changes in supply and demand
pati or two. pro-Pakistan Bangladeshis. So the ap- lead to wild swings in prices. An onion
The onion crisis has hit both the proach to Pakistan hinted at the govern- glut last year, for instance, prompted
farmers and urban consumers of north ment’s desperation. calls for aid for farmers.
India, the political heartland of the Despite a long, shared land border, There is perhaps karmic justice in the
prime minister, Narendra Modi, and his trade between Pakistan and India is also prospect of Mr Modi suffering politically
Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp). In the past, lamentably small. The two countries too over onions. For reasons of cynical elec-
state and even national governments toral advantage, he and his closest advis-
have fallen over onions: Indira Gandhi’s ers have chosen heavily to politicise one
return to power in 1980 was assisted by specific food choice above all: the con-
an election campaign that equated high sumption of beef, a practice shunned by
onion prices with economic mismanage- most Hindus, who consider cows to be
ment. Mr Modi, who faces growing eco- sacred. The Hindu-chauvinist bjp has
nomic problems, is surely aware of the turned the cow into a marker of good
perils. In late September his government Indians (Hindus) and bad (Muslims,
slapped a ban on exports of onions. That Christians and the godless). That has
briefly brought down prices, helping helped the bjp consolidate power across
consumers. But it has angered farmers India—and led to lynchings of those
and exporters in Gujarat, Maharashtra accused of killing cows or trafficking in
and Karnataka, for whom onions are an their meat. Vegetarianism was once, as
essential cash crop. For the bjp these are Shikha Mukerjee, a writer based in Kol-
key battleground states. And when onion kata, puts it, a matter of culture and
prices are high another problem choice. Mr Modi and his gang have made
emerges—organised gangs of allium it a centrepiece of politics. Shed only
thieves. The government risks getting onion tears at his current discomfort.
 Beethoven’s anniversary/US elections/Mars missions/Europe reconfigured/
Nuclear angst/China’s target/Tokyo Olympics/The splinternet/Climate crunch/
One Africa/AI visions/Dubai’s World Expo/Global money/Post-election Britain/
Indigenous art/Euro 2020/The world economy/Fintech disruptors/Putin’s plan/

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 The Economist December 7th 2019 41
China

China and the United Nations pear to have two main aims. One is to create
a safe space for the Chinese Communist
A new battleground Party by ensuring that other countries do
not criticise its rule. The country has long
bristled at any such “interference”. Its offi-
cials are now becoming tougher in their re-
sponse. China’s other objective is to inject
wording into un documents that echoes
N E W YO R K
the language of the country’s leader, Xi
China’s un diplomats use threats and blandishments to promote their worldview
Jinping. China is trying to “make Chinese
China’s actions in Xinjiang as an enlight- policies un policies,” says a diplomat on
D espite its veto-wielding power in the
United Nations, China has long been
reluctant to stick its neck out. It has been
ened effort to fight terrorism and eradicate
religious extremism. 
the un Security Council.
China senses that President Donald
20 years since it last stood alone in exercis- There were threats and reprisals, too. Trump’s aversion to multilateral institu-
ing that right. But in the un’s backrooms, Chinese diplomats are said to have told tions such as the un has given it more room
the country’s diplomats are showing great- Austrian counterparts that if their country to manoeuvre in them. Since Mr Xi took of-
er willingness to flex muscle, and their were to sign Britain’s statement, the Austri- fice in 2012 the country has dramatically in-
Western counterparts to fight back. Not an government would not get land it want- creased its spending at the un. It is now the
since the cold war has the organisation be- ed for a new embassy in Beijing. The Austri- second-largest contributor, after America,
come such a battleground for competing ans signed anyway. Chinese officials to both the general budget and the peace-
visions of the international order. cancelled a bilateral event in Beijing with keeping one. It has also secured leading
A struggle in October over China’s mass Albania, another of the signatories. “A lot of roles for its diplomats in several un bodies,
internment of Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic countries came under a lot of pressure to- including the Rome-based Food and Agri-
minority, suggests how intense the fight day,” tweeted Jonathan Allen, Britain’s dep- culture Organisation (beating a candidate
has become. It involved Britain taking an uty ambassador to the un, on the day of his backed by America, to many people’s sur-
unusual leading role in condemning Chi- country’s statement. “But we must stand prise). Next year the country will join the
na’s human-rights record. The British rep- up for our values and for human rights.”  three-member Board of Auditors, which
resentative at the un, Karen Pierce, issued a China’s efforts span a broad range of un keeps an eye on the un’s accounts. 
statement, signed by 22 other countries in- activity, from human rights to matters re- The senior jobs being taken by China’s
cluding America, calling for unfettered un lating to economic development. They ap- diplomats are mostly boring ones in insti-
access to the prison camps in China’s far- tutions that few countries care much
western region of Xinjiang. A diplomatic about. But each post gives China control of
Also in this section
brawl ensued. Chinese diplomats persuad- tiny levers of bureaucratic power as well as
ed dozens of authoritarian countries, in- 42 Borderland tourism the ability to dispense favours. “Each one
cluding mostly Muslim ones in the Middle of these slots has influence with somebody
44 Chaguan: Procreation needed
East, to sign a counter-statement praising somewhere,” says a European diplomat. 1
42 China The Economist December 7th 2019

2 When votes are taken on matters China re- Borderland tourism it on motorboats. “Fifty years ago, Zhenbao
gards as important, its diplomats often use island was a global centre of attention,”
a blunt transactional approach—offering Tense times says an elderly tourist from the southern
financing for projects, or threatening to city of Guangzhou. He says he wanted to
turn off the tap. This buys China clout, if recalled visit because the fighting in 1969 was “Chi-
not affection, other diplomats say. na’s first victory over the Soviet Union”.
Mr Xi’s influence is evident. Much of the China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and his Rus-
MISHAN
language that Chinese officials try to insert sian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, say
Along the China-Russia border,
into un documents uses his catchphrases, growing tourism between the two coun-
tourists flock to reminisce
such as “win-win co-operation” and “a tries is helping to strengthen their ties. In
community with a shared future for man-
kind” (keep your hands off China, is the un-
derlying sentiment). For three years in a
E very year an elderly retiree brings doz-
ens of his friends to a wind-swept cus-
toms post at Mishan on China’s side of the
2018 China received 2.2m Russian tourists
while 1.7m Chinese went the other way. But
these numbers are small compared with
row, Chinese diplomats managed to inject country’s border with Russia. “There is China’s total inbound and outbound flows,
favourable references to Mr Xi’s Belt and nothing to see or do here,” says the man, and contribute little to visitor statistics at
Road Initiative (bri), a “win-win” global in- who goes by the name “Old Jiang”. He is not China’s official tourist sites along the bor-
frastructure-building scheme, into resolu- entirely right. Not far away, the border runs der. Chinese firms and local governments
tions on Afghanistan. They have persuaded through a large, picturesque lake. A dis- have been pouring money into developing
senior un officials, including the secre- used bridge is described as the world’s such tourist spots, but the main targets are
tary-general, António Gutteres, to praise smallest connecting two countries. And domestic travellers. There are plenty of
the bri in speeches as a model for global busloads of visitors arrive every day, many Russian visitors to China’s border towns.
development. In 2018 China convinced the drawn by memories of a not-so-distant his- But they do not head to the main sightsee-
un Human Rights Council in Geneva (from tory and curiosity about “the very exis- ing attractions. They usually come carrying
which America withdrew later that year) to tence” of the post, as Mr Jiang puts it. large bags, to shop for cheap goods.
endorse its preferred approach of “promot- Such a symbol of normal interaction Farther north along the Ussuri river, at
ing mutually beneficial co-operation” in once could not have existed. In 1969 Jixi its confluence with the Amur, lies Heixiazi,
this field, ie, refraining from criticism. prefecture, to which Mishan belongs, was or Bolshoy Ussuriysky in Russian, a 350-
More than merely language is involved. the scene of border skirmishes between square-kilometre island which the two
In 2017 China sought successfully to cut China and the Soviet Union that many ob- countries agreed to divide between them in
funding for a job intended to ensure that all servers feared could escalate into war. The 2004 (marker posts are pictured). On its
of the un’s agencies and programmes pro- little bridge was built three years later to fa- side, China built a nature reserve that at-
mote human rights. That same year Wu cilitate talks, but it was not until the late tracts around 600,000 tourists a year, al-
Hongbo, a Chinese diplomat who was then 1980s that the two countries made peace. In most all Chinese. Also on the Chinese half
in charge of the un Department of Eco- 1991 the Soviet Union agreed to let China is an abandoned tin-roofed Russian mili-
nomic and Social Affairs, expelled Dolkun keep the river island known in Russian as tary post, preserved to demonstrate that
Isa, a Uighur activist, from a un forum to Damansky and in Chinese as Zhenbao, over China managed to prise back some of its
which Mr Isa was an invited delegate, rep- which the clashes began. Today China and territory. Plans by Russian and Chinese
resenting a German ngo (Mr Isa was even- Russia describe each other as best friends. firms to develop the Russian side for tou-
tually let back in after protests from Ameri- In recent years sites that recall those rism have failed to come together. In 2012
can and German diplomats). Mr Wu, whose nail-biting days of Sino-Soviet hostility China completed a 1.6km road bridge link-
post required him to be non-partisan, later have become tourist attractions. Zhenbao ing its part of the island with the Chinese
boasted about his actions on Chinese state is under military administration, so tour- shore. For now, Russians can only reach
television. “We have to strongly defend the ists are sometimes barred from the island their side by ferry. In reaping the dividends
motherland’s interests,” he said. itself (foreigners all the more so). But Chi- of peace, China faces little competition
Opposition to China’s more assertive nese visitors can pay to be whizzed around from its one-time adversary. 7
approach may grow. “I think they are over-
doing it and I think at some stage people
will start to resist,” says the Security Coun-
cil diplomat. But some others at the un do
not share that view. Smaller states in Africa
and the Middle East, many of them dicta-
torships, resent America’s post-cold-war
dominance of the un. Why should China
not push back, asks a diplomat from one
country in that part of the world. The envoy
says that countries may be subjected to
pressure from China when it wants some-
thing, but that America, albeit not as blunt,
can also be transactional. Some smaller
countries may welcome having two great
powers competing for their favour again.
“There’s a degree of hypocrisy about it,”
says Richard Gowan of the International
Crisis Group, a conflict-prevention ngo. “It
would be weird to imagine that China as a
rising power wouldn’t want a bigger stake
in the multilateral system.” Few would
imagine that now. 7 Next year’s summer holiday, anyone?
The gift that keeps on giving

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44 China The Economist December 7th 2019

Chaguan Mark it with “B”

If China wants a baby boom it should stop punishing people who have lots of children
ary Chinese challenge the party line that decades of harsh popula-
tion controls were necessary. Cai Zhiqi, a scientist who runs a
chemicals company in the coastal city of Yantai, is a striking case
in point. His own life is neatly bookended by the one-child policy.
Born in 1979, the year before the policy began, he recalls a cheerful
rural upbringing as one of three children. “Though we were poor,
the house was full of joy,” he says. When his wife, another scien-
tist, fell pregnant with a second daughter in 2010, they resolved to
keep her, applying for birth papers without mentioning a first girl
born while Mr Cai was studying in America. Alas, in 2012 someone
reported him to his employers, the South China University of
Technology. In vain his lawyer cited official guidance suggesting
that Chinese who studied overseas were allowed two children. Mr
Cai was fired as an associate professor for having a second child.
Just three weeks later China relaxed the one-child limit as a pre-
lude to eventually scrapping it.
An amiable host, Mr Cai shows Chaguan his laboratories, and
points out the schools attended by his young children, amid the
skyscrapers and building sites of Yantai’s Economic Development
Zone. “Like in Harry Potter,” he beams, gesturing at a castle-like bi-
lingual academy. He has three children now. In Yantai the fine for a
third is about 300,000 yuan ($42,000) per rule-breaking couple,

T o mark the 70th anniversary in October of the People’s Repub-

lic of China, a giant parade trundled through Tiananmen
Square filled with symbols of what President Xi Jinping, the coun-
but officials have not sent Mr Cai a bill. “Among my peers now, es-
pecially private entrepreneurs, quite a few have three children,” he
says. “If you want to have more children you pay some fines.” Still,
try’s leader, calls the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. he does not question why China’s founders imposed birth limits
The two most important ones, Chaguan would argue, were a on a poor, agricultural country. Despite losing his own case, he
squadron of nuclear-missile launchers and a float showing a mod- says he understands China’s family-planning policy.
el family in their apartment, comprising two parents and two
daughters winsomely playing pat-a-cake. A cruel and unnecessary experiment in social control
Nearly four years after China scrapped its one-child policy, the Many scholars are less forgiving. Wang Feng of the University of
harshly enforced system that between 1980 and 2016 limited most California, Irvine, accuses defenders of the one-child policy of
urban families to a single child, and many rural folk to two, Com- confecting a common official claim, namely that the policy “avert-
munist Party bosses are assiduously promoting two-child families ed” 400m births. In fact, says the professor, that projection is
as an ideal. From Liaoning to Hubei, provinces are discussing sub- based on sky-high fertility rates from 1970—just before a decade of
sidies and services to support babymaking. It is not working. Chi- precipitous fall that preceded the one-child policy. In fact, he says,
na’s fertility rate is among the world’s lowest, and far below what is most of China’s decline in fertility rates happened in the 1970s and
needed to maintain a stable population. The country is greying was caused by such forces as urbanisation and women’s educa-
fast: the number of working-age people began shrinking in 2012, tion, which led to very similar changes in other Asian nations like
years earlier than expected. It is a complex problem. But one cause Thailand and South Korea that eschewed mandatory limits on
is that officials are too stubborn and controlling to accept that tin- births. What can be said is that China’s policy produced a lot of
kering with quotas is not enough. They should stop setting them at one-child families—today the country has about 150m of them—
all. Enforcement is now uneven and arbitrary, but some Chinese and perhaps tens of millions of abortions and sterilisations, many
parents are still being punished for having a third child. of them involuntary. Corrupt and brutal family-planning officials
Public opinion is increasingly divided by such coercive meth- demolished the homes of some who resisted. Women had their
ods. The case of Xie Zhengling, a schoolteacher from the southern menstrual cycles recorded on blackboards, for all to see. As birth
city of Yunfu, made national headlines last month. According to quotas bit, gender ratios became more skewed by infanticide and
government documents posted online by supporters, Ms Xie was sex-selective abortions of girls. China now has 30m fewer women
urged three times by local education officials to “take measures to than men. The country has ended up with roughly the population
correct”—ie, terminate—her third pregnancy. Their last attempt it would have had in any case, but via an exceptionally cruel route.
came in the month before she gave birth, despite her pleas that her Still the machine grinds on. While in Yantai, Chaguan dropped
unborn child was “too big” to abort. Ms Xie gave birth in January. in on a population bureau unannounced. A visibly bored official, a
Both she and her husband, a policeman, were fired, as is the rule Mr Zhao, recalled how once upon a time, an extra birth would
for civil servants who exceed birth quotas. On Weibo, a micro-blog- prompt a team to race out and “knock on the door immediately to
ging platform, articles tagged “A policeman was sacked because his collect fines”. His office has not imposed such a penalty in “a few
wife had a third kid” have been read over 9m times. Some netizens years”. Still, he was firm when asked about the case involving the
express sympathy, noting that the couple were heeding govern- schoolteacher in Yunfu. “According to the regulations, that is how
ment calls to have children. Others argue that public servants en- it should be.” That bullying mindset is both deeply entrenched and
joy privileged access to many services so should expect no pity. disastrous for China. It is hard to have a national rejuvenation
This heated debate is revealing, because it is rare to hear ordin- without more babies. 7
 New
SPECIAL
REPORT:
stripes
Asian tigers
→ December 7th 2019
3 Reinventing themselves
4 Changes in global trade
6 Learning to innovate
8 Social unrest
9 Does democracy help?
10 Growing old
12 Future directions
Data has a story to tell.
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 The Economist December 7th 2019 3
Special report Asian tigers

Still hunting

After half a century of success, the Asian tigers must reinvent themselves,
say Simon Rabinovitch and Simon Cox
soon become the fourth tiger to overtake Japan, its former imperial
T he four Asian tigers—Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and
Taiwan—once fascinated the economic world. From the early
1960s until the 1990s, they regularly achieved double-digit growth.
ruler and economic mentor.
They have also gained ground on America. Singapore passed it
A generation that had toiled as farmers and labourers watched in the 1990s; Hong Kong drew level in 2013; and the other two have
their grandchildren become some of the most educated people on narrowed the gap. Indeed, in the past five years (2013-18), the gdp
the planet. The tigers started by making cotton shirts, plastic flow- per person of Singapore and Hong Kong has grown faster than ev-
ers and black wigs. Before long, they were producing memory ery country above them in the income rankings. With a couple of
chips, laptops and equity derivatives. In the process they also exceptions, the same is true of Taiwan and South Korea.
spawned a boisterous academic debate about the source of their In their economic maturity, the tigers merit renewed attention.
success. Some attributed it to the anvil of government direction; They face many of the same issues that bedevil the West: how to
others to the furnace of competitive markets. mitigate inequality; how to gin up productivity; how to cope with
Then the world turned away. The Asian financial crisis de- ageing; and how to strike a balance between America and China.
stroyed their mystique. China became the new development star, They do not have all the answers, but they do have novel, albeit
even if, to a certain extent, it followed their lead. The tigers them- sometimes foolish, approaches that are in themselves instructive.
selves seemed to lose their stride. This year America is on track to
grow more quickly than all four of them. Little dragons
They all have seemingly intractable problems: stagnant wages This special report will examine the changing nature of the tigers’
in Taiwan, the dominance of big business in South Korea, an un- economies and make four big claims. The first is that many of the
derclass of cheap imported workers in Singapore and, most explo- tigers’ problems result from economic success, not failure. They
sive, a government in Hong Kong that will not, or cannot, listen to have defended their global export share for years, despite steady
its people. increases in labour and land costs. Now, though, they will struggle
But it is a mistake to write off the tigers. A closer look at their to expand their exports faster than global demand itself. They have
economic record shows that, contrary to the gloom that some- also reached the technological frontier in many industries. That
times pervades them, they have much to boast about. The trajec- makes further improvement harder: they are no longer catching
tory of their gdp per person, calculated at purchasing-power pari- up with global best practices but trying to reinvent them.
ty, has remained impressive (see chart overleaf). They blew past Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father, once claimed that
the supposed middle-income trap long ago. And South Korea will harmony and stability are chief among “Asian values”. The tigers 1
4 Special report Asian tigers The Economist December 7th 2019

2 still cherish these things (who doesn’t?), but many of their citizens tions; one is a territory of China; the other exists in a diplomatic
see fairness as a precondition for both. That observation leads to netherworld. Taiwan and South Korea are fierce democracies;
this report’s second big claim: when a sophisticated citizenry as- Hong Kong and Singapore trust their electorates less. Two still rely
pires to democracy, frustrating that aspiration can be imprudent on manufacturing; two are now high-end service providers.
as well as unjust. Some argue that the blustery politics of Taiwan Yet for all these differences, there is much they have in com-
and South Korea—complete with high-profile corruption cases, mon. They are among the world’s most open trading economies,
parliamentary fisticuffs and fiercely partisan media—have hin- with all the volatility that implies. They have nonetheless main-
dered their growth. But a proper examination of the tigers’ record tained high rates of employment and thrift, even as their living
does not support that argument. Instead, what has become clear in standards have improved. They are, to varying degrees, caught be-
Hong Kong is that a lack of democracy is a grave liability, sowing tween China and America. And all four are faced with complex so-
dissatisfaction and mistrust. cial problems that stem from their remarkable growth over the
Third, the tigers’ thin welfare states have also become a hin- past half-century. The four tigers have achieved prosperity with-
drance. Their leaders have traditionally worried that redistribu- out complacency, wealth without repose. Their efforts to remain
tion and social spending would sap their populations’ motivation in front are not guaranteed to be successful. But they are guaran-
to work. But social insecurity instead risks sapping their popula- teed to be fascinating. 7
tions’ willingness to embrace technological change. As the tigers’
populations get older, their governments also face more pressure
to spend on pensions and health care. And they need to alleviate
Global trade
the economic burdens that dissuade young people from having
children. The tigers’ growth-obsessed “developmental states”
must, in short, become growth-friendly welfare states.
Finally, the tigers are important as economic bellwethers for
Welcome to the jungle
the rest of the world. They are unusually exposed to deep global cy-
cles: in technology, finance and geopolitics. The manufacturing ti-
gers have dominated narrow slices of the technological supply
chain, focusing on techniques and chips that are vital for high-
It has become harder to prosper through exports
speed 5g telecoms networks and “big-data” processing. Hong Kong
and Singapore, meanwhile, have positioned themselves as finan-
cial bridges between China and the world, making them highly
sensitive both to China’s success and its stumbles. And all four of
B onnie tu is laughing. She just discovered the crisp red “Make
America Great Again” hat that a colleague left on her desk as a
joke. The chairwoman of Giant, the world’s biggest bike manufac-
the tigers depend on the maintenance of geopolitical calm as turer, is no fan of Donald Trump. His tariffs have messed with her
America, the incumbent superpower, adjusts to a new rival. supply chains and driven up costs. “It’s a tax on biking, the healthi-
These cycles can be difficult to manage—even in an upswing. est activity in the world,” bemoans the feisty 70-year-old, an avid
Booms in finance and technology can concentrate wealth in a few cyclist herself. In response, Giant has scaled back production in
hands, such as South Korea’s chaebol chipmakers or Hong Kong’s China and ramped up in Taiwan. “We had no choice,” she says.
property tycoons. On the downside, the threats are even greater. Giant is not alone. Scores of Taiwanese companies have come
Twice in the past quarter-century the tigers have been rocked by fi- back recently, including Compal, a computer manufacturer; Delta
nancial crises. The long boom in demand for semiconductors in Electronics, a power-component supplier; and Long Chen, a paper
smartphones and computers has recently turned, hurting South company. In 2018 the government launched the “Invest Taiwan”
Korea and Taiwan. But it is the geopolitical challenge that most office, promising low-cost loans for companies’ relocation ex-
worries them now: a “new cold war” between China and America penses. It has already accepted applications from over 150 firms.
would shake the foundations of the tigers’ prosperity and security. All this might make it sound like Taiwan has benefited from the
Methodologically, this special report begs an obvious question. trade war. Singapore and South Korea have also gained market
Does it make sense to lump the tigers together? Two are cities; the share in America at China’s expense. But it would be a mistake to
others decent-sized countries (Taiwan’s population exceeds 20m; conclude that the trade war is good for the tigers. Overall, it hurts.
South Korea’s 50m). Two are sovereign members of the United Na- It is disrupting three things on which they intimately depend: an
open global trading system, their Asia-based production networks
and their biggest market, China. Goldman Sachs analysts looked at
how 13 economies in Asia were faring relative to their potential
Overtaking Japan this year; the Asian tigers occupied four of the five bottom slots.
GDP per person* as % of United States That trade friction should unsettle them is only natural. Ex-
150 ports, after all, have been at the heart of their post-war success.
South Korea began with tinplate, plywood and textiles. Its export-
Singapore
125 ers benefited from cheap credit, exemptions from import duties
Hong and a devaluation of the won in 1964 (ironically, urged on it by
Kong 100 America). From February 1965 until his assassination in 1979, Pres-
ident Park Chung-hee attended nearly every monthly meeting of
75
Japan
the country’s export-promotion committee, sampling products
Taiwan
50 and rallying businessmen over lunch. He cried when South Korea’s
South Korea
exports exceeded $100m in 1964, declaring a national holiday
25 known as “export day” (later renamed “trade day”).
Taiwan also started with cheap credit and tax breaks for export-
0 ers. Entrepreneurs soon emerged. Ms Tu remembers her uncle,
1970 75 80 85 90 95 2000 05 10 15 17 King Liu, founder of Giant, remarking with astonishment in 1972
Source: Penn World Table *At purchasing-power parity that “Americans are bringing cash here to buy bikes”. He soon 1
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Special report Asian tigers 5

2 found that local Taiwanese suppliers were

not reliable: rubber tyres had a habit of fall-
ing off rims. So Mr Liu travelled around the
island to persuade other manufacturers
that they would all fare better if they ad-
hered to the same dimensions.
Singapore and Hong Kong are often seen
as entrepots. But they, too, were once exem-
plars of labour-intensive manufacturing.
For a time, in the 1970s, Hong Kong was the
world’s biggest toy producer. When Singa-
pore became independent in 1965, it
pitched itself as a base of production. Rival-
ry with Hong Kong was there from the out-
set: one of Singapore’s first big catches was
ge, which chose to set up a clock-radio fac-
tory in the city-state, worried that the vio-
lence of China’s Cultural Revolution might
spill over to Hong Kong.
Even as the tigers have grown far
wealthier, exports have remained part of
their dna. Their companies became more
sophisticated over time, prodded by their
governments (which were themselves of-
ten prodded by ambitious industrialists).
In South Korea, after a decade of success in
light industry, officials promoted heavier Every day is export day in South Korea
industries, such as shipbuilding and chem-
icals. Taiwan created science parks for advanced industries from They have also ridden on China’s coat-tails. As firms have clus-
optoelectronics to semiconductors. Singapore established a Na- tered together in China, Asia as a whole has become a more pow-
tional Computer Board in 1981 to train high-tech workers. erful manufacturing region. Asia’s share of the global trade in parts
Much of the world has lost ground to China over the past 20 and components rose from 19% to 30% between 2000 and 2016.
years. Yet the tigers’ share of global merchandise exports has been Mainland China is home to four of the world’s seven busiest con-
steady at 10% (see chart). Japan, their erstwhile mentor, has seen tainer ports; the others are in Singapore, Busan and Hong Kong.
its share fall to less than 4%, half what it was in 2000. Both Singapore and Hong Kong have strengthened their roles as
Like other wealthy economies, they have shifted much of their the management hubs of “Factory Asia”. More than 4,000 compa-
basic manufacturing to China. Most emblematic is Foxconn, a Tai- nies have chosen Singapore as a regional headquarters, often to
wanese electronics company known now as the main assembler of oversee South-East Asia. Hong Kong has fewer, with roughly 1,500
iPhones. It opened its first plant in China in 1988; 30 years later it headquarters, but it has been far more successful than Singapore
employs roughly 1m people there. But as they offloaded low-end at luring Chinese companies to its stock exchange. Its stockmarket
work to China, the tigers moved upstream. South Korea is the is worth more than $4trn; Singapore’s is closer to $700bn.
world’s biggest maker of memory chips. Taiwan has the biggest ca- All these connections, however enriching, create vulnerabili-
pacity for fabricating semiconductors. As a result, they each ac- ties. America’s trade war is intended to inflict pain on China. But
count for more than 12% of China’s final demand for electronic and the tigers are, in many ways, more exposed to the damage because
computer products, twice as much as any other trade partner. They they are smaller and more open. In China, exports are worth about
are, put simply, making things that China cannot. 20% of gdp. In South Korea it is more like 45%; in Taiwan, 65%; and
in Singapore and Hong Kong, closer to 200%.
In tearing supply chains asunder, Mr Trump’s tactics pose a par-
ticular danger to the tigers’ cosmopolitan model of manufactur-
Holding their own ing. They remain highly dependent on inputs from other coun-
Share of global merchandise exports, % tries. They also serve an ecumenical range of clients, including
50 some whom the Americans distrust. Taiwanese foundries produce
chips for top American firms but also for Huawei, the Chinese tele-
40 coms giant that Americans accuse of spying. “We are everyone’s
China foundry. We exclude no one,” says an official at tsmc.
Japan Faced with all the uncertainty, the tigers have a couple of op-
30
tions. One is to diversify their customers and their products. Tai-
United States wan has long pushed its companies to explore emerging markets
20
other than China. South Korea’s government is keen to promote a
Germany wider range of products. On the most recent “trade day”, President
10 Moon Jae-in of South Korea applauded new industries such as
Four Asian Tigers
electrical vehicles and robots.
0 Another response is to try to patch up the global trading order.
1986 90 95 2000 05 10 15 18 Before 2000 the tigers were party to just five regional trade agree-
Source: WTO ments; they have since joined 49 more. Singapore was an origina- 1
6 Special report Asian tigers The Economist December 7th 2019

2 tor of both the Trans-Pacific Partnership (a trade deal that once International Monetary Fund, traditionally a sceptic, published a
aimed to join America, Japan and ten other Pacific-Rim countries) lengthy paper this year about the success of their government-led
and its supposed rival, the Regional Comprehensive Economic models. But what works for a developing country does not neces-
Partnership, which includes China. It is also among the countries sarily help a wealthy one. In the 1970s, the tigers could follow oth-
working to broker a compromise between China and America that ers. South Korea’s focus on heavy industry borrowed liberally from
will keep the World Trade Organisation functioning. Japan. They could also license advanced technology, as Taiwan did
But the tigers have little ability to dodge a full Sino-American in its semiconductor sector. And they could poach researchers.
clash. Hong Kong is most at risk. Its distinctiveness is recognised
in American law, which treats it as a separate customs territory Progress won’t drive itself
from the rest of China. That means it is a non-combatant in the Now the challenge is different. When officials and entrepreneurs
trade war. But some companies appear to be exploiting this, rout- look ahead, they see only the mists of the future. It might sound
ing goods through Hong Kong middlemen to lower the tariffs they clever to develop national strategies for artificial intelligence or
face. America might yet tighten its scrutiny of goods from the city. quantum computing. But how? There is no technology to copy be-
Problems in Asia can also be home-grown. A political dispute cause it has not been created yet. Genuine innovations are inher-
between South Korea and Japan, rooted in Japan’s occupation of ently difficult to spot in advance. So the game is more about creat-
South Korea in the first half of the 20th century, has morphed into a ing the right conditions for companies to press ahead and to seize
21st-century trade squall. Japan has restricted sales to South Korea on breakthroughs when they arrive.
of materials vital for making semiconductor chips. The global di- The tigers’ plans these days can sometimes sound like old-
vision of labour is so finely sliced that it is difficult for South Kore- fashioned industrial policies. President Tsai Ing-wen in Taiwan
an chipmakers to find close substitutes. has her “5+2 Innovative Industries Plan”, eyeing sectors such as
The upshot of all the turmoil is that it is getting harder for com- green energy and smart machinery. Singapore has its 23 Industry
panies to know where to operate and with whom to trade. At Giant Transformation Maps, covering everything from food manufac-
Ms Tu’s conclusion is that companies need to stick to what they turing to aerospace. South Korea aims to invest 30trn won (more
can control. “We have to focus on efficiency and automation,” she than $25bn) over five years in eight emerging industries, from arti-
says. That quest for efficiency is shared across the tigers. Automa- ficial intelligence to autonomous vehicles.
tion is one way to achieve it. But there are others. 7 But look a little more closely, and the difference with the
schemes of yesteryear becomes clear. These are not top-down ex-
ercises in planning but rather the outcome of deliberations with
companies and experts. And the point is not to recommend subsi-
Innovation
dies for this or that sector but rather to work out what building
blocks are needed. “The process of developing the plan was just as
A sea change important as the final product,” says Gabriel Lim, permanent sec-
retary of Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Some of the elements are obvious: good infrastructure, from
ports to internet; openness to trade; highly educated workforces;
and high spending on research and development (see chart). But
the tigers also have innovative ways to promote innovation.
Governments are steering their economies with a lighter touch
Taiwan has one of the world’s most robust frameworks to en-
courage lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises (smes),
F or an operation that originated in Singapore, it was improb-
ably grim and bloody. Last month Jack and 49 others boarded a
transport aeroplane and parachuted onto an island. Their mission
the kinds of firms that have ideas but few resources. It combines a
centralised information-sharing system about company perfor-
was simple: kill or be killed. Jack picked up grenades and worked mance with a menu of credit guarantees, giving banks more confi-
his way to an abandoned factory. He crouched for safety, thinking dence. “When I explain our system to bankers in other countries,
he had escaped detection. He was wrong. After a hail of bullets, si- you can see them salivate,” says Lee Chang-Ken, president of Ca-
lence descended. Jack had once again failed to pass level one. thay Financial Holdings, Taiwan’s largest financial group. Loans to
Welcome to Free Fire, one of this year’s most downloaded fight- smes now account for 64% of bank loans to private enterprises in 1
ing games for phones. Its developer is Sea Group, an internet com-
pany founded in Singapore a decade ago, now worth $17bn. As well
as its hit game, the group also has an e-commerce app, Shoppee,
which is far more popular in South-East Asia than Amazon. Its suc- Lionised
cess reflects an important shift in the tigers’ economies. Research & development spending, % of GDP
During their boom years, many of their biggest companies were 3.5
outgrowths of government policy. South Korea’s chaebol were Japan
showered with cheap credit and tax breaks. Taiwan’s semiconduc- 3.0
tor champions were spin-offs from an official research institution. United States 2.5
Hong Kong’s tycoons cultivated close ties with officials and bene-
Germany 2.0
fited from its land policies. Singapore’s biggest firms were ulti-
mately owned by the state. Four Asian Tigers
1.5
Sea represents something else. Its success has few direct links
to government policy. Singapore’s technocrats, the authors of 1.0
many detailed economic blueprints, presumably never dreamt of China 0.5
a multiplayer fighting game that includes such characters as a
beauty queen turned arms dealer. Lee Kuan Yew would have been 0
unamused. Officials today are grateful. 1998 2000 2005 10 15 17
Industrial policy was a big factor in the tigers’ take-off. Even the Sources: OECD; United Nations
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Special report Asian tigers 7

chief economist of the Monetary Authority

of Singapore, believes that rich Asian
countries ought to have an advantage in
modernising their service sectors. Given
that so many of their people are trained for
high-tech work, they are well-placed to de-
ploy digital tools to serve the population
more efficiently.

Not keeping up
In Hwaseong, 35km south of Seoul, a newly
built village enjoys 5g network speeds that
would be the envy of any city. Visitors will
find other essential amenities, such as a
school, a car wash and a restaurant offering
chicken’s feet. But lest it sound too appeal-
ing, be warned: the buildings are all fakes.
The counterfeit town, built by the Korean
Automobile Testing and Research Insti-
tute, is used to test autonomous vehicles,
like the Kia car that successfully completed
a circuit one recent afternoon. Reaching
speeds of almost 70kph, the car coped with
flashes of dazzling sunlight and road-
markings that can confuse computer vi-
sion. The technician in the driver’s seat
kept his hands on his chest as the wheel
turned itself.
South Korea has some of the best infra-
structure in the world for autonomous ve-
hicles, including world-class chipmakers
and carmakers, as well as a growing 5g net-
work. The government is supportive, per-
mitting tests on real roads for vehicles that
prove themselves at test sites. Why then is
South Korea ranked only 13th by kpmg, a
Durians and flying taxis in the Lion City consultancy, on a list of countries best pre-
pared for autonomous vehicles?
2 Taiwan, up from 41% in 2005. Singapore has created a large de- One reason is the country’s ambivalence towards other related
monstration factory that gives smes access to state-of-the-art 3d technologies, such as ride-sharing apps. A popular version, Kakao
printing and robotic equipment. Similar facilities exist in Hong Mobility, was vociferously opposed at rallies in Seoul by the driv-
Kong. If an entrepreneur has a brilliant idea, they no longer need a ers of traditional taxis. In protest at the emergence of such apps,
giant dollop of capital to bring it to life. four older drivers have set themselves on fire.
Nevertheless, the tigers’ officials also know their limits. The big Innovation, though glorified by businessmen and policymak-
decisions these days are made in corporate boardrooms: Sam- ers, adds nothing to an economy’s productivity until it is widely
sung’s bet on foldable screens; tsmc’s huge investment in capacity adopted. As Paul David of Stanford University long ago pointed
in Taiwan; the rise of startups like Sea in Singapore; the Hong Kong out, it was not until the 1920s, four decades after Thomas Edison’s
Stock Exchange’s quest to remain Asia’s premier financial market first power station, that manufacturers embraced a killer app for
(even if its bid for the London Stock Exchange was ill-fated). Eco- electricity, designing factories to accommodate dynamo-powered
nomic technocrats now lead from behind. assembly lines.
The tigers have also started to concentrate on the parts of their South Korea’s wariness towards ride-sharing apps highlights
economies that remain far behind the technological frontier. De- the infrastructure in which the tigers are most lacking: well-func-
spite their flair for manufacturing, their service-sector productivi- tioning social-security systems. The key to progress in a new tech-
ty is little more than half that of America, according to some esti- nology, like autonomous vehicles, may not
mates. Part of the reason is the tyranny of small markets: a retail be a better 5g network but a better pension
chain in a country of 6m people is more constrained than one in a system. Without a cushion for those left
market of, say, 1.3bn. But partly it is self-inflicted. South Korea im- The big decisions behind by technological progress, it is
poses high regulatory barriers on its service and network indus- these days are harder to marshal support for that progress
tries—higher than in any other oecd member except Belgium. in the first place.
made in
Singapore has been the boldest in trying to whip its service sec- The tigers have always been good at mo-
tor into shape, from its restaurants to its construction firms. It has corporate bilising resources quickly. They are becom-
refined its gauges for measuring productivity (for example, floor boardrooms ing better at allocating them creatively. But
area completed by a construction worker each day). It identifies as recent signs of social discontent attest,
promising companies and offers help: developing new business some of them now struggle to muster pub-
plans, say, or guiding them abroad to expand. Edward Robinson, lic support effectively. 7
8 Special report Asian tigers The Economist December 7th 2019

But glaring inequality and unaffordable housing are old pro-

Discontent
blems in Hong Kong. They have not prompted mayhem in the past.
Why now? And if economic grievances are driving the protesters,
Tyger, tyger, burning they are remarkably silent about their true motives. They typically
complain about police brutality and the erosion of Hong Kong’s
autonomy before they mention jobs or inequality. “We see the
darkness of the government,” said one protester at the Chinese
University of Hong Kong (cuhk), angered by the shooting of a vo-
cational student on November 11th. Francis Lee of cuhk and his
Social unrest is not proof of economic failure
colleagues surveyed thousands of protesters over the first three

T he molotov cocktails, one blue, one yellow, arrive swaddled

in a towel and wedged in a backpack. Wearing builders’ gloves
and Guy Fawkes masks, the protesters balance them casually on a
months of unrest. Over half identified themselves as middle or up-
per class and about 75% had received a higher education.
China would never admit it, but there is a parallel in Taiwan.
railing, like mixologists in a bar. Then the bricks arrive, piled on a Wages have stagnated for two decades. Housing in Taipei is among
trolley, hidden under a canopy of umbrellas. The protesters spend the least affordable in Asia. But one of Taiwan’s biggest political
a few exultant minutes hurling projectiles and insults down the earthquakes in recent years was the “sunflower” protests of 2014,
stairs of a subway exit at riot police below. A burst of flames adds by students opposed to closer trade links with China. Their cause
drama, and is enough to provoke a response: a canister of tear gas arguably harmed their own economic interests. But it both reflect-
rocketing up the stairs. The protesters disperse, and a row of police ed and fuelled Taiwan’s distinct national identity.
march up behind a tessellation of shields, firing gas as they go. Although Hong Kong’s economy is not the principal cause of
Once renowned as a city of progress, Hong Kong is now known the city’s unrest, it is a prominent casualty. At first, protesters van-
as a city of protest. Bricks, cocktails and gas have descended on dalised firms unsympathetic to the cause. More recently, their sab-
some of the most expensive real estate in the world. The clash de- otage has become less discriminate. “We want to give some pres-
scribed above took place in front of a Bulgari showroom and a sure to the government economically,” said a student. From a
branch of Prada. Many analysts, including in Hong Kong’s govern- barricaded bridge at cuhk, he and other protesters guarded a road-
ment, argue that the underlying causes of the city’s protests are block of uprooted trees, unscrewed railings and traffic cones, scat-
economic grievances, especially high housing prices, stagnant tered on a busy thoroughfare below.
wages and the suffocating ubiquity of dominant conglomerates. Worse than the physical damage is the psychological toll,
The city is certainly home to vast inequalities. The watches on which affects spending. Retail sales were down by over a fifth year-
display in Bulgari sell for more than most residents earn in a on-year in September and the number of visitors to Hong Kong fell
month. And the trolleys that now carry protesters’ bricks more by over a third. Restaurants and bars have suffered their biggest fall 1
typically carry piles of recycled cardboard
collected by poor old women, their backs
hunched with the effort. Property prices
are outlandish. A couple recently sold a
parking space in a luxury apartment block
for $760,000, equivalent to more than
14,000 parking tickets.
If economics is the underlying motive
for Hong Kong’s unrest, it ought to be pos-
sible to satisfy both the protesters and offi-
cials in Beijing. A programme of rapid
home-building and more progressive tax-
ation would reduce Hong Kong’s inequal-
ities without ruffling China’s feathers: it
would, after all, make Hong Kong look
more like the mainland. Pro-Beijing legis-
lators in Hong Kong have backed proposals
to buy up to 700 hectares (1,730 acres) of
land from private developers whether or
not they want to sell.
In a similar vein, many analysts hanker
for a Singaporean solution to Hong Kong’s
problems. The city-state realised early on
that widespread home-ownership was es-
sential to social peace. Over 80% of the
population lives in homes built by govern-
ment agencies, sold at subsidised prices.
Phang Sock-Yong of the Singapore Manage-
ment University says that, as far as housing
is concerned, Singapore approximates the
“ideal society” envisioned by Thomas Pi-
ketty in his book, “Capital in the 21st Cen-
tury”. The bottom half of households own a
quarter of Singapore’s housing wealth. City on a hill or a precipice?
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Special report Asian tigers 9

2 in revenues since the sars epidemic in 2003.

Political economies
If the protests subside, the physical wreckage can be quickly re-
paired: Hong Kong clears barricades even more efficiently than its
protesters erect them. But the harm to sentiment could linger.
Mainlanders, who represent over three-quarters of Hong Kong’s
The new Asian values
tourists, could remain reluctant to spend freely in a city that has
made them feel unwelcome. Hong Kong should nonetheless retain
its standing as a financial hub. The city’s stockmarket, bond mar-
ket and banking system dwarf its gdp and remain semi-detached
Does democracy hurt or help growth?
from the local economy. Mainland firms account for 70% of bonds
issued and 55% of its Hang Seng stockmarket index.
The city’s role as a financial conduit between China and the
world depends on a distinct legal and regulatory infrastructure
T he taiwan strait is often described as a possible flashpoint.
Across this narrow body of water, China points thousands of
missiles at the country it regards as a rogue province. But for those
that cannot be vandalised or barricaded. Even as the protests working on Formosa 1, an offshore wind farm, the strait is some-
raged, Alibaba, China’s e-commerce giant, raised over $11bn on thing else. “It’s the best wind in the world,” said one engineer re-
Hong Kong’s stockmarket, the largest haul since 2010. The Hang cently, looking out at a cluster of turbines on the turquoise water.
Seng stockmarket index showed more sensitivity to the Sino- When up and running later this year, it will be Asia’s first com-
American trade war than to local unrest. And, judging by a 280% mercial offshore wind farm outside China, and the first of many
spike in stamp-duty payments in October, foreigners can still be planned in the strait. Taiwan’s embrace of wind has come along-
convinced to snap up Hong Kong properties by modest dips in side a decision to phase out nuclear power. Many businesses fear
price. They perhaps remember the example set by Li Ka-shing, one this will leave the island low on electricity, imperilling its econ-
of Asia’s richest men, who made a fortune buying Hong Kong prop- omy. The debate has been unruly at times: legislators have brawled
erty during the city’s violent leftist disturbances in the 1960s. in parliament. In 2017 a massive blackout enveloped the north of
To some footloose multinationals, Singapore’s stability now Taiwan. But President Tsai is sticking to her plan to create a “nuc-
looks appealing, compared with the threat of unpredictable com- lear-free homeland” by 2025. For critics, it is a stark example of a
mutes and closed schools in Hong Kong. But as financial hubs the political system easily swayed by vocal campaigners, be they envi-
two cities are less similar than they appear. In Hong Kong, “we go ronmentalists or anti-free-traders. It also highlights a perennial
into China and compete,” says one Singaporean broker who moved question: is democracy bad for prosperity?
to the city years ago. In Singapore, he adds, “they wait for China to This view is, conveniently, often heard in China. “What does
come to them,” confident that they can be its gateway to South- Taiwan have to show for 20 years of democracy? Above all, a preci-
East Asia. He likens Singaporean financial professionals to shep- pitous decline in its economy,” Zhang Weiwei, a Chinese academ-
herds guarding a flock, whereas Hong Kong ic, wrote in an essay. But similar opinions are voiced in some of the
professionals are more like hunters prowl- tigers themselves. Among the older generation in South Korea and
ing for deals. Taiwan, there is nostalgia for Park Chung-hee and Chiang Ching-
The protesters have tried to exploit kuo, the strongmen who led them in their boom years. “You can-
Hong Kong’s special status for their own not eat democracy,” quipped Terry Gou, the founder of Taiwan’s
ends. By generating international clamour, Foxconn. (Nor could democracy stomach him: he eventually de-
they have prompted America’s Congress to cided not to run in Taiwan’s presidential election after it became
pass a bill requiring the State Department clear that he had no chance of winning).
to assess each year whether Hong Kong re- The freer politics of South Korea and Taiwan have not always
mains autonomous enough to justify its covered themselves in glory. Of South Korea’s seven elected presi-
separate treatment under American cus- dents since 1987, three were indicted for corruption and one com-
toms, tax and commercial laws. Opposite mitted suicide to escape a scandal. Of Taiwan’s four presidents
the cuhk barricades hung the portrait of an since 1996, three have been charged with corruption, one of whom
unlikely hero: Mitch McConnell, the Re- ended up being sentenced to 19 years in prison. All political lives
publican leader of America’s Senate. end in failure, as Enoch Powell, a controversial British politician,
The irony is that, in many ways, Hong once said. Few, though, end as badly as in South Korea and Taiwan.
Kong seems ever more distant from the Hong Kong’s leaders since its handover to China in 1997 are,
mainland. Many in China cannot under- however, no advert for undemocratic rule either. The first chief ex-
stand how the city can be so dissatisfied ecutive stepped down early, the second ended up in jail and the
with so many more privileges than main- third was too unpopular to serve a second term. Meanwhile the
landers enjoy. current chief executive is so widely disliked that she transformed
But Hong Kong’s political ambitions are recent local elections, normally low-key affairs, into a devastating
a natural by-product of its prosperity. Al- de facto referendum on her rule. Singapore has, for years, hewed
though it still enjoys far more freedom more closely to meritocratic ideals, but a feud among the children
than the rest of China, it has fewer political of Lee Kuan Yew, the country’s founding father, has revealed an ug-
rights than a society of its wealth and so- lier side to its elite politics.
phistication would normally expect. Only When the four tigers earned that nickname, none of them had
oil-rich Gulf states combine both a higher ever seen a competitive election. Two of them have since become
income per person and a lower score on the vibrant democracies; two have not. The quartet therefore provides
Democracy Index published by The Econo- the kind of variation social scientists want when testing the im-
mist Intelligence Unit (eiu), a sister com- pact of different variables. The hurly-burly politics of Taiwan and
pany of The Economist. Although Hong South Korea can be compared with Singapore’s “managed democ-
Kong’s protests now pose a threat to its pro- racy” and Hong Kong’s unrepresentative system, as well as with
gress, they are also a consequence of it. 7 their own undemocratic past. What do such comparisons reveal? 1
10 Special report Asian tigers The Economist December 7th 2019

2 Both South Korea and Taiwan grew faster in the decades before
Demography
they became democracies than they have done since. But Hong
Kong and Singapore also grew faster then than they do now. Their
shared slowdown cannot, therefore, be blamed on democracy
alone. Singapore has grown faster in recent years than the demo-
Endangered species
cratic tigers. But Hong Kong has often grown more slowly.
More systematic studies are similarly mixed in their conclu-
sions. A landmark 1996 paper by Robert Barro of Harvard Universi-
ty reached the “unpleasant” conclusion that too much democracy
Will age weaken the tigers?
tended to have a (mildly) harmful effect on growth. He speculated
that the redistribution required to appease a majority of voters
could dilute incentives for investment and work. His statistical ex-
ercises suggested that a middling amount of political freedom was
A t 4.30am hundreds of people are already spilling into the road
outside Seoul’s Namguro station. They are not here for the
trains, which will not begin for another hour. Nor are they attract-
best: about as much, in fact, as Singapore now enjoys. ed by the dawn cafeterias (offering blood sausage and flatbread),
But democrats can take heart from the more pleasant conclu- the upstairs song rooms (offering the comforts of crooning) or the
sions of newer economic research. Daron Acemoglu of mit and his basement spas (offering who knows what). They are gathered in-
co-authors calculate that democracy adds about 20% to a country’s stead to offer their labour in return for a day’s wages, at whatever
gdp per person over the long run. One reason is that it encourages building site needs extra hands. As they wait for a bidder, they
openness and a commitment to education and health. Since Sing- smoke, squat and cough. And they speak not in Korean but in grav-
apore and Hong Kong have remained open and invested heavily in elly Mandarin.
education and health, they have replicated some of the economic South Korea used to be a net exporter of labour. In the 1970s its
benefits of democracy. workers built roads in Saudi Arabia, often at night by torchlight.
But immigrants, including the Chinese gathered at Namguro, now
Suffering without suffrage make up a growing proportion of the workforce.
Democracy’s other contribution to growth, according to Mr Ace- For all the fear in the tigers about jobs, their unemployment
moglu and his co-authors, is defusing social unrest. The tigers’ re- rates remain enviably low: less than 4% in all of them. Their long-
cent experience bears him out. In 2016 South Koreans discovered term worry will be a shortage not of jobs but of people young
that their president, Park Geun-hye, had fallen under the sway of a enough to do them. The population of traditional working age
mysterious backstage adviser. This revelation brought millions of (aged 15-64) is already declining in all four. By 2040 they will have
protesters onto the streets, just as Hong Kongers’ distaste for fewer people in this age bracket, relative to their elderly popula-
mainland influence has brought hundreds of thousands onto the tion, than Japan has today. In a span of 20 years, the tigers will have
streets since June. aged as much as Japan did in more than 30.
In democratic South Korea, the political system was able to The tigers’ fertility rates rank in the bottom ten worldwide: low
wrap its arms around the problem. The legislature began formal enough that each new cohort is expected to be only 55% the size of
impeachment proceedings; its verdict was upheld by the constitu- its parents’ generation. Their governments have tried, without
tional court; Ms Park was removed from power and jailed; and an much subtlety or success, to reverse this trend. Some have even
election was held to find a successor. Meanwhile in Hong Kong, tried their hand at matchmaking. Singapore’s Social Development
the chief executive, Carrie Lam, appears to lack even the power to Network organises dinners, films and board games. One network-
remove herself from power, confessing in a leaked speech to certified dating agency will help you find your ideal partner with
businesspeople that she has no choice but to soldier on. the help of Lego bricks. In Taiwan the government has organised
Because Hong Kong’s half-formed political system has failed to speed-dating and bike tours, among other events. But one senior
accommodate the protesters’ anger, the police have been left to official is blunt in her assessment: “Totally useless.”
deal with it. Their task has made the police feel both resentful and One reason is the tigers’ work culture. “If a country requires its
powerful. They are the only tool at the government’s disposal, so it people to be locked up in their workplace, no wonder the birth rate
is terrified of upsetting them. That fear has stopped the govern- is so low,” says Joyce Yang, who quit her public-relations job in Tai-
ment opening a more credible investigation into police miscon- pei after too many midnight finishes to the day. In South Korea, 1
duct. But the lack of accountability has enraged the protesters,
some of whom see little reason to respect the rule of law if it does
not also apply to the law’s enforcers. The stand-off has plunged the
economy into a recession that is likely to continue into next year. Grey whiskers
Whether or not democracy helps growth, the unmet demand for it Working-age population* forecasts, 2015=100
can certainly hurt. 100
There is no question that the tiger democracies, barely a couple
of decades old, can be difficult. Formosa 1, the Taiwanese offshore Singapore
wind farm, has been lambasted in local media as too expensive 90
and has faced eight detailed environmental reviews. The process
has been “more intense than in Europe”, says Matthias Bausen- Hong Kong 80
wein, president of Ørsted Asia Pacific, the biggest shareholder in
the project. But having gone through all that drama, he says that Taiwan
Taiwan’s commitment to wind power looks steadfast. 70
In any case, Taiwan’s legislators have new things to fight over.
South Korea
In 2018 another brawl broke out in the legislature, this time about
cuts to public pensions. Fisticuffs or not, it is an issue with which 60
all of the tigers must grapple: growing numbers of elderly citizens 2015 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
and what to do about them. 7 Source: United Nations *Aged 15-64
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Special report Asian tigers 11

2 President Moon’s government has cut the

maximum workweek to 52 hours (although
exceptions persist). Ms Yang chose a more
radical solution: moving to Australia, from
where she urges her 30,000 Facebook fol-
lowers to quit their workaholism. “Taiwan-
ese don’t have time for life,” she says.
Time is one constraint; another is cost.
Although society as a whole benefits from
the vigour of each new generation, the cost
of raising them falls squarely on one group:
women of childbearing age. With elderly
parents to worry about, little help from
their husbands (men do only a fifth of the
household chores in South Korea) and in-
adequate help from the state, many women
have chosen to marry late, if at all, and have
one child, if any.
Their predicament is worsened by one
of the tigers’ proudest boasts: their com-
mitment to education. Although the tigers
all provide decent public schooling, many
parents feel obliged to splash out on expen-
sive private alternatives and additional tu-
toring. Some of this extra effort may add to
a child’s knowledge and future productivi- The burden of ageing
ty. But much of it is mere credentialism, an
attempt to improve a child’s position in the queue for the best uni- fertility rates, they also have some of the highest life expectancies.
versities, and hence the best jobs. Education has become an arms Even at 60 their people can still expect to live another 25 years or
race in which one parent’s additional outlay of time and money more, enough time to master both Excel and the ukulele.
forces others to follow suit. Another way for the tigers to cope with their ageing is to permit
In South Korea, Mr Moon has promised various acts of collec- more immigration. The foreign population accounts for 6% of the
tive educational disarmament. He wants to merge universities workforce in Taiwan and about 3.3% in South Korea. That is low by
into a single network, flatten the schools hierarchy and even dis- Western standards, but higher than Japan, where foreigners make
courage employers from hiring on the basis of academic creden- up only 2%. In the two tiger cities the reliance on immigrants is far
tials. Some of these proposals seem unworkable. His critics call it a more dramatic. Much of Hong Kong’s population (39%) was born
“war on meritocracy”. But there is a distinction between merit, elsewhere, including over 2.2m from other parts of China. The for-
which should be rewarded, and wasteful attempts to signal merit, eign-born still occupy prominent positions in the courts, regula-
which are damaging. Tiger parents risk hurting the tigers. tory bodies and even the police. The city also relies on over 380,000
Faced with this burden, some parents fabricate their children’s maids and nannies (mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia),
qualifications. One academic paper in 2009 on the genetic precur- who constitute over 8% of the workforce.
sors of disease was supposedly co-written by the daughter of Cho Singapore has 1.4m foreign workers, more than a third of its la-
Kuk, Mr Moon’s justice minister, even though she was only a bour force. The government believes immigrants are needed to do
schoolgirl at the time. He was forced to resign in shame. the lower-skilled jobs that Singaporeans will no longer do. A white
paper in 2013 forecast a population of up to 6.9m by 2030, from
Shy, but not retiring 5.7m today. In so doing, it inadvertently revealed the limits of
To improve their unfavourable age structure, the tigers will have to openness in the city-state. The projection fuelled worries that im-
combine shorter working weeks with longer working lives. They migrants would overburden the city’s infrastructure and public
will need more people like Neo Kwee Leng. As he approached 60, services. In the rarest of scenes for Singapore, a few thousand peo-
he gave up his life as a small businessman to spend his days at the ple protested in a park, some holding aloft signs such as “Singa-
“Loving Heart” centre, an activity hub for the elderly in Singapore. pore for Singaporeans”.
It was not an act of retirement: he joined as a manager. Nor, as it Immigration is not the only way to take advantage of more
turned out, was it much of a downshift. About 100 people drop in abundant workforces elsewhere. As well as importing labour, the
daily, each with different needs. Some tigers can, and have, exported capital. By lending and investing
come for medical check-ups, others to play abroad, they have accumulated claims on the output of foreign
ukulele, still others just to chat. workforces, without all the difficulties of bringing those workers
So Mr Neo upgraded his managerial Education has to their shores. In Hong Kong, the net annual income from these
skills, learning Excel and data analysis. become an arms foreign assets already amounts to almost $2,500 per person.
“The hardest part is my eyesight,” he says. The tigers have accumulated these overseas investments by
race…Tiger
He has also run seminars on using smart- consistently selling more things to the rest of the world than they
phones. His training—of himself and oth- parents risk buy from it. Singapore’s current-account surplus last year was a
ers—is part of SkillsFuture, a government hurting the tigers whopping 18% of gdp. These trade imbalances have not yet pro-
programme to promote lifelong learning. voked much scrutiny or condemnation from America. But that
In the tigers, lifelong can be lengthy in- could change. These four economies are, after all, worthy of the
deed. Just as they have some of the lowest world’s close attention. 7
12 Special report Asian tigers The Economist December 7th 2019

that China is the centre of Asian economic gravity. Anger at the

The tigers’ future
concentration of economic power in South Korea has led to de-
mands for a fairer system. But many of the government’s respons-
Fearful symmetries es have been ineffectual or counterproductive.
Singapore’s carefully managed political system has come un-
der more strain, and a backlash against immigration shows that it
is not immune to the populism that has reared its head throughout
the world. Hong Kong, sadly, is the tiger most at risk of going back-
wards. Its people, successful and sophisticated, understandably
Where do they go from here?
want to make big decisions for themselves. Yet their rulers will

E ven in their prime, the tigers had their detractors. Twenty-

five years ago this month, Paul Krugman, an economist, wrote
an article in Foreign Affairs, an American policy journal, entitled
have none of it.
So it is only sensible to remain grounded about the tigers. There
is still much that can go wrong for them. Nevertheless, there is also
“The Myth of Asia’s Miracle”. He argued that Asia’s seemingly dy- much that can continue to go right. They each have plenty of
namic economies displayed, on closer inspection, “startlingly lit- strengths. South Korea has emerged as a research powerhouse, at
tle evidence of improvements in efficiency”. Their growth relied the same time as building up strong global brands, from smart-
instead on rapidly increasing inputs of labour, capital and so on. It phones to pop idols. Taiwan, in the toughest of geopolitical cir-
was a miracle based on “perspiration” not “inspiration”. Singa- cumstances, has made itself an essential player in global supply
pore, in particular, “grew through a mobilisation of resources that chains, while also developing a thriving ecosystem of small busi-
would have done Stalin proud”, Mr Krugman wrote. nesses. Hong Kong, for all its current woes, has established itself
This sweaty growth model faced some natural limits. Employ- as the financial conduit between China and the world. Singapore is
ment rates could not increase for ever. And the accumulation of top of the tiger class in many ways: it has a diversified economy,
capital would eventually run into diminishing returns. Therefore despite being a small city-state, and it has mitigated the inequality
the tigers’ pace of expansion would inevitably slow. that has come with its recent flourishing.
On the last point Mr Krugman was unquestionably right. The The tigers also matter to the rest of the
Asian tigers have averaged growth of 3% this decade, down from world. Their record in their boom years re-
8% in the early 1990s. But their mix of perspiration and inspiration mains a vital reference for other develop-
is now better than Mr Krugman feared. As inputs of labour have The comparison ing countries trying to get ahead. Their ex-
grown more slowly, total factor productivity, an oft-cited (if theo- that most scares perience over the past two decades shows
retically controversial) gauge of efficiency, has made a bigger con- how countries can climb from middle-in-
the tigers is with
tribution. Between 2000 and 2017, it grew at least twice as fast in come levels to greater heights. Of particu-
the tigers as in America, according to the Asian Productivity Orga- Japan’s elegant lar interest to the developed world will be
nisation in Tokyo. stagnation their record in the coming few decades.
The comparison that most scares the tigers is not with the Sta- The quartet can be seen as test cases for
linist industrialisation of the Soviet Union but with Japan’s ele- the future. They are often the pioneers for
gant stagnation. Life in Japan is, for many, comfortable and afflu- new technologies thanks to their innova-
ent. But its economy has lost ground. Japan’s gdp per person, at tive firms. And their societies are facing distilled versions of many
purchasing power parity, reached 85% of America’s in 1990; today of the dilemmas now haunting the rich world: how to cope with
it is closer to 70%. One cause of Japan’s prolonged slowdown is ageing; how to cushion workers from the effects of automation;
ageing: it is now older than anywhere except tiny Monaco. But in how to revive productivity growth; how to stay close to both Amer-
the coming three decades the tigers will age even more quickly ica and China; and how to push up stagnant wages and hold down
than Japan has done. The tigers also see much of themselves in Ja- soaring property prices.
pan’s economic model, which once served as an example for their Decades before they were nicknamed the tigers, Asia’s smaller
own. South Korea and Taiwan are far stronger in manufacturing economies were likened to a different kind of animal: “flying
than in services and all four are unusually reliant on exports to geese”, fanning out behind Japan. In nature, as in economics, trail-
generate growth in demand. Will they replicate Japan’s failure as ing geese find it easier to fly in the leader’s wake, benefiting from
faithfully as they copied its success? the extra lift its wings create. But what the original metaphor for-
Emulating Japan’s drift would not be a total disaster: many got is that birds take turns leading and following. Hong Kong, Sing-
countries, worried about a supposed middle-income trap, would apore, Taiwan and South Korea spent decades flying comfortably
dearly love to fall into the Japan-income trap. But the tigers can behind more advanced economies. The good news and the bad is
still aspire to do better. Despite their parallels with Japan, they are that there is now no one left to follow. 7
different in many respects.
Compared with Japan during its bubble years, they are para-
gons of financial conservatism. Since the market mayhem of the acknowledgments A list of acknowledgments and sources is included in the online version
Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, they have insisted on big capital of this special report
buffers for their banks and pioneered macroprudential limits on offer to readers Reprints of this special report are available, with a minimum order
borrowing. In addition, the tigers are even more deeply ensconced of five copies. For academic institutions the minimum order is 50 and for companies 100.
in the global trading system and have also shown great determina- We also offer a customisation service. To order, contact Foster Printing Service:
Tel: +1 866 879 9144; email: [email protected]
tion to stay at the global leading edge. All four love to boast of their
positions at, or near, the top of global rankings like the World Eco- For information on reusing the articles featured in this special report, or for copyright queries,
nomic Forum’s global competitiveness index or the World Bank’s contact The Economist Rights and Syndication Department: Tel: +44 (0)20 7576 8000;
email: [email protected]; Online: Economist.com/rights/reprints+and+permissions.html
“ease of doing business” rankings.
If the tigers stumble, it will be for their own reasons, not be- more special reports Previous special reports, and a list of forthcoming ones,
cause they are repeating Japan’s mistakes. Taiwan wants to lessen can be found at: Economist.com/specialreports
its economic entanglements with China, but that is difficult now
 The Economist December 7th 2019 45
Middle East & Africa

Also in this section

46 Polling the Arab world
46 Repression in Iran
47 Algeria’s undemocratic election
47 Sudan’s terrible traffic
48 Identity documents in Africa

Arab unrest clearing the streets by force.

Sunni and Kurdish parties, like their
The fight for Iraq’s future Shia counterparts, plunder the state and
are thus loth to speak up for the protesters
and upset the status quo. The constitution
suggests that President Barham Salih, a
Sunni Kurd, should have assumed the
prime minister’s responsibilities follow-
Politicians backed by Iran are clinging to power in Iraq, but the protesters
ing Mr Abdul-Mahdi’s resignation. But he
are not giving in
has said little since calling for the prosecu-

T he tomb of a dead Shia cleric might

seem an odd target for Iraqi protesters
angry about corruption, poor governance
Mahdi, Iraq’s prime minister, said he
would step down.
But the protesters and the ruling elite
tion of those who killed protesters, and is
facing threats himself. Muqtada al-Sadr, a
rabble-rousing Shia cleric who heads a
and a lack of jobs. Muhammad Baqr al-Ha- know that Mr Abdul-Mahdi’s departure is large bloc in parliament, also seems muz-
kim resisted Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s old not the endgame. Rather, it is likely to mark zled. He has spent long stints in Iran—un-
dictator, and helped to create the modern the start of a new, potentially more violent der a form of house arrest, say some.
state. But he also had close ties to Iran, struggle over what comes next for the gov- Iraq’s other institutions have fallen into
which has assisted the Iraqi government in ernment. It will probably lead to even line. Judges sentence protesters under
trying to subdue the protesters. Such med- greater involvement by Iran. anti-terror laws. The communications
dling enrages Iraqis, who threw petrol ministry shuts down the internet to make
bombs at Hakim’s shrine—and the Iranian- Street sweepers it harder for them to organise. The security
backed militiamen guarding it—earlier For now Mr Abdul-Mahdi remains in his forces have so far limited their use of vio-
this month in Najaf. They also torched the job. The Shia warlords-cum-politicians lence—but only, it seems, to avoid a more
nearby Iranian consulate. who are Iraq’s real power-brokers will forceful response from the West (or the
Iraq has been rocked by protests since choose his successor, with input from Iran. clerics). That does not appear to be coming.
October. Hundreds of thousands of people Many of them want the next prime minis- A resolution condemning the govern-
have taken to the streets in Baghdad and ter to be more ruthless. Hadi al-Amari and ment’s brutality would be unlikely to pass
the Shia south. Officials have promised re- Qais Khazali claim to head the largest bloc in the un Security Council. America has
forms. The security forces have fired on the in parliament and control powerful mili- told the Iraqi government to listen to the
demonstrators, killing more than 400. Nei- tias. They work with Qassem Suleimani, protesters and make reforms. But it too is
ther concessions nor repression have the commander of the Quds Force, the for- reluctant to get more involved.
worked. Things came to a head on Novem- eign legion of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary The protesters are calling for an entirely
ber 29th, when the senior Shia cleric, Grand Guard Corps. All want to spread Shia influ- new government, a fairer electoral law and
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called for a change ence across the region, and view the prot- early elections. They want to put politi-
of government. In response, Adel Abdul- ests as a threat. Some of their allies favour cians on trial for corruption and the recent 1
46 Middle East & Africa The Economist December 7th 2019

Iran
Polling the Arab world

Some numbers behind the rage Unprecedented

violence
Arabs are losing faith in religious parties and leaders
said they trusted their religious leaders
“N o to religion or sect,” cry the
protesters in Iraq. “No to Islam, no
to Christianity, revolt for the nation,”
to a “great” or “medium” extent. When a
comparable question was asked last year
How a ruthless regime put down
economic protests
echo those in Lebanon. Across the Arab
world people are turning against reli-
gious political parties and the clerics
the number was down to 40%. The share
of Arabs who think religious leaders
should have influence over government
A lmost immediately after the govern-
ment of Iran switched the internet
back on, the stories started coming out.
who helped bring them to power. Many decision-making is also steadily declin- Near the city of Mahshahr alone, the Islam-
appear to be giving up on Islam, too. ing. “State religious actors are often ic Revolutionary Guards Corps sur-
These trends are reflected in new data perceived as co-opted by the regime, rounded, shot and killed 40 to 100 protes-
from Arab Barometer, a pollster that making citizens unlikely to trust them,” ters in a marsh, witnesses told the New York
surveys Arab countries. Across the region says Michael Robbins of Arab Barometer. Times. Altogether, between 180 and 450
the share of people expressing much The share of Arabs describing them- people are thought to have been killed by
trust in political parties, most of which selves as “not religious” is up to 13%, the government during protests over a rise
have a religious tint, has fallen by well from 8% in 2013. That includes nearly in the state-controlled price of fuel last
over a third since 2011, to 15%. (The share half of young Tunisians, a third of young month. About 7,000 people were detained
of Iraqis who say they do not trust parties Libyans, a quarter of young Algerians and out of the hundreds of thousands who took
at all rose from 51% to 78%.) The decline a fifth of young Egyptians. But the num- to the streets in all but two of Iran’s 31 prov-
in trust for Islamist parties is similarly bers are fuzzy. Nearly half of Iraqis de- inces. Not since the Islamic revolution in
dramatic, falling from 35% in 2013, when scribed themselves as “religious”, up 1979 has the country experienced such
the question was first widely asked, to from 39% in 2013. Yet the share who say deadly unrest.
20% in 2018. they attend Friday prayers has fallen by The regime responded to previous prot-
The doubts extend to religious lead- nearly half, to 33%. Perhaps faith is in- ests with more patience, letting people
ers. In 2013 around 51% of respondents creasingly personal, says Mr Robbins. vent for a few days before rounding up the
ringleaders. “This time they shot to kill, not
to intimidate,” says an academic from
Faith, less Shahriar, a town where the protests flared.
Selected Arab countries, share of respondents, % 2012-14 2018-19 Such was the perceived threat that the re-
gime’s hardliners and pragmatists put
Trust in Islamist parties Trust in religious leaders aside their rivalries and worked together,
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 unleashing their respective security forces.
Algeria * Egypt
Their panic owes much to the make-up
Egypt Algeria
of the protesters. Many came from the ur-
Tunisia Iraq ban poor, whom the regime calls mostaza-
Jordan Lebanon fin (downtrodden) and considers its base.
Iraq† Tunisia In 1979 they poured onto the streets to bring
Libya Libya down the shah; now their grandchildren
are turning on the clerics. Some middle-
Those who say they are not religious Muslims who say they attend mosque at least class folk joined them on the streets for the
some of the time
0 20 40 60 80 100 first time since 2009, when they protested
0 20 40 60 80 100
Tunisia a suspicious election outcome.
Egypt
Libya
Algeria Economic hardship, exacerbated by
Algeria Libya American sanctions, is a big cause of the
Lebanon Lebanon anger. But many are also fed up with offi-
Egypt Iraq cial corruption. The public is turning so-
Iraq Tunisia cial-justice arguments back on the clerics,
Source: Arab Barometer *2016 †2013 survey asked about Muslim Brotherhood and 2019 survey about the Iraqi Islamic Party who are accused of milking the state. “The
ideological challenge is much more dan-
gerous than the economic challenge,” says
2 violence. They want Iran and the militias it In spite of the killings, the protesters’ Pejman Abdolmohammadi of the Universi-
backs to go away, too. Most of the public is morale remains high. The demonstrations ty of Trento in Italy.
behind them. But they need the support of have a carnival atmosphere in some cities. Official repression will deter many
influential people like Mr Sistani, who is But in others, such as Hilla, officials have from challenging the regime, but those
89. “It is for the people”, not the clerics, “to been chased out. The subtle messages in Mr who do may become more violent. Some of
decide what they perceive is most fitting,” Sistani’s sermons do not satisfy everyone. the recent protests turned into riots. In-
read his sermon on November 29th. That The ranks of the protesters are dominated structions on how to make petrol bombs
was seen as a boost to the protesters, a shot by young jobless men, some of whom prefer circulate on social media. In some areas
at Iran and its clerical rule, and perhaps a throwing petrol bombs to peaceful march- people have begun taking up arms. The
signal that he wishes to withdraw from the ing. “They run towards bullets,” says an ob- uprising in neighbouring Iraq provides in-
political fray. Some of Iraq’s clerics fear server. Lately, armed tribesmen have pur- spiration. “For Iraqis and Iranians it’s one
provoking Iran, or losing credibility if the sued vendettas against the security forces. enemy,” says an exiled Iranian dissident.
government ignores their advice. Things could get much worse. 7 “They’re fighting the same regime.” 7
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Middle East & Africa 47

Algeria’s election strated every week since February. As the

election approaches the regime has turned
The regime sets to coercion, detaining scores of activists
and journalists. Having been embarrassed
the menu in July, the authorities are determined to
hold the vote. General Salah warns of for-
eign plots against Algeria, while the interi-
B E I RU T
or minister labels critics of the election as
Algerians fear their forthcoming
“traitors, mercenaries, homosexuals”.
election will be a blow to democracy
The bigger question is what happens

T he most popular candidate in Algeria’s

presidential election might be a rub-
bish bag. On December 12th Algerians will
after December 12th. Algeria will have a
new president widely seen as illegitimate.
But he will still be president, with all the
choose a successor to Abdelaziz Bouteflika, power that entails. Compared with other
who stepped down in April after 20 years of Arab countries, the repression in Algeria
dictatorial rule. Or, rather, a small minority has been mild. The incoming president,
of Algeria’s 41m people will choose one. keen to cement his grip on power, may not
Much of the country seems unenthused by show such forbearance.
the vote. In the capital, Algiers, protesters He will also inherit a stagnant econ-
hang rubbish bags over campaign posters omy. Despite its vast oil and gas wealth, Al-
or replace them with pictures of jailed ac- geria’s per-capita income is below that of
tivists. One candidate’s headquarters was some resource-poor Arab states, such as
pelted with eggs and tomatoes. Another Lebanon. Unemployment is 12% overall
was forced to cancel his first campaign ral- and much higher for young people. The fi- Gridlock on the road to freedom
ly because almost no one turned up. nance minister recently warned that for-
To hear the government tell it, the elec- eign reserves, which amounted to $200bn than in the traffic-clogged streets of Khar-
tion is an important step towards democra- in 2014, may drop to $50bn by the end of toum, the capital, where public transport
cy. It will probably be the most tightly con- next year. The value of oil and gas exports, has all but disappeared. So bad is the short-
tested presidential vote since 1995. Yet for which supply 60% of government revenue, age of buses that the interim government
the millions of Algerians who demanded fell by 13% in the first nine months of 2019. has decreed that vehicles belonging to the
the ousting of Mr Bouteflika—and who A new hydrocarbons law, meant to draw police and army be used to ferry ordinary
continue to protest—it is nothing to cele- foreign investment, has been criticised by people about the city.
brate. Instead the election demonstrates protesters and energy experts alike. Traffic jams are the work of the “deep
the difficulty of removing the structures Algerians are not alone. In Sudan, Leba- state”, conjectures Ms Sawy. A group of
that sustained the strongman. non and Iraq this year angry citizens top- minibus owners in north Khartoum claim
First scheduled for July, the election pled their rulers but have struggled to force that saboteurs are causing gridlock by
was postponed amid calls for a boycott. deeper changes. The protests cannot con- abandoning vehicles in the roadways.
Only two people, a veterinarian and a me- tinue for ever. Algeria’s election might be a Some blame members of the former ruling
chanic, registered to run. This time 23 can- stunt to keep the ancien régime in power— party, the National Congress Party (ncp),
didates tried to make the ballot. Most failed but that does not mean it will fail. 7 which owned nearly 40,000 vehicles.
to meet the requirements, such as collect- As for the vanishing public transport,
ing signatures from supporters in at least Yasir Alkordi, a journalist, reported in Sep-
25 provinces. The five who made it all Traffic in Sudan tember that bus drivers had been paid by
served under Mr Bouteflika—two as prime ncp members to shirk work. The aim of
minister, two as cabinet members and the All jammed up these “dirty tricks” is to undermine the new
fifth as an mp who led a small loyalist party. government, says Mohammed Ali Fazan,
It may seem paradoxical to shun an another journalist. “By hook or by crook,
election to support democracy. But activ- [the ncp] wants to come back to power
ists say they have learned from the failed again.” On November 28th the government
K H A RTO U M
uprisings in countries like Egypt, where passed a law to dissolve the party and seize
A transport crisis is one of many
protesters toppled a ruler but not his re- its assets. But government institutions, in-
challenges facing Sudan’s new leaders
gime. By the end of his long reign, the ailing cluding the Khartoum State Transportation
Mr Bouteflika was no longer up to the task
of running the country. Though he re-
mained the figurehead, a group of men
S ouad al-sawy squints in the glare of the
mid-afternoon sun, searching for a bus
home. The 18-year-old student’s commute
Company, are still stuffed with former loy-
alists, who cannot all be removed at once.
The real causes of the transport crisis
known as le pouvoir wielded power behind used to take 20 minutes, but these days it are, however, probably mundane econom-
the scenes. They are loth to surrender it. can take up to 90. “It’s getting worse every ics rather than a conspiracy. The state-reg-
For the armed forces, which saw their day,” she sighs. Although life after the revo- ulated fares are too low to pay for the main-
own pouvoir curtailed in favour of busi- lution has improved in many ways—for in- tenance of buses shaken to bits on
nessmen close to Mr Bouteflika, the cur- stance, a hated law that banned women Khartoum’s shoddy roads. Mohammed Ali,
rent vacuum is a chance to regain control. from wearing revealing clothing was re- a driver, says that a year or so ago there were
One of the candidates, Abdelmadjid Teb- pealed last month—freedom was not sup- 130 minibuses working his route; now
boune, a former prime minister, is thought posed to involve so many traffic jams. there are only seven. The government
to be close to the army chief, Gaid Salah. Seven months after the fall of Omar al- plans to extend roads and import buses,
The regime had hoped to simply outlast Bashir and his 30-year-long kleptocracy, and has started running trains that, thanks
the protesters, who call themselves Hirak Sudan is struggling to escape the legacy of to corruption, had been idle for years. But
(“movement” in Arabic). That strategy has corruption and mismanagement he be- cleaning up the mess will take time and
not yet worked: Algerians have demon- queathed it. Nowhere is this more evident money. It might be short of both. 7
48 Middle East & Africa The Economist December 7th 2019

Identity documents in Africa software tried to insist that Nigeria buy its
machines as well, says Tunji Durodola, an
Papers, please adviser to the commission. (They eventu-
ally got help from Pakistan, which had soft-
ware that worked on any machine.)
But there are signs of change coming
from within the industry itself, spurred by
JOHANNESBURG
developments in an entirely different part
African countries are struggling to build robust identity systems. That may soon
of the world: India. Like Africa, it is vast,
change, thanks to help from an unlikely quarter
poor and home to more than a billion peo-

T he first thing that visitors to the

Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg
see is a wall of identity cards—the pieces of
ments to explain to their citizens how they
might benefit. Consider birth registration,
the most basic form of official identity.
ple. Yet as a single country India has tre-
mendous negotiating power.
When India developed its “Aadhaar”
paper that determined where people could South Asia more than doubled its rate of identity programme it invited leading
live and work and whom they could love. birth registration to 71% between 2000 and firms to bid—but with the caveat that they
From the outset, the apartheid regime’s 2014. In sub-Saharan Africa the rate provide open-source software, or code that
ability to discriminate against “nie- dropped by one point, to 41%, over the can be examined and changed by others.
blankes” (non-whites) depended on having same period. For poor villagers, going to a This allowed engineers to knit together dif-
a robust system of identifying people. government office to register a birth is ferent bits of a system such as databases,
The opposite problem confronts most time-consuming and expensive, especially enrolment software, fingerprint scanners
other countries in Africa today. Govern- when officials demand bribes. Some coun- and so on. The suppliers agreed because
ments have little idea who their citizens tries charge a fee, which is a disincentive. they did not want to miss out on the biggest
are. Around the world, about one billion Others penalise late registrations. identity bonanza the world had ever seen.
people lack official proof of their identi- One way to encourage people is to link Moreover, India’s spending led to a big in-
ties, reckons the World Bank. Such citizens birth registration to benefits such as child- crease in production, which caused prices
cannot, in many cases, get services such as support grants—something South Africa to fall across the industry.
health care, welfare and education. They did with great success. But that approach The ripples of India’s big splash are now
also struggle to exercise their rights to vote may also have the perverse consequence of lapping on Africa’s shores. Companies in-
or live in their home countries. States need denying payments to the very poorest. cluding Idemia, Gemalto and De La Rue
this information, too. Without it, govern- Money is another reason many African have agreed to establish “open standards”.
ments have no idea whom to tax, conscript countries have fallen behind their peers. This is one step short of open-source stan-
and protect, or where to allocate resources. Extending the state’s reach to remote areas dards, but it is enough to allow different
This is not just a poor-world problem. can be expensive. So, too, is paying for bits of a system to talk to each other. That
Britain was recently rocked by the “Win- skilled labour of the sort required to fill in would allow countries to buy the parts they
drush” debacle, in which dozens of citizens forms accurately and to operate biometric need from competing companies, giving
were wrongly deported. But it is a particu- machines. The technology itself is costly, them greater flexibility at lower costs.
larly acute problem in sub-Saharan Africa, especially for small countries that do not Eleven countries, including Uganda,
where one in two people cannot prove his have much buying power. Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali and Mada-
or her identity. It is not for want of effort. Many governments have unwisely gascar, have signed up to an industry advi-
Every country in the region has either es- bought proprietary systems, meaning that sory committee to develop these open
tablished or plans to create a universal they are forced to go back to the seller for standards. “The industry has been almost
identity programme. maintenance, upgrades and new compo- like a craft industry and now it’s moving to-
Some countries, such as South Africa nents. That can be expensive. When Nige- wards a commodity industry and standar-
and Botswana, have relatively good pro- ria’s nimc wanted to use its own card- disation,” says Alan Gelb of the Centre for
grammes that register most births and is- printing machines, the firm that had sold it Global Development, a think-tank.
sue papers to almost all of their people. At Even as governments think about the
the other end of the spectrum are countries technical problems of recording identity,
like Congo and Liberia, which are only just Undercount they also need to grapple with the far more
getting started in registering births, never Sub-Saharan Africa, birth registration*, % consequential ones around rights, gover-
mind issuing identity documents (see 2016 or latest available 0 20 40 60 80 100 nance and privacy. The starkest warning of
map). In the middle are countries that are the misuse of identity was in the Rwandan
upgrading from old, paper-based systems genocide, where id papers listed ethnicity,
to digital ones. making it easy to target Tutsis. Since data
This is more complicated than it on religion and ethnicity are not needed to
sounds. Take Nigeria, which has 13 federal Mali provide services, governments should not
and three state id schemes. The country’s be hoovering it up, yet many still do.
National Identity Management Commis- Nigeria States should also be wary of denying
sion (nimc), a body set up in 2007 with the people their rights by creating a class of
Sierra
purpose of issuing identity numbers and Leone Ghana Uganda citizens without papers. In Kenya, for ex-
cards to Nigeria’s 180m people, has so far Ivory Coast Kenya ample, the government wants everyone to
Liberia Congo
reached less than a fifth of the population. Rwanda register for id cards, but it discriminates
African countries struggle for several against members of the Nubian minority
reasons. One is racial discrimination. by forcing them to appear before a security
Uganda, Liberia and Sierra Leone explicitly panel to prove their nationality. Modern
Botswana
withhold nationality from children of cer- identity systems promise to bring many
tain races and ethnicities. Other countries Madagascar benefits to Africa. But as they proliferate, so
*Children aged 0-5 years
do so informally by refusing to issue pa- South Africa too will the temptation for politicians to
Source: World Bank Group
pers. Another reason is a failure by govern- misuse them. 7
 The Economist December 7th 2019 49
Europe

German politics looked like charismatic agents of change.

But their flirtation with the idea of bringing
Under new management down the government turned them into a
repository for discontent. Irritation with
the high-handed manner of the party lead-
ership also contributed to Mr Scholz’s de-
feat, says Wiebke Esdar, one of the few spd
B E R LI N
mps who backed the winning duo.
The Social Democrats’ new leaders threaten the stability of Germany’s
Now frustration must be translated into
government
results. On the campaign trail Mr Walter-

“W alter who? Saskia what?” Bild, a

tabloid, posed the question many
Germans will have asked on November
the slump continued. Today the spd battles
for third spot in polls with the hard-right
Alternative for Germany (afd), well behind
Borjans and Ms Esken laid out a number of
demands, including reopening a recently
agreed climate-change package, raising the
30th when members of the Social Demo- the Green Party. minimum wage to €12 ($13.30) an hour and
cratic Party (spd) elected Norbert Walter- In June the malaise claimed Andrea approving a ten-year €500bn programme
Borjans and Saskia Esken as co-leaders. Nahles, the spd’s previous leader, after a of public investment funded by debt. They
The obscure left-leaning duo triumphed by string of poor election results. Mr Scholz railed against the government’s no-deficit
53% to 45% over a rival pair led by Olaf reluctantly threw his hat in the ring, but “black zero” policy, a cdu contrivance writ-
Scholz, Germany’s finance minister and many party members recoiled at the con- ten into the coalition agreement and faith-
the spd’s best-known politician. Their win tinuity option he represented. Neither Mr fully executed by Mr Scholz. They said the
instantly raised the prospect of an early Walter-Borjans, an undistinguished for- spd had to be ready to leave government if
end to Germany’s coalition, which has al- mer finance minister in the state of North the cdu kept its “blockade mentality”.
most two years to run. Rhine-Westphalia, nor Ms Esken, a little- Yet the new leaders have their work cut
The pair’s victory resulted from a deep known mp specialising in digital policy, out, for two reasons. The first is that the
mood of gloom that has settled on the spd cdu’s own difficulties make compromise
base. The party has spent ten of the last 14 hard. Several of its politicians are jostling
years as junior partner to Angela Merkel’s Also in this section for the right to succeed Mrs Merkel, who is
Christian Democratic Union (cdu) and its in her last term as chancellor, and kowtow-
50 NATO comes to London
Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social ing to Social Democrats does not win votes
Union (csu), and has shed piles of votes 51 France faces huge strikes inside the cdu. Ruling out a rewrite of the
along the way. After a dismal result in the coalition agreement, Annegret Kramp-Kar-
51 Malta’s prime minister to quit
2017 election, the spd reluctantly signed up renbauer, the party leader, said it was not
to another cdu/csu-led coalition, securing 52 China and the Czechs the cdu’s job to act as a therapist for the
a rich haul of cabinet jobs and several con- spd. Salvation may come via a clause in the
53 Charlemagne: Five fading Stars
cessions in the coalition agreement. Yet coalition agreement that allows for policy 1
50 Europe The Economist December 7th 2019

2 changes if “current developments” permit. NATO America would uphold nato’s mutual-de-
Mr Walter-Borjans and Ms Esken claim this fence clause, Article 5, and that the alliance
condition is met by Germany’s economic Stormy weather was experiencing “brain death” for want of
slowdown (which justifies a spending co-ordinated decision-making in places
splurge) and two hot summers (which like Syria. He also urged nato to reassess
press the case to do more on climate). A its very purpose: “The unarticulated as-
possible compromise could involve a cdu sumption is that the enemy is still Russia.”
concession in return for a prize of its own, In subsequent weeks Mr Macron has dou-
The Atlantic alliance marks its 70th
such as a corporate-tax cut. Mrs Merkel, bled down on his comments. On November
anniversary in typically chaotic fashion
who wants to serve out her term, is open to 28th, two days after 13 French soldiers were
talks. But a piecemeal deal will hardly satis-
fy spd members who thought they were
voting for rupture. Kevin Kühnert, the am-
W ould donald trump defend a nato
ally that was, as he put it, “delin-
quent” in meeting its military spending
killed in a helicopter crash in Mali, he in-
sisted that terrorism, not Russia, was
nato’s “common enemy”. On December
bitious leader of Jusos, the party’s youth targets? “I’ll be discussing that today,” re- 4th Mr Macron tweeted that Russia was a
wing, has been notably demanding. “If the plied the president menacingly, in an in- “threat” but “no longer an enemy”, and
[cdu] won’t negotiate, I hope the new lead- terview on December 3rd. “It’s a very inter- “also a partner on certain topics”.
ership will take us out of coalition,” says esting question, isn’t it?” And so began a Such talk alarms eastern European lead-
Ben Schneider, a Jusos deputy in Berlin. tumultuous two days in suburban London, ers, who believe that Mr Macron is under-
Therefore the second challenge for the where nato leaders had gathered to mark mining a consensus that was painstakingly
spd’s new leaders is to hold their own party the alliance’s 70th anniversary. forged in the years since Russia’s annex-
together. Party brahmins, such as state pre- Things only got worse. In a press confer- ation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine in
miers and mps, overwhelmingly backed Mr ence with Jens Stoltenberg, nato’s secre- 2014. Many European officials are also un-
Scholz for leader and do not want to rock tary-general, Mr Trump remarked that he nerved by Mr Macron’s openness to a Rus-
the coalition boat. Leaving it could precip- could envisage France “breaking off” from sian proposal for a moratorium on medi-
itate an early election or a cdu/csu minor- the alliance and observed, with something um-range missiles; Russia’s deployment of
ity government, neither of which looks at- of the air of a mafia boss, that France “needs such missiles in violation of a cold-war
tractive to the spd. With the whip firmly in protection more than anybody”. At a recep- treaty prompted America to walk out of the
her hand, Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer has tion at Buckingham Palace later that eve- pact on August 2nd.
threatened to suspend the implementation ning, Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime min- Although some southern European
of a recent coalition compromise on state ister, was overheard mocking Mr Trump to members are privately sympathetic to the
pensions, widely seen as an spd win, while his British, French and Dutch counter- idea of detente with Russia, they were not
the party muses on its future. parts. When he heard about that, Mr Trump willing to fall in behind Mr Macron in pub-
All this helps explain why Mr Walter- cancelled a closing press conference and lic. The official declaration from the lead-
Borjans and Ms Esken quickly lowered the left early. But although the American presi- ers’ meeting included prominent men-
expectations of rupture after their surprise dent was, predictably, the butt of much tions of terrorism and, in an apparent sop
win. The next steps will be determined at merriment among commentators, his to Mr Macron, promise of a “reflection pro-
an spd congress in Berlin on December words did not cause as much disquiet as cess” on nato’s “political dimension”. But
6th-8th. Details were still being ironed out those of France’s president, Emmanuel it also excoriated Russia’s “aggressive ac-
as The Economist went to press, but rather Macron. tions” and insisted that improved relations
than seek an immediate end to the co- In an interview with The Economist pub- would only occur “when Russia’s actions
alition it appeared the new leadership lished on November 7th, the French presi- make that possible.”
would seek a vague set of policy conces- dent said that he was not sure whether Mr Macron was also at the centre of a
sions from the cdu/csu on climate, pay, in- separate quarrel. Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
vestment and labour regulations, with no Turkey’s president, urged Mr Macron to
deadline attached. Meanwhile, party unity “have your own brain death checked out
is the watchword. Mr Scholz will remain in first” after the French president rebuked
government and Klara Geywitz, his run- Turkey’s incursion into northern Syria.
ning mate, will run for the spd’s vice-chair- That offensive targeted Kurdish militants
manship along with Mr Kühnert. Surprises who, backed by America, France and Brit-
remain possible, but for now Germany’s ain, were serving as foot-soldiers against
government looks safe. the Islamic State group.
Optimists argue that by setting the On December 3rd Mr Macron further ac-
course for an ambitious election pro- cused Turkey of working with is “proxies”
gramme in 2021, Mr Walter-Borjans and Ms in Syria and castigated Mr Erdogan for his
Esken could rejuvenate a despondent party purchase of Russia’s advanced s-400 air-
without blowing up the government. Yet defence system. The animus is mutual: in
idealistic visions are hard to pursue along- the weeks before the meeting, Turkey said
side the compromises of coalition—Mr it was blocking nato plans for the defence
Scholz remains committed to the black of Poland and the Baltic states until the alli-
zero, for example—and the new duo does ance recognised the ypg, a Syrian Kurdish
not look ready for prime-time. As Thorsten militia, as a terrorist group.
Benner of the Global Public Policy Institute Yet for all the awful political optics, the
argues, it would be odd for the spd to vacate alliance is in rude military health. This year
the centre ground just as Mrs Merkel, the nine countries will hit the alliance’s target
archetypal moderate, prepares to give way, of spending 2% of gdp on defence, up from
possibly to a successor who will steer the just three a few years ago. By the end of
cdu rightward. But sometimes despair has 2020 Canada and European allies will have
its own momentum. 7 Not happy collectively invested $130bn over what they 1
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Europe 51

2 spent in 2016.
Malta
In June the alliance agreed its first-ever
space policy, building on the creation of
new space units in America, France and
Revenged
Britain over the past year. And to the Penta-
gon’s further delight, the declaration from
Malta’s prime minister is forced out by the work of a murdered journalist
the leaders acknowledged that “China’s
growing influence and international poli-
cies present both opportunities and chal-
lenges” for the alliance.
I t cost her her life. But, in the end,
Daphne Caruana Galizia, a dogged
Maltese journalist, brought down from
On December 3rd one European leader her grave the man she believed had al-
could be heard joking with another that Mr lowed corruption to flourish as he made
Macron had inadvertently employed the his island state progressively richer.
sort of reverse psychology used by parents On December 1st Joseph Muscat, the
against toddlers. Mr Macron’s sharp criti- prime minister of Malta, announced he
cism of nato seemed to have persuaded Mr was resigning. He has long denied any
Trump that the alliance was a good idea wrongdoing and tried to depict his de-
after all. “What I’m liking about nato is parture as natural. “I always said a prime
that a lot of countries have stepped up, I minister should not serve for more than
think at my behest.” 7 two legislatures,” he said in a televised
address. But it came as Malta plunged
deeper into a crisis with its origins in
France Caruana Galizia’s murder in 2017.
Mr Muscat announced his resigna-
Brace for impact tion the day after a local tycoon, Yorgen
Fenech, was charged with complicity in
the killing. Mr Fenech pleaded not guilty.
According to Caruana Galizia’s son, Paul, From beyond the grave
before her death his mother was in-
PARIS
vestigating links between Mr Fenech, a planted in her car exploded as she left her
A new wave of strikes threatens to shut
gas deal with Azerbaijan and two senior home. Three men charged with her
down France
figures in Mr Muscat’s government: his murder are yet to be tried. Last month a

F rance was this week nervously await-

ing the start of a rolling general strike on
December 5th, which looked set to disrupt
chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and the
former energy minister, Konrad Mizzi. A
report by the Council of Europe found
fourth man offered information on the
killing in return for immunity from
prosecution. He testified in court on
roads, railways, airports and schools. On that a Dubai-registered company owned December 4th that he had paid the al-
day one the sncf, the national railway by Mr Fenech was due to make large leged killers on behalf of Mr Fenech, who
company, said that only one in ten trains payments to Panamanian-registered was the sole organiser of the murder. But
would run. Teachers, hospital workers and companies belonging to the two poli- he added that, after the men were arrest-
even lawyers promised to join in. In protest ticians. Both deny any wrongdoing. ed, he was asked by a member of the
at President Emmanuel Macron’s upcom- Mr Muscat delayed his departure. He prime minister’s entourage to tell them
ing pension reform, the strikes mark a re- said his party would start choosing a new they would get bail and €1m ($1.1m) each.
turn to the streets of France’s unions. Re- leader on January 12th. He would step Bail was not granted and the money
cently eclipsed as the face of protest by the down as prime minister “in the days apparently was not paid.
gilets jaunes (yellow jackets), they are now after”. That announcement sparked Ministers (including Mr Muscat) have
keen to flex their own muscles and try to heated clashes in Parliament, a demon- been pelted with eggs, mps from rival
force Mr Macron to back down, just as the stration on the streets of the capital, parties have almost come to blows, and
gilets jaunes managed last year. Valletta, and claims that Mr Muscat on December 2nd the opposition boy-
The strike was called against Mr Mac- intended to hobble the investigation cotted Parliament as Mr Muscat gave a
ron’s pension plan, an election-manifesto before he left office. Mr Muscat rejected farewell speech. He leaves a country that
pledge in 2017. This is designed not to curb this. “Justice is being done. And I will see is far richer (growth has averaged 7.2% on
overall spending on pensions, which that justice is for everyone,” he said. his watch), but one that is as troubled as
amounts to 14% of gdp in France, com- Caruana Galizia died when a bomb it is troubling.
pared with an oecd average of 8%. Nor does
it raise the legal minimum retirement age
of 62 years, on the low side for the oecd. It era, date back to the 17th century under be made to contribute more for the same
aims, rather, to merge France’s tangle of 42 Louis XIV. Naturally, the beneficiaries of rights that they enjoy today.
different mandatory pension regimes into such schemes, such as train drivers who Third, the government has spent so
a single, points-based system. The idea is can retire at the age of 50 (rising thanks to long consulting over its long-promised
to make the rules more transparent, sim- earlier reforms, but only to 52 by 2024), will pension reform that it has ended up gener-
pler and fairer. not give them up without a fight. Second, ating more anxiety about the outcome than
The reason for the collective fury is although France’s overall pension system goodwill about the discussions. Nobody
threefold. First, unlike his predecessors, is in deficit, some of these regimes are well knows quite what their future entitle-
Mr Macron has decided to use this reform managed and balance their books. Law- ments will be. The government, stuffed
to end pensions with special privileges, the yers, for instance, fear that their virtue in with brainy technocrats (Mr Macron him-
so-called régimes spéciaux, which he argues maintaining a solvent, sustainable pen- self being one of them), talks in incompre-
“belong to another era”. Indeed some such sion scheme will be punished under the hensible jargon about “systemic” versus
regimes, such as that covering the Paris Op- merged system. They worry that they will “parametric” reform. Mr Macron has ruled 1
52 Europe The Economist December 7th 2019

2 out raising the legal minimum retirement member country, was unravelling. 2018 Ye Jianming, the cefc chairman, was
age. But many people suspect that, whatev- Officials in Western democracies have detained in China on suspicion of corrup-
er he says now, everyone will have to retire grown anxious in recent years at China’s tion. Beyond the initial flurry of deals,
later anyway. A poll this week showed that increasing dexterity at exerting influence cefc’s largesse never materialised.
57% of French people believe this. Distrust far from its shores. But China’s experience A nastier side also began to show. In
and confusion makes it easy for opponents in the heart of Europe suggests its dip- 2016, after the Czech culture minister met
to whip up anger. Supporters of the strikes lomatic playbook is much trickier to exe- the Dalai Lama, a diplomatic no-no for Chi-
include not just most of the big unions but cute in a democracy with a free press and na, Mr Zeman abruptly cancelled plans to
such odd bedfellows as the Socialist Party fairly strong institutions—and perhaps es- award a medal to the minister’s 88-year-old
and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally. pecially one, like the Czech Republic, that uncle, a Holocaust survivor. This year Chi-
The government is expected to an- has a historical sensitivity to being pushed nese authorities tried to press the mayor of
nounce the new pension rules before the around by an authoritarian great power. “It Prague, an outspoken critic of China’s hu-
end of the year. What it decides will depend is a story of backlash,” says Martin Hala of man-rights record, into adhering to the
partly on how disruptive the strikes are, Sinopsis, which has monitored the rise and “one-China” principle that forbids dip-
and on how far the French are willing to put fall of Chinese influence in the country. lomatic relations with both China and Tai-
up with them. In a nation founded on re- In its courtship of the Czech Republic, wan. When he refused, Chinese authorities
volt, the French tend to be sympathetic to China has employed many of the same tac- cancelled a long-planned tour of China by
strikes when they begin, and become less tics it has honed elsewhere. It has courted Prague’s Philharmonic Orchestra.
so as the weeks drag on, or things turn viol- public figures (including by putting some Investigative journalists have caused
ent. Today 64% say that they back the pen- on the payroll), promised substantial in- more problems. In July Czech public radio
sion strikes. With this sort of protest, and vestment, sponsored cultural programmes reported that Huawei employees in Prague
in contrast to the gilets jaunes, the govern- and events, and applied diplomatic pres- were supplying information about their
ment at least has organisations to talk to. sure when necessary. Analysts call the pro- clients to the Chinese embassy. In Novem-
But the president is deeply unpopular, the cess “elite capture”. ber Charles University closed its Czech-
unions are keen to teach him a lesson and For a few years it appeared to be work- Chinese Centre, which had been hosting
the government is on perilous ground. 7 ing. In 2013 Milos Zeman, a former prime China-friendly conferences since its open-
minister, was elected president. Though ing in 2016, after a news website reported
the president does not set official Czech that its executive secretary, and others, had
China and the Czechs foreign policy, he pursued a friendly rela- taken payments from the Chinese embassy
tionship with Xi Jinping. That same year via a private company.
Fumbling the Petr Kellner, a Czech billionaire oligarch For now China’s efforts at “elite capture”
and supporter of Mr Zeman’s, won a covet- seem to have alienated the public. In a glo-
capture ed Chinese national licence for one of his bal survey conducted this year by the Pew
companies, Home Credit, to make con- Research Centre, 57% of Czechs viewed
sumer loans. In 2014 Huawei entered into a China unfavourably, compared with just
PRAGUE
five-year sponsorship contract with Prague 27% who viewed it favourably—the widest
China still has a lot to learn about
Castle, the presidential residence, agreeing negative margin of any country surveyed in
operating in democracies
to supply Mr Zeman and his office with Europe apart from Sweden.

O n the night before Christmas Eve last

year Zhang Jianmin, China’s ambassa-
dor to the Czech Republic, paid a visit to
servers, phones and other equipment
worth about $20,000 annually.
In 2015 cefc China Energy, an oil con-
Huawei is still in business in Prague de-
spite the warnings, and Mr Kellner has just
bought a popular tv station, which critics
Andrej Babis, the prime minister, on the glomerate, announced that it would invest fear may now tone down scrutiny of China
outskirts of the capital. The two men posed billions of dollars in the Czech Republic. It (a spokesman for his company calls this
for a photograph by a Christmas tree, but it snapped up stakes in a football club, a “completely paranoid”). Observers in
was not a social call. Mr Zhang objected to a brewery and a hotel, and a few other busi- Prague reckon a battle over Chinese influ-
security warning about Huawei and zte nesses, including a little-watched tv sta- ence will continue for years. “I don’t think
that had been issued by the country’s tion. In 2016 China’s influence seemed to it can be won, really,” says Janek Kroupa,
cyber-security agency, and complained be reaching an apex, with a state visit by Mr the journalist who reported the story on
that Mr Babis had banned his staff from us- Xi himself. Huawei employees sharing information
ing products made by the two Chinese tele- But then cracks started to appear. In with the embassy. “It can only be fought.” 7
coms giants. Mr Zhang emerged claiming,
in a statement posted on Facebook, that Mr
Babis had assured him that the security
warning had been “misleading” and the
ban hastily decided. It seemed briefly like a
Chinese diplomatic victory in Europe.
It was, instead, another in a series of
bumbling missteps by China that have left
it foundering diplomatically in the Czech
Republic. Humiliated by the statement, Mr
Babis publicly contradicted Mr Zhang, say-
ing flatly, “I do not know what the ambassa-
dor is talking about.” The limited Huawei
ban, imposed by Mr Babis and some gov-
ernment ministries, stayed in place. A
years-long effort to influence the political
and business elite of the Czech Republic,
and to turn the foreign policy of an eu Hands off Prague
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Europe 53

Charlemagne The decline of the Five Star empire

Italy’s quirkiest party goes from hero towards zero

Stars win a third of the seats in the legislature at the last general
election in March 2018, more than any other party. That enabled it
to govern first with the hard-right Northern League and, since Sep-
tember, with the centre-left Democratic Party. But although some
of m5s’s ideas have been taken up by other new parties such as Vox
in Spain and the Brexit Party in Britain, the idea that it offers a
glimpse of the political future looks ever less convincing. In the
first real test of public opinion since the fall of the last govern-
ment, a regional election in Umbria on October 27th, the Move-
ment’s share of the vote slumped to a mere 7.4%. That result
pitched the party into its worst crisis since its foundation. Such
has been its loss of self-belief that the leadership proposed it
should not contest the next two regional ballots, lest it be further
humiliated. Members decisively rejected that proposal in an on-
line vote that has further discredited Mr Di Maio.
So are the Five Stars in fact a cluster of meteors, doomed to burn
out in the political atmosphere? The party has never fared well in
regional elections. In these, the focus is on the rival merits of the
candidates for regional governor. The m5s’s contenders are usually
unknowns. Polls suggest that in a general election, m5s could still
pick up around 17% of the vote. But that is barely half what it won
last year.

T he quincentenary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, which is

being marked this year, is a fine moment to savour the Italian
talent for walking a step or two ahead of everybody else. The inven-
Although the m5s defies easy classification, that is not always
true of its voters. “When the Five Stars allied with the right, they
lost those on the left; then when they allied with the left, they lost
tory of Italian brainwaves, from double-entry book-keeping to ra- those on the right,” says Antonio Noto of Noto Sondaggi, a polling
dio, is impressive. In politics, too, Italians have repeatedly antici- firm. That leaves the party’s hard-core devotees, many of whom ab-
pated trends and innovated—though not always happily, as with stained in previous elections. Even they may now be deserting.
the invention of fascism. In 1968 students in Rome were rioting The m5s won support by being uncompromisingly hostile to
two months before ever a cobblestone was thrown in Paris. And if the establishment. Since taking office, it has become part of it. No
today’s right-wing populists have a spiritual father, he is surely Sil- one reflects the change more than Mr Di Maio, with his dark suits
vio Berlusconi. Like Donald Trump, that priapic property devel- and sober ties. Some of his own lawmakers were appalled when,
oper used tv to launch himself into politics and successfully mar- discussing next year’s budget on social media, he suggested that
keted an idiosyncratic brand of personalised conservatism. measures to curb tax-dodging be postponed to make life easier for
So it was tempting to believe that Beppe Grillo, a politicised co- shopkeepers and professionals. And the movement has suffered
median in the mould of America’s Michael Moore or Britain’s Rus- from its own success. The last government enacted several mea-
sell Brand, was ahead of the curve when he founded the Five Star sures it had promised, such as an income-support benefit for the
Movement (m5s) ten years ago. The late Gianroberto Casaleggio, poorest, legislation to limit short-term employment contracts and
the internet executive who inspired him, certainly had some origi- the closure of a loophole through which many convicted of cor-
nal ideas. One was that the internet would do away with represen- ruption had wriggled free. The m5s having delivered on those
tative democracy and replace it with a form of direct democracy in pledges, voters see little reason to continue supporting it.
which the electorate could decide on legislation at the click of a
mouse. In his view, the Five Stars’ main mission was to facilitate Time out
the transition. Piergiorgio Corbetta, research director of Istituto Cattaneo, a
For a while, the Movement’s headquarters was a website. Its think-tank, believes the only way the m5s can recover its oomph is
parliamentary candidates, who were chosen online by their fellow by returning to opposition. He sees its future as not unlike that of
members, usually had no experience of politics. One of the many the defunct Radical Party, a similarly unconventional movement
temporary jobs held by the young man who now leads it, Luigi Di (its lawmakers included the porn star Cicciolina) which neverthe-
Maio, was as a webmaster. And these digital natives have created a less played a vital role in politics, snapping at the heels of the
programme that has something of the internet’s wildness. Anoth- mainstream parties and lobbying tirelessly for a more socially and
er of Casaleggio’s contentions was that the fall of the Berlin Wall economically liberal Italy.
had made meaningless the old division between right and left. The Mr Grillo has often argued that his movement has played a cru-
Movement would be neither. It espouses a mixture of progressive cial part in diverting into peaceful, democratic channels much of
and conservative policies. It is pacifist and environmentalist, yet the rage in Italian society after two decades of economic stagna-
protectionist; socially liberal, yet wary of immigration; keen on tion. But if the m5s is to be reduced to such a role at the edge of the
Putin’s Russia, but only intermittently Eurosceptic. It favours dra- political stage, it follows that a large part of that discontent will
conian anti-corruption laws, boosting internet connectivity and flow to Italy’s other, more extreme, Eurosceptic populist move-
slashing the cost of politics by, among other things, reducing the ment: the League. That process is already well advanced. In Um-
size of parliament. bria, where it won only 14% of the vote in 2015, the League took a
This heterogeneous, even eccentric programme helped the Five stunning 37% in October. 7
54
Britain The Economist December 7th 2019

Also in this section

55 What happens in a hung parliament?
56 How to rehabilitate terrorists
57 Bagehot: Pants on fire

The Conservatives far more difficult than the Article 50 nego-

tiations, supposedly an easy first stage. A
Leaving Brexit undone new deal must cover trade, security, data,
research, student exchanges, farming and
fish, to name but a few areas. The list is so
extensive that the result will be a “mixed”
agreement, under Article 218, that needs
unanimous approval and ratification by 27
national and several regional parliaments.
Under Boris Johnson, the spectre of no-deal would return in December 2020
The Institute for Government, a think-
by one or two years, but this has to be
A s in 2017, this was meant to be a Brexit
election. Also as in 2017, it has quickly
morphed into one about the National
agreed on before July 1st. And the Tory man-
ifesto declares in bold type that “we will
tank, notes that less ambitious eu trade
deals with Ukraine, Canada, South Korea,
Japan and Singapore have taken between
Health Service, security and terrorism. Yet not extend the implementation period be- four and nine years to negotiate and ratify.
the pithiest slogan of the campaign is still yond December 2020.” That is why many are urging Mr John-
Boris Johnson’s much-repeated promise to Both houses of Parliament must also son to seek more time. But this will be
“get Brexit done”. And although his poll pass a mass of other legislation to replace tricky, and not just because of his manifes-
lead has narrowed, the odds are that this the eu’s laws and regulations when the to pledge. In transition Britain will be in a
pledge will help bring him victory. transition period ends. These include bills form of vassalage, obliged to apply all eu
The question is: what then? With a Tory on fisheries, agriculture, trade and cus- laws and regulations with no say in making
majority, Parliament seems sure to ratify toms, immigration and financial services. them. Extending the time limit requires
the Article 50 withdrawal agreement that Several are both long and controversial, unanimous approval, and that may come
Mr Johnson renegotiated in October in which is why they have made minimal pro- with conditions such as access to British
time for Britain to leave the European Un- gress in the past two years. fisheries. It would also mean more money,
ion by January 31st. The European Parlia- More problematic will be the talks on as Brussels would expect a hefty contribu-
ment, whose consent is needed, should do future relations with the eu. These will be tion from Britain, probably without keep- 1
the same. The psychological importance of
Brexit formally happening will be pro-
found, not least because it will kill the ar-
gument for holding a second referendum.
Yet Brexit will still not be done. On Feb-
Britain’s general election
ruary 1st Britain will move into a transition Next week’s copy of The Economist goes to press before the results of the general
phase, when it must abide by all eu rules, election will be known. Subscribers with digital access will be able to read a special
that ends on December 31st. Mr Johnson’s election edition on our apps on December 13th. And all subscribers will be able to
plan is to negotiate and ratify a best-in- read our analysis of the results free online at economist.com/2019UKelection
class free-trade deal during this period.
There is a provision to extend the deadline
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Britain 55

2 ing its current budget rebate. A hung parliament

Mr Johnson’s team responds to such Blue story
gloom with four arguments. First, he was Corbyn the Britain, general election voting intention, %
told that he would be unable to reopen The- To December 5th 2019
resa May’s withdrawal agreement, and yet dealmaker 50
he did it. But this analogy does not work.
Conservative
His substantive change was to accept an 40
original Brussels proposal to avert a hard Labour
border in Ireland by in effect leaving North- 30
How Labour could still swing it
ern Ireland alone in a customs union, im-
Lib Dem 20
plying border checks in the Irish Sea. Pre-
sumably Mr Johnson does not want to do a
trade deal by a similar process of repeated
I t’s odds-on for a Conservative overall
majority and the betting markets put the
chances of Labour’s getting one at 20/1. But
Brexit Party
Green
10

concessions to the eu. the Tory lead has narrowed slightly (see 0
The second line is that a good trade deal chart). If it drops to six percentage points
2019
should be easy because Britain and Brus- Parliament would probably be hung—and,
Sources: Politico Poll of Polls; The Economist
sels start in complete alignment. Yet Mr given that during November a fifth of vot-
Johnson’s explicit plan is to diverge from ers changed their preferences (including to
eu rules and regulations. He has recently and from “don’t know”), that could hap- eu, but he is unlikely to.
even said he wants more flexibility over pen. So it’s not all over for the Labour Party. Mr Johnson, thus, could have the largest
state aid. Brussels has reacted badly: the eu As Vernon Bogdanor of King’s College number of seats but be unable to form a
fears being undercut by a deregulated off- London points out, this is an asymmetrical government. If that happens, eyes turn to
shore competitor. Without what it calls a election. The Conservatives need an overall the second-largest party. Labour’s policy
level playing-field, it says it must limit ac- majority in order to stay in Downing Street, on Brexit—to put a renegotiated deal to a
cess to its single market. Mujtaba Rahman but Labour needs only a hung parliament. second referendum—appeals to the snp.
of the Eurasia Group consultancy says that That is because Boris Johnson would find it Jeremy Corbyn, Labour’s leader, has care-
negotiating a trade deal that erects barriers hard to do deals with other parties. fully left open the possibility of another
will always be harder and take longer than a The Conservatives’ hard-Brexit policy Scottish independence referendum, say-
normal deal that does the opposite. appeals to no other party except the North- ing only that he would not hold one in his
A third claim is that setting a deadline is ern Irish Democratic Unionists, who feel first two years in power.
the only way to galvanise trade talks. With betrayed by Mr Johnson because the Brexit But if Mr Corbyn needed support from
enough political will, a deal can always be deal he has done with the European Union the Liberal Democrats as well, things
done. Yet Sam Lowe of the Centre for Euro- envisages treating Northern Ireland differ- would be trickier. Jo Swinson, their leader,
pean Reform, another think-tank, says the ently from the rest of the United Kingdom. has said that she would not put him in
sole practical option in such a short time Mr Johnson has ruled out another referen- Downing Street. And although there is
would be a bare-bones deal that covered dum on Scottish independence, and thus a speculation about whether Mr Corbyn
goods trade alone. Such a deal might avoid deal with Scottish National Party (snp), might step down if he loses the election, if
the need for parliamentary ratification. But which is likely to be the third-biggest party he were in a position to do a deal with the
it would do nothing for services, which in Parliament. The Liberal Democrats, who Lib Dems he would have done well enough
make up 80% of Britain’s economy and half are likely to be the fourth-largest, might do to spin the election result as a victory, and
its trade. It would not cover security, data a deal with the Conservatives if Mr Johnson therefore would cling to power. Moreover,
and much else. And the lesson from the Ar- offered another referendum on leaving the since Mr Corbyn promises the second eu
ticle 50 experience is that a tight deadline referendum that the Lib Dems want, they
forces Britain to make concessions, which would be very likely to make it possible for
might range from fisheries to Gibraltar. him to form a government by at least ab-
Fourth, many Tories maintain that if no staining. If the alternative were losing the
trade deal can be done in time, leaving on chance of another referendum, they might
World Trade Organisation terms would be even support him.
fine. The withdrawal agreement would still A Corbyn government propped up by
cover eu citizens, money and Northern Ire- the snp and the Liberal Democrats would
land. Yet reliance on the wto is dodgy presumably remain in office to oversee the
when the system is under threat from Do- two referendums. That might give it
nald Trump. It would imply extensive ta- enough time to bed down in power and
riffs and non-tariff barriers. And it would cling on after those were done; though giv-
bring back all the fears of lorry queues, en that there is little support for its more
shortages of medicine and food, and pro- radical policies and minority governments
blems for airlines and energy supplies that tend to be unstable, another election
led both Mrs May and then Mr Johnson not would probably beckon.
to press for a no-deal Brexit. In such circumstances Mr Johnson’s po-
The damage of no deal would be severe, sition would not be solid, either. He is short
cutting 8% off income per head after ten of friends in his party, and since his appeal
years. The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a lay in his supposed ability to win elections,
think-tank, suggests the budget deficit he might have outlived his usefulness. But
would hit 4% of gdp and the public debt with an instinct for power as strong as his,
would rise sharply. Far from getting Brexit it would probably be wrong to bet on his
done, as Mr Johnson says, next year prom- ejection: he would be as hard to separate
ises to repeat 2019’s experience of missed from the leadership of his party as the she-
deadlines and cliff-edges to no-deal. 7 elephant from her calf. 7
56 Britain The Economist December 7th 2019

London Bridge mandatory. Measuring their success is

hard. Security considerations mean gov-
After the fall ernments are reluctant to allow academic
evaluations. The small numbers and lack
of an available control group would any-
way make it tricky to draw quantitative
conclusions. Even so, Mr Horgan says, “the
emerging conclusion seems to be that re-
habilitation can work,” but only if prison-
How to rehabilitate terrorists
ers are committed to changing their ways.

W hen a man ran amok with two knives

on November 29th, many Londoners
followed official advice to “run, hide and
long carries its own risks. Draconian sen-
tences can transform nobodies into mar-
tyrs and radicalise prisoners’ relatives.
A qualitative assessment last year by ac-
ademics judged Britain’s in-prison scheme
to be working well. Most lags said it helped
tell”. But a few brave souls chased Usman Some experts point to Northern Ireland, them understand why they offended and
Khan onto London Bridge, armed with a where internment during the Troubles gave them reasons to avoid doing so. Brit-
fire extinguisher and, of all things, a nar- turned civilians against the state and hun- ain’s policy of mixing jihadists with other
whal tusk, plucked from a display. The at- ger strikes created heroes out of inmates. criminals risks radicalising non-terrorists.
tacker took two lives before he was shot Perhaps surprisingly, the police do not But it also exposes terrorist convicts to al-
dead by police. The editors of Britain’s always support longer sentences. Some ternative viewpoints. One jihadist prisoner
tough-on-crime newspapers—three of differentiate between young men who told a researcher that “being forced to mix
whom could watch events from their cor- might be caught browsing terrorist materi- for once” opened his eyes.
ner offices across the bridge—didn’t know al online and hardened plotters, who have More can be done. Hiring extra psychol-
what to make of it. Not all of the terrorist’s spent years immersed in extremist ideolo- ogists might help: Andrew Silke, a counter-
pursuers made for an easy moral. “One gy. One senior police officer says prison is terrorism expert, says there is a waiting list
hero was a jailed murderer on day release,” ineffective if inmates can smuggle phones for the in-prison course. And more work is
the Daily Mail acknowledged. inside and continue plotting their activi- needed on de-radicalisation. Prison gover-
Mr Khan’s biography poses a still tricki- ties. Either way, inmates must be released nors struggle to divert inmates from viol-
er conundrum. It soon emerged that he had eventually. If extra years behind bars are ent ideology without promoting peaceful
been convicted in 2012 of plotting a terro- poorly funded and structured, they “risk but similarly extreme views. “You have to
rist attack, and released early from jail last making bad people worse”, says Nick Hard- get into the distorted ideology to tackle it,”
year, under supervision. He was allowed to wick, an ex-boss of the parole board. says an ex-prison boss, recalling debates
come to central London that day to attend a about whether to quote statements by the
conference on prison education; his vic- Battlefields of the mind Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group.
tims, Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones, worked Regardless of sentence length, most crimi- What is clear is that Mr Khan deceived
on the programme. Do these events nologists favour investment in de-radicali- the authorities. He took part in rehabilita-
amount to a case study in the impossibility sation, which aims to strip terrorists of tion in and out of prison. And he would
of rehabilitating a terrorist? their motivating ideology, or “disengage- have been allowed to take part in the con-
The question is timely. As Islamic ment”, which has the more modest aim of ference only because his handlers believed
State’s “caliphate” crumbled, hundreds of dissuading convicts from future violence, him to be engaged, says Mr Hardwick. Yet
fighters and fellow-travellers returned to even if they retain hardline views. John Mr Merritt’s father, Dave, urged politicians
European countries, including Britain. Horgan, an expert on extremism at Georgia not to become more punitive. His son died
Jails in England and Wales house a churn- State University, reckons there are 40-50 offering prisoners the chance to redeem
ing population of 700 or so terrorism of- such schemes around the world. themselves. “What Jack would want from
fenders and other criminals suspected of Most involve counselling to get to the this is for all of us to walk through the door
terrorist affiliations. root causes of extremist sympathies. Brit- he has booted down,” he wrote. “That door
Boris Johnson, the prime minister, of- ain already has two such schemes: one, in opens up a world where we do not lock up
fered a simple answer. If voters backed him prison, is voluntary; another, on release, is and throw away the key.” 7
in the imminent election, he declared, he
would make sure that all terrorists were
locked up for at least 14 years, without early
release. Polls suggest more than four-fifths
of Britons support him. Jeremy Corbyn, the
Labour leader, was ridiculed for saying that
such prisoners should “not necessarily”
serve their full sentences.
Yet the case presents more of a dilemma
than Mr Johnson acknowledges. Such of-
fenders invite little sympathy even from
liberals. Let them out too early and you risk
them re-offending. About one in ten con-
victed terrorists in Britain goes on to com-
mit another terrorism-related offence.
This is lower than the overall re-offending
rate—29%—but highly concerning given
that such offences can range from associat-
ing with terrorists and plotting attacks to
mass murder.
Yet keeping terrorists behind bars too They shall not pass
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Britain 57

Bagehot Liar, liar

Truth has been the first casualty of this election

by Labour supporters, falsely accuses Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem
leader, of slaughtering squirrels in her garden.
Why has Britain gone through the post-truth door? Some of the
blame lies with new technology. The most egregious examples of
distortion have taken place online. During one leaders’ debate the
Conservative Party renamed its Twitter account factcheckuk and
used it to pump out partisan messages disguised as independent
evaluations. The internet has changed the rules of the political
game, weakening the power of gatekeepers in the old media (who
are bound by professional ethics and election rules) and opening
the battleground to cranks and fraudsters. It has also allowed cam-
paign headquarters to spin different tales to voters in different
parts of the country. Tory digital ads targeted at Leave-voting areas
such as Rother Valley (67% Leave) emphasise the party’s hard line
on Brexit, whereas those targeting places such as St Albans (62%
Remain) avoid the subject.
Some of the blame lies with the two main candidates. Jeremy
Corbyn is immune to the truth because he is in the grip of an all-
encompassing ideology about the evils of capitalism and imperi-
alism, and the wonders of socialism and people power. Mr John-
son is indifferent to the truth because he is in the grip of an all-con-
suming ambition. He has twice been sacked for lying—once by the

W inston churchill once said that “in wartime truth is so

precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard
of lies.” If Britain’s election is anything to go by, these days lies are
Times over a made-up quote and once by his party over an affair—
but has nevertheless made it to the top. He is so worried about be-
ing held to account for his various claims that (so far and in con-
so precious that they need to be attended by a bodyguard of further trast to other party leaders) he has dodged an interview with An-
lies. This election has been marinated in mendacity: big lies and drew Neil, the bbc’s most forensic interviewer. His slipperiness
small lies; quarter truths and pseudo-facts; distortion, dissem- has been given a sinister twist by his chief adviser, Dominic Cum-
bling and disinformation; and digital skulduggery on an industri- mings, a Machiavellian ideologue who propagated the lie that
al scale. The public is so disillusioned with the political process Brexit would generate £350m ($460m) a week for the nhs.
that, when a member of the public asked Boris Johnson during a
televised debate whether he valued truth, the audience burst into Truth versus tribalism
laughter. Mr Johnson is the favourite by a substantial margin. But there is also a deeper force at work: the triumph of political
A popular parlour game in political circles is to debate which tribalism. In the Blair-Cameron era, politics was primarily about
party is the biggest liar. The answer is that the Tories are probably policy. Politicians argued about what measure of economic open-
the worst offenders and the Liberal Democrats probably the least ness would stimulate growth or, after the financial crash, what de-
bad, though they have a troubling habit of producing fake local gree of austerity would keep the markets calm. Organisations like
newspapers. But this misses the larger point: that both the main the Office for National Statistics spoke with authority. Today it is
contenders have turned disinformation into an art. They both start about tribalism as much as economics. The Tories are using Brexit
with big lies—the Tories that Brexit can be delivered quickly and to win over Labour voters, while Labour is reasserting its identity
painlessly, and Labour that its gigantic spending plans can be as the party of the working class. Experts have lost much of their
funded by a handful of billionaires (who anyway got rich by steal- credibility with the public in large part because they are seen pri-
ing from the poor). They then reinforce big lies with smaller ones. marily as members of a tribe (the London-based cosmopolitan
The Tories claim they are building 40 new hospitals. Labour insists elite) rather than objective commentators. Even before this elec-
the Tories are planning to privatise the National Health Service. tion began its corrosive work, only 40% of voters surveyed by the
Of course, both big lies and small lies have always been part of Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism said they trusted the
politics. Anthony Eden told a barefaced lie to the House of Com- news. That number is much lower among working-class and
mons in 1956, when he claimed that Britain and France had not col- Brexit-supporting voters.
luded with Israel in the Suez invasion. Edward Heath sowed the The combination of an epidemic of lies and a climate of mis-
seeds of Britain’s current problems in 1972, when he insisted that trust is proving noxious. It distorts the selection process. The more
entry to the Common Market would not involve any loss of sover- voters assume all politicians are liars, the more likely they are to
eignty. But there is something new about what is going on in this choose a liar to represent them. Mr Johnson is in many ways the
election, and not just in terms of the sheer number of lies. It is a ideal politician for a post-truth age, because nobody expects him
post-truth campaign. The parties are behaving as if truth doesn’t to keep his word. He exists in a world of us-versus-them and of
matter at all—they don’t regard themselves as lying, because they emotion rather than reason, a world in which cheering people up
exist in a world of spin. They continue to repeat the same menda- is more important than depressing them with facts. Liberal de-
cious talking-points even if they have been revealed to be bogus. mocracy depends on people doing something extraordinary:
They accuse each other of peddling “fake news”, while peddling it choosing a handful of people to represent their interests and views
themselves. Their outriders release weird rumours into the politi- in Parliament. Without the glue of trust and truth, that extraordi-
cal atmosphere: one doctored newspaper article, primarily shared nary process will sooner or later come unstuck. 7
58 The Economist December 7th 2019
International

Education its average score, as they have every round

since 2006. Gaps between rich and poor
The parable of Finland pupils are widening, something which is
distressing for a country that prides itself
on equality. Estonia, once a mere imitator,
is now the highest achiever among oecd
countries. Mart Laidmets, the secretary-
general of Estonia’s ministry of education,
H E LS I N K I A N D TA LLI N N
notes with more than a hint of satisfaction
pisa results can lead policymakers astray. They still matter
that although Asian delegations still fly to

W hen estonia gained independence

from the Soviet Union in 1991 it took
the chance to reshape the country’s educa-
ly renowned for its education, topped the
table when it came to reading, and excelled
in other categories, too.
Helsinki, they increasingly use it only as a
connection on the way to Tallinn.
The parable of Finland helps to explain
tion system. Mailis Reps, the current edu- The Nordic country appeared to have why there has been little overall progress
cation minister, says officials and politi- discovered a way to get brilliant results since pisa began. The hope at the turn of
cians looked everywhere—from America without the discipline and intense work- the millennium was that the wealth of new
to the Netherlands—for inspiration. But load of East Asian champions like Japan information provided by the tests would
they kept coming back to their Nordic and South Korea, which were the other top help identify why some school systems do
neighbours. As Ms Reps recalls, the con- scorers at the time. Educationalists de- so well. Others would follow their lead,
cluding argument in any debate often ran: scended on Helsinki. They reported back causing results to rise across the board. But
“Let’s try something like that because it that not only was education free and com- although spending per pupil in the oecd
works in Sweden or Finland.” prehensive, but teachers were highly re- has risen by 15% in just the past decade,
Many others have done similarly. Every spected, well trained and left to get on with performance in reading, maths and sci-
three years the oecd publishes results their jobs, which frequently involved en- ence remains essentially the same as when
from the Programme for International Stu- abling children to discover things for the tests started.
dent Assessment, with the latest out on De- themselves. Schools in countries from
cember 3rd. pisa tests the reading, maths Scotland to South Korea sought to mirror That’s what I’m Tallinn about
and science skills of 15- and 16-year-olds in Finnish education. Indeed, international As ever, this year’s results include plenty of
the oecd’s member states, as well as volun- visits became so popular that the Finnish bright spots (see chart on next page). Singa-
teers not in the club of mostly rich coun- government started to charge for them. pore’s sparkling scores have got better still.
tries. The results provide a means to di- Those arriving today pay more than €1,200 Even so, it is no longer the highest achiever
rectly compare different education ($1,300) to visit a school. overall. That is China—or to be more pre-
systems. It is now nearly two decades since Yet Finland’s image as an educational cise, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhe-
the first batch were released. Back then, Utopia now appears to be somewhat out of jiang (the oecd declines to include results
there was a surprise. Finland, not previous- date. The latest pisa results show a fall in from farther afield because it cannot guar- 1
 The Economist December 7th 2019 International 59

2 antee their veracity). Less well-studied By the time the results came out, many
countries including Jordan, Poland and Finnish schools had started to move in a
Turkey have also seen improvements. And very different direction, confounding tour-
yet for every Jordan, there is a Finland. ing policymakers. A forthcoming study by
Part of the reason for the lack of overall Aino Saarinen and colleagues at the Uni-
progress is that schools have less influence versities of Helsinki and Oulu analyses
over results than is commonly assumed. pisa data from 2012 and 2015, finding that
Culture and other social factors, such as children in schools which gave pupils
adult literacy, matter more, meaning that more freedom to direct their own learning
even well-informed policymakers can only had lower scores in maths and science.
make so much difference. As John Jerrim of Those from poor and migrant families suf-
University College London notes, “You are fered the most. Eschewing the possibility
always going to have East Asian countries of a happy midpoint between reading from
coming top.” And, as the data suggest, a textbook and leaving children to their
above a certain level (around $50,000 per own devices, schools have continued to ex-
pupil, cumulatively between the ages of six periment in the years since. A wave of new
and 15) there is not much of a relationship institutions are being built without class-
between expenditure and pisa scores. rooms. A new curriculum, which began to
The importance of culture can be seen them and local students. Estonia has seen a be introduced in 2016, encourages lessons
in Estonia and Finland, both of which have similar increase in the number of immi- without defined subjects.
long histories of high levels of literacy, of- grant pupils, but new arrivals are much less Despite this, there remain many simi-
ten promoted by the local Protestant likely to be poor than they are in its Nordic larities in the organisation of the Estonian
church. “There is this kind of general un- neighbour. and Finnish education systems. There are
derstanding” says Ms Reps, “that we don’t very few fee-paying schools, for instance,
have, I don’t know, a golden diamond, but Finishing lessons and both seek to minimise exams and seg-
that education is the thing.” Finland Finland’s decline may make the wonks regation by ability. Belying the slightly
created a series of children’s books featur- who rushed to copy its schools seem silly. staid office in which he sits, replete with
ing the Moomins—pale, rounded creatures But looking deeper there are still lessons to portraits of the country’s leaders and a
that are beloved by youngsters around the learn from Finland’s example. Despite the large Estonian flag, Rando Kuustik, the
world. Libraries are scattered throughout country having a reputation for cuddly head of the Jakob Westholm School in the
the country, including a spectacular, slop- teaching, it used to take a slightly more centre of Tallinn, says that his first priority
ing one next to the train station in the cen- hardline approach. In 1996, four years be- is his pupils’ happiness, and his second is
tre of Helsinki, called Oodi, which was fore the first batch of pisa results, a group to “help them manage better in the world
built to celebrate the country’s centenary at of British researchers visited the country. than when they entered.”
a cost of €98m. These kinds of things are They found “whole classes following line But although Mr Kuustik’s teachers are
difficult for other countries to replicate. by line what is written in the textbook, at a beginning to tweak their style of instruc-
Other factors are also beyond the con- pace determined by the teacher...We have tion by, for instance, making more use of
trol of education ministers. Immigration moved from school to school and seen al- group work, “we are still a very traditional
plays an important role, with recent arriv- most identical lessons—you could have school,” he explains. Before pupils work in
als scoring below locals in most countries. swapped the teachers over and children groups, the teacher makes sure they have a
Finland has seen a small uptick in the would not have noticed the difference.” As thorough understanding of what they are
number of migrant pupils taking pisa over Gabriel Heller Sahlgren, an economist, has working on. Rules are clear, and teachers
the past decade. More than four-fifths do noted, most of the children who scored so lead lessons from the front of the class. Ac-
not speak Finnish at home, helping to ex- highly in the first round of tests would have ademics report a similar picture across the
plain the big gap in performance between experienced this sort of schooling. country. Tim Oates of Cambridge Assess-
ment, a testing company, lauds the coun-
try’s rigorous, coherent curriculum.
Could do better Much of this can be learnt from. But any
PISA test score, average of maths, reading and science country hoping to import the Estonian
model in its entirety is likely to be disap-
Overall rise China* Overall fall pointed. The country has seen fast eco-
Singapore 550 550 nomic growth over the past three decades,
Macau Hong Kong which is associated with better results.
Estonia
Finland And migration out of the country, com-
Poland 500 2018 500 bined with a lower birth rate, means the
OECD school population has fallen by 29% since
average New Zealand
Turkey
450 Greece 450
2000, leaving an unusual education sys-
tem. Andreas Schleicher, head of education
Jordan at the oecd, notes there is a “healthy degree
Qatar Costa Rica of competition” between schools to attract
400 400
North the remaining pupils. In rural primary
Macedonia Indonesia
schools, it is not uncommon to have class-
350 350 es as small as two or three pupils, says Ms
Dominican Reps, meaning they receive something
Republic akin to private tuition. One school even
300 300
managed to stay open for two years with-
2006 09 12 15 18 2006 09 12 15 18
out any children—something other coun-
Source: OECD *Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang
tries will probably choose not to copy. 7
60 The Economist December 7th 2019
Business

Saudi Aramco one with swelling youth unemployment

and doubts about long-term demand for
Listless fossil fuels in a world worried about cli-
mate change.
If the rationale was straightforward, ex-
ecution was not. Prince Muhammad first
suggested an ipo in an interview with this
newspaper in 2016. The years since have
been filled with delays and controversy.
Behold the biggest ipo in history. It looks like an anticlimax
Concerns about legal liabilities under-
mined plans for a listing in London, New
T he aspiration was clear. First, list a
portion of Saudi Aramco, a state-owned
oil giant that is the world’s most profitable
range of $1.7trn or so is lower than the
princely target but still too high for many
institutional investors. This weak appetite
York or on another global bourse. The mur-
der of Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident jour-
company. Then use the windfall to diver- led the company to decide to float just 1.5% nalist, at the Saudi consulate in Turkey last
sify Saudi Arabia’s economy. Muhammad of its shares on Saudi Arabia’s exchange. It year cast a pall over Prince Muhammad’s
bin Salman, its crown prince, expected in- will probably edge past Alibaba’s $25bn. sweeping modernisation plan.
vestors to swoon over the company’s rich The reasons for listing Aramco have not Aramco’s successful issuance of $12bn
reserves, low costs and $111bn in annual net changed. Saudi Arabia needs to move be- in bonds in April helped build confidence
income. “If you want to invest in Exxon, yond oil, which accounts for nearly 70% of in the flotation. Recent months have seen a
Chevron, bp,” one banker involved in the government revenues. That would be a frenzy of activity to ensure its success. The
listing told The Economist in October, “why dangerous dependence in any era, let alone kingdom hired more than two dozen big
don’t you just go and buy Aramco?” It turns banks to shepherd it through, and appoint-
out that many investors would rather not. ed a new chairman for the company and a
Also in this section
As we went to press, Aramco was ex- new oil minister.
pected to announce its offer price, with 61 Mining Guinea’s iron mountain The listing was nevertheless marred by
trading to begin soon after. The result is several problems. Some were (mostly) be-
62 Italy’s steel saga
likely to be the biggest initial public offer- yond Prince Muhammad’s control. Inves-
ing (ipo) in history. It will also prove to be a 62 China’s cow cash tors’ concerns about the global economy
disappointment. and weak demand pushed the oil price be-
63 Bartleby: How to Christmas party
Prince Muhammad’s initial desire—a low $60 a barrel in August. President Do-
5% listing at a valuation of $2trn—would 64 Alphabet turns a Page and a Brin nald Trump’s warnings of a protracted
have raised a staggering $100bn, four times trade war with China could weaken it fur-
65 Schumpeter: Conquistadors in a New
what Alibaba, the current record-holder, ther. Missile and drone strikes (believed to
World quandary
drummed up in 2014. Aramco’s valuation have originated in Iran, which backs Saudi 1
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Business 61

Mining in Africa
Sweet crude, sour aftertaste
2018
Galvanised
Return on capital employed, % DA K A R

Saudi Aramco 41 One of the world’s biggest iron-ore deposits has a new owner

Oil majors* 8
W hen prospectors discovered a
gargantuan deposit of iron ore in
the misty Simandou mountains 17 years
which aluminium is smelted. Guinea has
a quarter of the world’s proven reserves
of the stuff. In 2018 smb exported 36m
Dividend yield, % ago, many Guineans hoped it would tonnes of it, worth around $2.1bn, mostly
transform their impoverished country. to China, which imports about half its
Saudi Aramco† 4.4 The remote location makes its estimated bauxite from smb. Winning’s vessels
Oil majors* 5.5 2.4bn tonnes of iron ore—valued at ferry about 200 shiploads a year to Chi-
perhaps $230bn—hard to mine. Gyrating nese ports.
Sources: Bloomberg; *Average of five biggest
company reports †Valued at $1.7trn
commodity prices scared off investment. The private joint-venture keeps its
So did lurid corruption scandals in- finances close to its chest but Bob Adam,
volving billionaires, government offi- an expert on mining in Guinea, reckons
2 enemies in neighbouring Yemen) knocked cials and mining companies. that after taxes, royalties and operating
out more than half Aramco’s oil production A new chapter has opened in the saga. costs smb is making about $800m profit
in September, highlighting the company’s An embattled Israeli diamond tycoon, a year. “They are now the most signif-
security risks. Beny Steinmetz, surrendered his claims icant economic enterprise in Guinea,” he
He has had more sway over Aramco’s of- to Simandou in February, after ten years says—and the only one among the
fer price and size of the float. Many inves- of legal battles with Guinea’s govern- world’s biggest bauxite producers with a
tors balked at Aramco’s valuation range, ment and Rio Tinto, an Anglo-Australian direct link to China.
which was announced in November. Bern- mining giant. Simandou North was put A shift into iron ore presents chal-
stein, one of the few research outfits not up for tender. Last month the winner was lenges. Building a port and a railway
linked to a bank collecting Aramco’s fees, announced: smb, a joint-venture owned through the country’s malaria-infested
reckoned $1.2trn-1.5trn was more reason- by a consortium which includes Win- forest will take years and could cost
able—a range confirmed by a survey of in- ning Shipping, a Singaporean maritime much more than the estimated $10bn.
stitutional investors, who told Bernstein firm, ums, a Guinean-French logistics smb will have to co-ordinate with Rio
they would buy Aramco at a mean valua- company, and Shandong Weiqiao, a big Tinto and Chalco, a Hong Kong-listed
tion of $1.26trn. Chinese aluminium producer. The enti- company controlled by Chinalco, a Chi-
Prince Muhammad’s desire for a higher ty, in which Guinea’s government holds a nese state-run firm, which jointly con-
offer price was understandable. On many 10% stake, will pay $15bn to develop the trol Simandou’s southern blocks. The
metrics, Aramco easily outcompetes rivals site, build a new deepwater port and a Boké region (the b in the firm’s name) has
such as ExxonMobil or bp. Its reserves are 650km railway to link the two. Guinea’s been plagued by riots. Many local resi-
15 times larger, production costs a quarter parliament is expected to wave the deal dents are angered by lack of access to
as big, debt negligible and return on capital through in the coming weeks. clean water or health care. But China is
superb. Chances are that when the world The successful bid is a coup for smb, keen on Simandou’s high-grade iron ore,
takes its last sip of oil, it will be Saudi crude. which is barely known outside the west which emits less pollution when pro-
But oil investors in 2019, skittish about African nation. It is also a departure from cessed, says Eric Humphery-Smith from
the commodity’s prospects, care more smb’s previous business—bauxite. The Verisk Maplecroft, a risk consultancy. It
about cash. At a valuation of $1.7trn, firm was founded in 2014 to meet China’s also wants to lock in supply. And it can
Aramco’s dividend yield would be lower voracious demand for the ore, from afford to wait.
than the supermajors’ (see chart). Investors
surveyed by Bernstein worried about
Aramco’s governance. Saudi Arabia may verage limits for retail investors buying club, and its allies, led by Russia, agreed to
lean on the company if national finances shares in Aramco. Wealthy families in the lower output by 1.2m barrels a day, or 2.3%
deteriorate—the imf expects Saudi debt to capital, Riyadh, feel that participation in of their production. The deal was extended
be 23% of gdp this year, up from 17% in 2017. the ipo is required to maintain good stand- to March 2020. But the cartel may need to
As important, Aramco’s sales growth is ing, one local businessman explains. seek deeper cuts, as supply surges in Brazil,
limited by Saudi Arabia’s habit of limiting Of course, $25bn wouldn’t be nothing. Guyana and Norway.
output to stabilise global oil markets. Still, bankers will get a fraction of the fees Merely encouraging opec members to
they hoped for. Aramco may raise less cash comply with the existing deal, let alone
Rolling up the magic carpet than it would have at a lower price: floating commit to more cuts, will be tough. The
Facing a chasm between the prince’s pre- the full 5% at a valuation of $1.2trn could group’s meeting in Vienna on December
ferred, high price and what international rake in $60bn. Saudi Arabia will see capital 5th-6th promises to be tense. Russia has
investors were willing to pay, Aramco flow mostly within the kingdom, not gush pumped oil faster this year than before the
abruptly cancelled road shows in America in from the outside. A reliance on local deal. With partners overproducing Saudi
and Europe. It is expected to secure invest- shareholders poses a political problem, if a Arabia has consistently had to undershoot
ments from neighbours, including Abu falling oil price depresses Aramco’s share its quota. The new oil minister wants more
Dhabi and Kuwait. price. Prince Muhammad is keenly aware compliance from the others, says Helima
But many buyers will be locals. The that neighbouring countries have looked Croft of rbc Capital Markets, an invest-
company and its bankers courted Saudis fragile of late—leaders have been ousted in ment bank. The question is how forcefully
eagerly, through call centres and advertise- Algeria, Lebanon and, most recently, Iraq. he will seek it. Either way, the listing will
ments on billboards, social media, even Propping up the oil price looks as tricky leave the kingdom no less dependent on
atms. The Saudi central bank doubled le- as ever. Last year opec, an oil-producers’ the price of crude than it is today. 7
62 Business The Economist December 7th 2019

Italian steel industry. President Donald Trump’s tariffs

have also made Europe the dumping
Trouble in Tartano ground for steel from Russia, Turkey and
other countries that would otherwise have
gone to America.
Even so, ArcelorMittal expected Ilva to
break even this year. Instead, it will lose
more than €1bn. The real trouble started
The saga of the Ilva steel mill sends a
this summer. Rumours surfaced that the
chill down foreign investors’ spines
Italian government might strip Ilva of legal

L akshmi mittal has grown his com-

pany, ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest
steelmaker, through a series of deals across
protection from criminal prosecution over
environmental liabilities. The government
had introduced a legal shield, valid until
the world. Some, like the mega-merger in the end of 2023, when it nationalised Ilva in
2006 with Arcelor, then Europe’s largest 2013 after seizing more than €8bn in assets
steel producer, were tough. Perhaps none from the Riva family, the previous owners,
has given Mr Mittal as much grief as the amid allegations by prosecutors of finan-
takeover of a massive steel mill in Taranto, cial fraud and environmental crimes. (The
in southern Italy. The bureaucratic and le- Rivas deny wrongdoing.) In 2012 Italian au-
gal troubles, combined with a horrible thorities ruled that emissions of dust and
market for steel, last month led Mr Mittal to chemicals from the plant had caused
walk away from the deal he struck with the deaths, tumours and respiratory disease.
Italian government a year ago. Taranto still occasionally declares a “wind
Under that lease-and-purchase agree- day”, on which schools near the plant close Chinese dairy
ment ArcelorMittal agreed to buy Ilva, Eu- to avoid exposure to dust from open-air
rope’s biggest single-site steel firm, for mineral deposits. Cow cash
€1.8bn ($2bn) and to invest another €2.4bn On November 3rd Italy’s government
in cleaning up and modernising a plant indeed revoked Ilva’s legal immunity
dogged by charges of corruption and envi- through new legislation. The next day Ar-
ronmental crime. It agreed to pay €45m a celorMittal sent three state-appointed ad-
SHANGHAI
quarter for 18 months to lease the facility, to ministrators a withdrawal notice stating its
A milk colossus gulps down two
be deducted from the purchase price. “Mit- contractual right to walk away from the
Australian producers
tal saw an opportunity to turn around a agreement if a new law were to “materially
very badly managed plant,” says Jason Fair-
clough of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
The deal would make his company the
impair” its ability to operate the plant or
implement its turnaround plan. “The legal
protection was a prerequisite for the deal,”
T his august Andrew Cohen, boss of Bel-
lamy’s Organic, an Australian maker of
infant formula, enthused to investors
strongest in south-eastern Europe. says Paul Weigh, a spokesman for Arcelor- about having a brand “that’s loved in Chi-
The timing was poor. Steelmakers Mittal. The company is also incensed by na”. So loved, in fact, that a few weeks later
everywhere face falling demand from Chi- the government’s demand that it turn off Mengniu Dairy, China’s second-biggest
na and a 40% increase in the price of iron one of three blast furnaces in Taranto in producer of milk products, said it wanted
ore in the past 18 months. Those in Europe December, which will considerably reduce to buy Bellamy’s for A$1.5bn ($1bn). On De-
additionally have to contend with reduced its output. cember 5th its shareholders voted in favour
appetite for high-quality steel from Euro- The revocation was engineered by the of the deal.
pean carmakers and a 70% rise in the price Five-Star Movement (m5s), an anti-estab- At first Bellamy’s seemed to be milking
of eu emissions-trading permits since lishment party with strong roots in the it, not Mengniu. An Australian government
mid-2018, a big deal for a carbon-belching south that governs in coalition with the committee that reviews foreign acquisi-
centre-left. Its members had long cam- tions set out conditions: Mengniu must
paigned for the closure of the plant while in keep headquarters and most of the board
opposition. Having initially backed the le- Australian, and pour A$12m into local fac-
gal shield, they then supported ditching it. tories. Mengniu offered a 59% premium on
Giuseppe Conte, the centre-left prime the firm’s share price, which had shed
minister, wants Ilva to survive. It employs three-fifths in the 18 months before the of-
10,700 people directly, and indirectly as fer (it has rebounded a bit since). Mr Cohen
many as 60,000—most of them in Puglia, a blamed falling Chinese birth rates, a regu-
poor region in Italy’s heel. The government latory hold-up on imports and competition
is in talks with the Mittals to rescue the deal in China’s thirsty infant-formula market.
before a court hearing on December 20th. Now Mengniu looks like the cat that got
Mr Mittal and Mr Conte may yet come to an the cream. It wasted no time in making an-
agreement to restore the legal shield. other bid on November 25th to buy Lion
If the talks fail and the case goes to court Dairy & Drinks, Australia’s second-largest
the government will prop up Ilva with milk processor, for A$600m. The pair of ac-
emergency loans to protect jobs. The gov- quisitions would hand it a rich vat of or-
ernment’s shabby treatment of someone ganic and premium brands that China’s
willing to pour billions into one of its poor- middle class covets, including Farmers Un-
est regions is unlikely to encourage other ion yogurt and licences to the Yoplait fran-
bids. In the meantime, Italy’s battered rep- chise. Mengniu can tap high-quality Aussie
utation with foreign investors has suffered milk. And it is one in the eye for Yili, its big-
Marred by dirty tricks another dent. 7 ger cross-town dairy rival in Hohhot, the 1
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Business 63

2 regional capital of Inner Mongolia. In a decade Chinese milk production in China thanks to a flourishing informal
The two firms control about half of Chi- will meet only half of domestic demand, trade by so-called daigou, who buy pro-
na’s dairy market. If it wins Lion, Mengniu says Terrance Liu of clsa, a broker, down ducts overseas and resell them online.
stands a chance at surpassing Yili by rev- from around 70% today. And, as Mengniu New regulations have recently crimped
enue next year, reckons Song Liang, an in- and its rival move overseas and upmarket, grey-market sales. But Mengniu is expect-
dependent dairy analyst (both want to they need better ways to keep products ed to work out the import-clearance delay
make sales of 100bn yuan, or $14bn). They chilled through production and transport, promptly: cofco Dairy, a state-owned
are expanding in South-East Asia, where which rich-world firms can teach them. At giant, owns 24% of the Hong Kong-listed
Bellamy’s and Lion are already popular. home spending on formula per infant is firm. China’s $62bn dairy market is still lit-
Last year Yili acquired Thailand’s biggest rising thanks to declining rates of breast- tle more than a tenth of the world’s by val-
ice-cream maker. In August it bought West- feeding in many cities. A deadly tainted- ue. But Euromonitor, a research firm, pre-
land Milk Products, a New Zealand co-op- milk scandal in 2008 has put shoppers off dicts that by 2022 it will overtake America
erative. It envisions “a vast dairy bridge local products. clsa estimates that four- as the globe’s biggest market for dairy. Wel-
crossing the Pacific Ocean”. fifths of Bellamy’s products have ended up come to the land of milk and money. 7

Bartleby Let them eat Christmas cake

Don’t make seasonal festivities too formal

people are likely to be a bit more restrained they were at home with a nice book or a
E veryone feels like winding down in
December. Even if you do not cele-
brate Christmas, the New Year is ap-
in their alcohol consumption at lunchtime
than in the evenings. And third, celebrat-
box set of “The West Wing”.
The third sort of event is the stand-up
proaching and most people take a few ing during working hours feels like a do with drinks and nibbles, when the
days’ break. In many workplaces this genuine break from duties; attending after food is never enough to absorb the alco-
feeling of “mission accomplished” is work seems more like an obligation. hol and you are permanently caught in a
accompanied by an established tradi- Most workers don’t expect their sea- state of angst over whether you are bor-
tion: the office party. sonal event to turn into a Bacchanal; they ing the person you are talking to more
In boom times these can be truly are just hoping to avoid tedium. A survey than they are boring you.
lavish affairs. Robbie Williams sang at of British office workers in 2014 found that Naturally, there is an economic an-
Deutsche Bank’s global-equities party in only a quarter looked forward to their swer and it is specialisation. Think of
2001. A Bloomberg event in 2000, based Christmas event and 71% would rather Adam Smith’s pin factory where every-
on the seven deadly sins, was said to have have a small cash bonus than a knees-up. one plays their different part; let every-
cost £1m (then $1.5m). At the “Googlym- In Bartleby’s experience, office parties one have the party they want. Some may
pus” in 2006, the internet group had come in three types. The first is the sit- want to down the prosecco but others
tents named after different Greek gods down lunch, in which you are inevitably may be happier only to gorge on cake.
while staff amused themselves at the seated next to someone whose name you Seasonal events at The Economist are
“wine cork shooting gallery”. do not know, even though you have spent highly segregated. The leader writers sit
Few companies today desire the five years politely nodding at them when quietly in a corner, sipping sherry and
publicity that tends to follow such you pass in the corridor. Two hours of discussing structural reform; the Keyne-
events. The natural question is, if you are social awkwardness ensue. The second sians borrow money off the rest of the
spending that amount on a party, how type of do is the evening event with excru- staff to pay for their drinks; believers in
much are you charging clients? Compa- ciatingly loud music. On the plus side, no central-bank independence down pints
nies are rightly more sensitive than they one can hear you speak so it does not of beer in feats of “quantitative drink-
were about the risks involved when matter if you have forgotten their names; ing”; neoclassical economists sip water,
workers lose their inhibitions after on the down side, after half an hour every- arguing that no rational person would
consuming too much alcohol. A survey one over 30 is so deafened that they wish consume alcohol, given the risks of
of American companies by the suitably hangovers and liver damage; while those
named Challenger Gray & Christmas, an who favour modern monetary theory
outplacement firm, found that 59% had guzzle vodka shots on the ground that it
discussed, or planned to discuss, the is impossible to get drunk if you control
dangers of “inappropriate celebrating” your own alcohol supply.
with staff. In short, it is easier to enjoy yourself if
To avoid these dangers, the chief you can do so in your own fashion. And
operating officer of bdo, an accountancy that may include not partying at all. If
firm, has suggested that two chaperones managers think staff would rather spend
attend seasonal celebrations, along with time at home than attend, let them; the
first-aiders. Other accounting firms have company will save money. Last, but not
suggested holding daytime events rather least, if managers must make a speech,
than after-hours drinks parties. keep it short. Something along the lines
There is a lot to be said for daytime of “You’ve all done very well this year,
celebrations. First, it makes attendance good luck next.” Save the Churchillian
easier for anyone caring for small chil- rhetoric for the annual general meeting.
dren, or elderly relatives, and who thus
finds it difficult to stay out late. Second, Economist.com/blogs/bartleby
64 Business The Economist December 7th 2019

Alphabet firm’s handling of sexual-harassment

cases. Those still wedded to Google’s once-
Turning a Page and a Brin official credo, “don’t be evil” (ditched in
2018), have condemned decisions to offer a
censored search engine in China (also
binned) or work with America’s armed
forces. It has sacked staff involved in
unionisation efforts. Several said this week
N E W YO R K
that they will file charges with regulators.
What next for Google’s parent after its fathers depart?
Perhaps the two founders wanted to
palm these problems off to someone else.
“G oogle is not a conventional com-
pany,” declared Sergey Brin and Larry
Page as they took their firm public in 2004.
grown from $3.2bn in 2004 to $136bn last
year. Its market capitalisation has nearly
doubled since 2015, to $910bn.
Perhaps they want to focus on the pet pro-
jects—from self-driving cars to human-
“We do not intend to become one.” On De- Its internal culture is famously casual like artificial intelligence and life-exten-
cember 3rd they bowed out as, respectively, (visitors were often astonished when sion technology—which Alphabet has
president and chief executive of Alphabet, meetings were interrupted by volleyball cross-subsidised from its ad business. Mr
Google’s parent and the world’s fourth-big- games on the central lawn). It has set the Brin is seldom seen these days; Mr Page did
gest listed firm. Their creation remains un- tone for a generation of startups, says Ka- not turn up for Alphabet’s annual share-
conventional in some ways, if not in oth- rim Lakhani of Harvard Business School. holder meeting this year. Mr Pichai is seen
ers. They leave a mixed legacy for Sundar Yet Google was also quick to embrace pro- as a safe pair of hands. However, since
Pichai, a career Googler in charge of its core fessional managers. In 2001 it hired Eric Messrs Brin and Page retain control via a
search-engine business, who assumes Schmidt, a veteran executive, as ceo. Mr Pi- dual-class share structure, his freedom will
both roles. chai likewise offers what Mr Brin once jok- be circumscribed. Small wonder its share
Messrs Brin and Page lived the Silicon ingly referred to as “parental supervision”. price moved little on the news.
Valley dream. Their solution to the pro- The firm has grown conventional in Although Alphabet rakes in billions, it
blem of indexing the growing world wide other ways, too. Its dominance has attract- remains a one-trick pony. Ads bring in over
web grew out of government-funded re- ed the gaze of regulators. Like other power- 80% of revenue, little changed from 2015.
search at Stanford University, and was ful firms, it has hired legions of lobbyists to Its share of the online-ad market is down a
honed in a friend’s garage. Google was fight its corner, but with only limited suc- bit; that of smaller rivals, such as Amazon,
founded in 1998. Today it handles over 2trn cess: from Brussels to the Beltway, politi- is up a lot. Microsoft has successfully rein-
search queries a year, and produces the An- cians rail against its power and attitudes to vented itself as a cloud-computing firm
droid operating system that powers 80% of user privacy. The eu has fined it $9bn. Anti- after Bill Gates stepped down in 2000; it is
the world’s smartphones. It has shaped the trust investigations loom on both sides of now worth more than Alphabet. Page-Brin
age of the internet and mobile computing the Atlantic. bets on futuristic technologies are intellec-
in the way that Microsoft helped define the Its employees are growing restive; tually thrilling, but have yet to pay off. How
age of the desktop pc. Its revenues have 20,000 walked out a year ago over the long will investors’ patience last? 7

Search and ye shall find

Market capitalisation $910bn

Total returns, August 19th 2004=100

First Android phone “Don’t be evil” motto dropped 2,500
Chrome browser released Waymo self-driving car project launched Google becomes Alphabet
2,000
Purchase of DoubleClick Google quits China
1,500
Google buys YouTube Schmidt steps down as CEO Alphabet (Google)
1,000

Market capitalisation
500
$27bn
NASDAQ 100
0
2004 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Alphabet financials, $bn United States, monetary compensation Worldwide mobile operating system
150 needed to accept loss of online services market share*, %
Median survey response, 2017, $’000 per year 100
Revenue Other
Net profit 0 5 10 15 20 iOS 80
100 Search engines Series 40
SymbianOS 60
Email

50 Maps 40

Video streaming BlackBerry Android 20

E-commerce
0 0
2004 10 15 18 Social media 2009 11 13 15 17 19
Sources: Datastream from Refinitiv; Bloomberg; “Using massive online choice experiments to measure changes in well-being”, by E. Brynjolfsson et al., PNAS, April 2019; StatCounter *Based on web page views
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Business 65

Schumpeter Conquistadors in a quandary

The agonising dilemma of Spanish firms in Latin America

aim of becoming a bridge to Latin America. However, as Lourdes
Casanova of Cornell University recalls, its companies needed
quickly to build scale there to resist other European firms breath-
ing down their necks at home. Latin America helped turn Spanish
firms into global ones.
Within a few decades Spain had become the second-biggest
foreign investor in the region after America. Its firms have invest-
ments today worth €156bn there. The biggest, such as Telefónica,
Santander and bbva in banking, Iberdrola in utilities, and Repsol
in oil and gas, accounted for most of Spain’s investment in the re-
gion. Their shared language, as well as passable Portuñol in Brazil,
enabled them to operate service industries in places where tele-
communications, banking and utilities were hopelessly back-
ward. Profits from Latin America during a commodities boom
helped Spanish firms through the financial crisis of 2008-09.
That is only half of the story, though. After underbidding in
1990 for Telmex, the Mexican telecoms monopoly that turned Car-
los Slim into one of the world’s richest men, Telefónica went on to
overpay elsewhere, sinking over €140bn in the region, a fortune
compared with what the assets are worth now. The ride since then
has been a rollercoaster. From the tequila crisis in Mexico in
1994-95, through mega-devaluations and political upheaval in Bra-

T his is a year of poignant anniversaries in Spain’s relationship

with Latin America. Exactly 500 years ago Hernán Cortés
launched his conquest of Mexico. In 1939 Mexico’s left-wing presi-
zil and Argentina, to left-wing dictatorship in Venezuela, Spanish
investors have had a crash course in disaster management. Repsol
may have suffered the worst. In 2012 Peronists in Argentina—who
dent, Lázaro Cárdenas, opened the door to Spaniards fleeing fas- beat a reformist incumbent in October’s presidential election—ex-
cism at the end of the civil war. It might have been a celebratory propriated Repsol’s stake in ypf, the national oil company. It was
year for Spanish business, too. In 1989 Telefónica, Spain’s biggest only partially compensated for the almost $16bn it had paid for the
telecoms firm, made its first incursion into Latin America by bid- holding in 1999. More recently it has had such trouble sourcing
ding for a Chilean counterpart, unleashing a flood of Spanish in- heavy crude from Venezuela and Mexico, it is reportedly consider-
vestment into the region in the 1990s known as la reconquista. In- ing carrying it from western Canada to its European refineries.
stead, it has been a year of pot-banging protests and economic Yet even without crisis, day-to-day business has been a strug-
turmoil in the region. It says a lot that 30 years after it planted the gle. bbva and Santander have used their big Latin America subsid-
flag, Telefónica has decided to cut its losses in the former Spanish iaries to help offset zero interest rates closer to home, and have no
colonies, and may sell its businesses there altogether. plans to pull out. Now Mexico, where bbva is the biggest bank, is
Telefónica’s new strategy, announced late last month, is part of flirting with recession. Santander has done well recently in Brazil,
a rethink of the company by its boss, José María Álvarez-Pallete. Its where it is the largest foreign bank. But it suffers from currency
market value has almost halved over the past five years to €35bn weakness in many parts of Latin America. Telefónica’s revenues,
($39bn). It carries a whopping €38bn of net debt. And, common to returns and cash flows in Peru, Chile and Colombia have flagged
all global telecoms firms, it faces the challenge of offering custom- owing to competition from scrappy new entrants putting market
ers much faster wireless speeds via 5g and more digital services. As share ahead of profitability.
a result it plans to refocus on four core markets, Spain, Brazil, Ger-
many and Britain, and create separate digital and infrastructure La Noche Triste
businesses. On December 4th Orange, its French rival, announced Spain is not yet in full retreat. Telefónica’s moves could be a combi-
similar plans to reinvent itself for the digital age. nation of selling assets, as it is doing in Central America, and form-
Yet it is the prospect that Telefónica may sell its businesses in ing alliances, as it has recently done in Mexico by agreeing to use
Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Peru and other so-called His- part of at&t’s network as a way to reduce losses. But it may sell up
pano-American countries, that is most significant. They account altogether to reduce debt quickly. Firms such as Liberty Latin
for 21% of its revenues. Their sale, which could raise €13bn or more, America and Millicom are expanding fast around the region, large-
represents a historic u-turn that is likely to reverberate in Spain’s ly through acquisitions. China Mobile is showing interest in Latin
boardrooms. Like Telefónica, Spanish banks, energy firms and America as well. Telefónica’s decision to stay put in Brazil, by far its
other companies have reason to agonise over the slow growth and biggest market, suggests that its new mantra is focus.
currency volatility across the Atlantic. Their industries, too, are in Other Spanish firms have made similar calculations: bbva by
the throes of technological disruption. For some Latin America is concentrating mainly on Mexico, and Santander on Brazil. As pres-
no longer a land of opportunity, but a distraction. sure increases on banks to adapt to the fintech era, and on energy
For years Spaniards celebrated the revival of their imperial ties firms like Repsol and Iberdrola to reduce carbon emissions, focus
to the New World. When Latin American countries started to liber- makes more sense than empire-building. Even Cortés was forced
alise their economies in the late 1980s, Spain was a country with a to make a tactical retreat in 1520 in what is called “La Noche Triste”.
meagre population, inward-looking companies, and a pressing For Telefónica, this is undoubtedly a “sad night”. But if its retreat is
need to globalise. Few Europeans believed that it would fulfil its more than tactical, other firms may sound one, too. 7
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 The Economist December 7th 2019 67
Finance & economics

Also in this section

68 Trumpeting tariffs
69 Transatlantic tax tensions
69 The euro zone’s contentious reforms
70 Buttonwood: Rehab economies
71 Insurance in Myanmar
71 Which currencies are best?
72 P2P’s perilous punt
73 Free exchange: Japanese lessons

ESG investing updating an analysis done by the imf earli-

er this year (see chart on next page). It
Poor scores shows at best a loose link between the two
measurement systems. The same lack of
correlation holds even when the e, s and g
scores are considered separately, accord-
ing to the imf. Small wonder, then, that it
found no consistent difference between
Investors and regulators want to measure how green, cuddly and well-governed
the performance of esg funds and that of
companies are. But the science behind the rating systems is dismal
conventional ones.

“L abelling based on incomplete in-

formation, public shaming, and
shunning wrapped in moral rhetoric,” said
England, has championed better disclo-
sures by firms on climate change. Chris
Hohn, the head of tci, a London-based
Moreover, ratings are often based on
business models rather than businesses
themselves. It does not matter what firms
Hester Peirce, a straight-talking commis- hedge fund famous for its hard-headed ap- are selling, as long as it is done sustainably.
sioner at America’s main financial regula- proach, has outlined plans to vote against Tobacco and alcohol companies feature
tor, the Securities and Exchange Commis- the directors of companies that fail to re- near the top of many esg rankings. And
sion, in June. She was taking aim at the veal their carbon emissions. many funds marketed on their green cre-
scoring systems that purport to assess All this is fuelling demand for esg rat- dentials invest in Big Oil.
firms’ performance based on environmen- ings, which create a single score from dis- The scoring systems sometimes mea-
tal, social and governance (esg) factors. Yet parate non-financial indicators, such as a sure the wrong things and rely on patchy,
love them or hate them, esg scores are be- firm’s carbon emissions or the share of its out-of-date figures. Only half the 1,700-odd
coming ever more important in the world board members who are female. Using companies in the msci world index reveal
of investing and capital markets. At least teams of analysts, whizzy software and their carbon emissions. Some ratings pe-
$3trn of institutional assets now track esg data from companies, ratings firms collect nalise non-disclosure—with strange re-
scores, and the share is rising quickly. esg information and convert it into a single sults. In ftse Russell’s esg rating Tesla, an
In America and Europe some politi- score. Some customers of esg ratings are electric-vehicle maker, does worse than
cians, bosses and investors want to shift seeking to gain an investment edge; others firms that make gas-guzzlers. (ftse Russell
away from measuring corporate perfor- want their money to benefit society as well says it rates the sustainability of a firm’s
mance based mainly on shareholder re- as themselves. But as Ms Peirce’s criticisms output with another score.) And because
turns. Climate change is another catalyst. suggest, the ratings are not yet ready for the bigger firms are better able to afford disclo-
Christine Lagarde, the new head of the weight they are being asked to bear. sure, they tend to get better esg scores. esg
European Central Bank, thinks the institu- The most obvious sign of this is that, raters say they are tweaking their methods
tion should consider using monetary poli- unlike credit ratings, esg scores are poorly to remove such biases. But even when fig-
cy and bank supervision to fight climate correlated with each other. esg-rating ures are disclosed, they may be too out-of-
change—a shift that would involve assess- firms disagree about which companies are date to be useful.
ing which firms are dirtier than others. good or bad. The Economist has compared One hope is that the boom raises stan-
Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of the scores of two big esg-rating systems, dards. Bigger firms are getting involved, 1
68 Finance & economics The Economist December 7th 2019

Multiplying tariffs
Scrambled ESGs
S&P 1200 index of global companies Sound and fury
100=best ESG* scores, December 2019

ESG scores by provider Ratings by

Sustainalytics
100
WA S H I N GTO N , D C
80
The Trump administration’s trade policies clash with each other  
60
from quotas to tariffs now would grant
40

20
P resident donald trump’s attempts to
orchestrate America’s trade relations
are causing a cacophony. On December 2nd
American importers greater flexibility. And
the new tariffs are unlikely to survive any
he trumpeted new tariffs on Brazilian and legal challenge, since relevant deadlines
0
Argentine steel and aluminium. Hours lat- passed months ago. The law Mr Trump has
0 20 40 60 80 100
er the United States Trade Representative invoked allows tariffs in the service of
Ratings by RobecoSAM
(ustr) chimed in with two sets of tariffs on America’s national security. Claiming that
European products. Over the following it covers propping up farm incomes would
Average ESG scores by market value days noise grew louder in Congress about a be a stretch.
RobecoSAM Sustainalytics bargain that would secure the Democrats’ The president’s tariffs-by-tweet stood
0 20 40 60 80 approval for the usmca, a trade deal with in contrast to the day’s other big announce-
$200bn and over
Mexico and Canada. And all this against the ments, which followed much deliberation.
drumbeat of trade war with China. One related to a long-running dispute at
$100bn-200bn the World Trade Organisation (wto) over
The theme, American unilateralism, is
$50bn-100bn consistent. But the various voices are not, European subsidies for Airbus, which
$10bn-50bn with Trumpian trumpetings vying for air- America won. In October the wto had said
Less than $10bn
time with the ustr’s measured pace. Start that the Trump administration could pe-
with the week’s first announcement, when nalise the eu by placing tariffs on $7.5bn of
Sources: Bloomberg; *Environmental, social Mr Trump tweeted that Argentine and Bra- its exports. The eu argued that the offend-
IMF; The Economist and governance
zilian steel would face American tariffs, ing subsidies had been withdrawn. On De-
“effective immediately”. American farm- cember 2nd the wto dismissed that claim,
2 which could help. On November 21st s&p ers, he said, were suffering from the two and the ustr started the process for raising
Global, a credit-rating agency, bought the countries’ “massive” devaluations. But his new tariffs on European exports.
esg arm of Robecosam, an asset manager. response made no sense. Argentina and The other was accompanied by a 93-
Moody’s, a competitor, purchased Vigeo Ei- Brazil have not been trying to take advan- page report, stuffed with footnotes and le-
ris, an esg data outfit, in April. In 2017 Mor- tage of American farmers by manipulating galese. The ustr had spent months investi-
ningstar, a research firm, acquired a 40% the peso and real downwards. Rather, as gating a French tax on digital services,
stake in Sustainalytics, another esg rater. their economies have flailed, they have which will fall heavily on American tech
msci, an index provider, has been building struggled to prop their currencies up. giants (see box on next page). “If they’re go-
up its esg-scoring expertise. Simon Mac- Moreover, though Mr Trump surely in- ing to be taxed, it’s going to be the United
Mahon of Sustainalytics expects scoring tended to restrict imports, for some pro- States [that] will tax them. Okay?” said Mr
systems to converge over time. The defini- ducts tariffs could mean they rise. An an- Trump on December 3rd. The ustr con-
tion of esg is so broad, he says, that raters nual quota for Brazilian slab, billets and cluded that the tax was “unusually burden-
may be trying to capture different things. blooms (semi-processed steel products) is some” for affected American companies,
For now investors who use esg indices already full, for example, so switching and is preparing to hit $2.4bn of French
often look past the headline scores—and products with tariffs in response, includ-
even, in some cases, create their own esg ing $800m of cosmetics, $800m of cham-
ratings. Issues that they find particularly pagne and $400m of handbags.
relevant, such as the flood risks faced by an Inconsistent trade policy is nothing
insurer’s corporate clients, may be buried new from the Trump administration. The
because esg ratings average many dispa- tariffs on steel and aluminium imposed in
rate data points, says Jessica Alsford of spring 2018 were justified on dubious na-
Morgan Stanley, a bank. tional-security grounds; by contrast the
If esg data do eventually become more first round of tariffs on China, in mid-2018,
accurate and consistent it will become were imposed after a detailed report by the
harder for bosses and fund managers to en- ustr on America’s many, and in some
gage in “greenwashing”—massaging indi- cases legitimate, grievances.
cators without truly changing hue. And in- Overall, though, some aspects of Ameri-
vestors will be able to pursue more varied ca’s trade policy are making others harder
and sophisticated esg targets, says Maria to achieve. Its trade partners can point to
Elena Drew of T. Rowe Price, an asset man- Mr Trump picking on Argentina and Brazil,
ager. Big insurers, for example, which are and paint their resistance to American at-
heavily exposed to extreme weather tempts to recast its trade relations with
events, will be able to invest their capital in them as standing up to a bully. Implausible
a way that hedges against climate risks. But claims of harm to national security also go
for now the esg rating industry is still in its down badly elsewhere.
infancy and Ms Peirce’s criticisms, though All this may be part of the reason Mr
blunt, ring true. 7 Once more, with feeling Trump has so far failed to secure the “sub- 1
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Finance & economics 69

The euro area

Transatlantic tax tensions

Bottle shock Looking wobbly

Tax our tech and we’ll blacklist your bubbly

“U nacceptable”, harrumphed
France’s finance minister. Worthy
of a “pugnacious” response, thundered a
Splits in Italy threaten to derail
reforms to the currency union
colleague. The object of this Gallic ire
was the Trump administration’s threat
this week to impose 100% tariffs on some
A fter repair work during the sover-
eign-debt crisis in 2009-15, further
fixes to the euro zone’s architecture have
of France’s tastiest exports, from cheese been few and slow. Northern countries
to champagne, in response to its govern- have been unwilling to assume cross-bor-
ment’s planned digital-sales tax. der risks, as long as debts and non-per-
Corporate tax has become a major forming loans in southern ones were high.
source of transatlantic tension since Now quarrels within one of those southern
various European countries began to countries, Italy, threaten what little pro-
cook up levies to capture more revenue gress has been made.
from the likes of Google and Facebook, Three reforms are on the table: beefing
whose effective European tax rates often up the European Stability Mechanism
look suspiciously low—sometimes a (esm), the euro zone’s sovereign-bail-out
mere percent or two. France has gone fund; setting up a common deposit-insur-
furthest, with a 3% levy on sales that will ance scheme for banks; and creating a com-
be backdated to the start of 2019. Britain’s mon euro-zone budget. On December 4th
version, levying 2%, is set to kick in next finance ministers discussed plans for fur-
April. America’s Treasury calls such taxes ther work on these “pillars”, which are sup-
“discriminatory”. posed to be agreed by heads of state on De-
Both sides accept there is an un- presence, and an agreed minimum glo- cember 13th. The meeting failed to clear up
derlying problem. The imf reckons bal tax rate for multinationals. much. Among the plans to be signed off
governments lose at least $500bn a year Even before anything has been was a revised esm treaty, but eleventh-hour
from multinationals shifting profits to agreed, however, critics are circling. A opposition from Italy seemingly delayed
tax havens. This siphoning has become a French assessment found that the oecd that until early next year.
gush with the growth of tech and other plan would bring in little extra revenue. Planned reforms to the esm include
businesses whose assets are mostly icrict, a group of economists focused measures to boost support for both trou-
intangible, and thus easier to move. on corporate tax, laments the oecd’s bled banks and sovereigns. It will become
Most large economies—including reluctance to abandon transfer-pricing, the backstop for the zone’s bank-resolution
America—accept that the treaty-based under which multinationals should fund. The rules for its precautionary credit
international corporate-tax system, account for cross-border transactions lines, to which troubled countries can turn
which dates back to the 1920s, needs a between subsidiaries at market rates, as even before they lose access to financial
refit. But negotiations, led by the oecd, if they were unrelated to each other—a markets, have been clarified. And to help
have dragged on for six years. Frustrated principle built on fiction, they complain. countries with unsustainable borrowing to
by the delays, the Europeans began work- icrict and the g24 group of devel- recover, new government-bond contracts
ing on unilateral taxes (as well as a Euro- oping countries, which includes China will contain clauses that make it harder for
pean Union-wide one, which has gone and Brazil, are among those who would investors to block debt restructuring.
nowhere), aiming to force the issue in prefer a new, “unitary” approach, where- All this had been nodded through by
multilateral talks. They view their taxes by companies’ worldwide operations members in June—including Italy, which,
as stopgaps that would be scrapped if a would be lumped together, and taxing with its huge public debt and sluggish
global deal is reached. rights divided up according to a range of economy, looks the most likely customer
The oecd, prompted by the G20, has metrics, including the location of staff for a future bail-out. But populists from the
stepped up efforts to forge one by the end and customers. But any global deal, if Northern League and the Five Star Move-
of 2020. It wants new rules that better one can be agreed, is likely to be more ment (m5s)—the very parties that were go-
capture profits of firms that do business modest. Those hoping for a radical over- verning in June—have begun campaigning
in places where they have no physical haul should keep the champagne on ice. against the plans. Matteo Salvini, the
League’s leader, and deputy prime minister
until he quit the government in September,
2 stantial” deal with China that he boasted Tariffs can be announced by tweet, but says he did not see them, implying that the
was imminent in October. On December crafting deals to remove them is slower and prime minister had acted in secret.
3rd he teased that he might postpone talks harder. Mr Trump is lucky, then, that the Critics claim the reforms would force It-
until after the 2020 election, saying that ustr is in charge of delivering his other aly to restructure its debt in any future cri-
“the China trade deal is dependent on one trade-policy objective: passing the usmca. sis. New clauses in debt contracts, they say,
thing: do I want to make it?” But the more Robert Lighthizer, the ustr’s top official, would make its bonds less attractive to in-
the president predicates success on his has been negotiating with Democratic law- vestors. But the complaints ring hollow.
mood rather than substantive problems makers to recast it in a form that they can Though some countries had wanted bail-
laid out by bureaucrats working on his be- support. If a deal is done, it will be because outs to require restructuring, says Lorenzo
half, the less it makes sense for China to of- politicians and officials have managed to Codogno, a former chief economist of the
fer meaningful concessions. tune the president out.  7 Italian treasury, Italy successfully lobbied 1
70 Finance & economics The Economist December 7th 2019

2 against that condition. Silvia Merler of Al- turn for acquiescence. But meaningful Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, in
gebris Policy & Research Forum, an adviso- concessions look unlikely. Reopening talks 2017. Fiscally hawkish northerners insisted
ry group, says that previous steps to make at such a late stage might even provoke the that it must not be used to support econo-
restructuring easier made Italy’s bonds northerners to walk away. mies in downturns, and that it should be
look less risky to investors, not more. Nor has much progress been made on funded using the European Union’s seven-
By describing the reform as a danger to the second and third pillars. Politicians year budget, not new spending.
Italy, Mr Salvini may spy a chance to score have only just agreed to begin talking about The eu budget has itself been the sub-
political points. For its part, m5s might deposit insurance. Germany had long ject of tortuous negotiations for nearly two
want to shore up its ebbing support. But by dragged its feet, but in November Olaf years. The latest proposal allocates €13bn
doing so it has created a rift with its current Scholz, its finance minister, said he would ($14.4bn) to the euro-zone fund—a paltry
partner in government, the eu-friendly be amenable—if a host of other fixes, some €98m per country per year. Once in place,
Democratic Party. unappealing to other members, were say optimists, it can be beefed up. Yet an-
The populists want either to reopen made. The euro-zone budget is a stripped- other fix to be done in a frantic hurry when
talks on the esm or to gain something in re- down version of that first envisioned by the next crisis hits. 7

Buttonwood More in Lahore

The perils and rewards of investing in economies in rehab

A recent edition of “The Joe Rogan

Experience”, a popular podcast,
features the comedian Artie Lange. Mr
comes capital flight. Foreign-exchange
reserves are run down so that the govern-
ment can sustain the illusion that the local
This is needed as a kind of bridge fi-
nance—to pay for essential imports and
allow the rebuilding of foreign-exchange
Lange is an engaging personality who, as currency is worth more than it really is. reserves, until exports pick up in re-
he candidly admits, has battled with Hard currency is then rationed. That leads sponse to a cheaper currency. That might
drugs and gambling. Not long out of his to shortages of essential imports, which seem a big task. Economies in rehab are
umpteenth period in rehab, he is work- further hamper the economy. typically unstable places (Ireland in 2010
ing in stand-up again. “This business With luck, at this point the authorities was a rare exception). Pakistan is unlike-
keeps taking me back,” he says with recognise the hole they are in. To get out of ly to threaten Denmark’s place at the top
something like amazement. it, they must embrace more orthodox of global rankings of security, gover-
Forgiveness for recidivists is found economics. In practice, this means letting nance and development. But investors
outside show business, too. In July the the currency fall, getting rid of subsidies in are not betting that a rehab economy will
imf approved a $6bn bail-out for Paki- order to cut the budget deficit, and starting become a paragon, only that it will im-
stan. As the fund acknowledged at the to use monetary policy as a way to tame prove, at least a bit.
time, with something like weariness, inflation rather than finance the govern- A first task is to lure back capital
Pakistan is back in rehab less than three ment. Sometimes (but not always) the imf shifted offshore by rich locals when they
years after completing its previous pro- is brought in to lend hard currency and saw the crisis coming. The twin attrac-
gramme. But the fund has not abandoned give policy advice. tions are the high interest rates needed to
it. And nor have investors. Pakistan is This, more or less, describes events in curb inflation and a cheaper currency,
enjoying a flood of foreign capital on the Pakistan leading up to mid-2019. It also which acts as reassurance against a
promise of reform. The Karachi stock describes the cycle in Egypt up to the start further devaluation. Once the locals
index is up 25% since the start of October. of 2016 when it entered its (successful) imf come back, yield-hungry foreigners will
This may seem hard to fathom. The programme. And, for that matter, it is the follow. And before long, so will stock-
imf regards the chance that its pro- same pattern seen in Pakistan in 2012-13. market investors. Like Egypt, Pakistan
gramme will fail as “particularly high”. At this stage of the rehab cycle, if things has a wide range of listed companies for
Yet a band of investors are prepared to are to go well, the fund’s money needs to investors to buy—from industrial firms
bet on success. A rehab economy such as act as a catalyst for other sources of capital. to banks to consumer stocks, says An-
Pakistan offers a rare opportunity. It is drew Brudenell of Ashmore, a fund man-
one of the few places where investors can ager. It may take a while for firms to see
find high interest rates, a devalued cur- the benefits of improved economic
rency and cheap-looking stocks. True, stability. But investors are tempted to
things could go very wrong. Look at buy when stocks are trading at attractive
Argentina, which was embraced by in- price-to-earnings multiples.
vestors after Mauricio Macri was elected Such bets can pay off handsomely.
in 2015 on a platform of orthodox eco- Reforms to improve macroeconomic
nomics, only to be abandoned when his stability have led to bountiful invest-
reforms failed. But if things go right, the ment returns in surprising places. An
returns can be substantial. obvious danger is that hardship and
Rehab economies follow a familiar social unrest derail the reform process.
pattern. The cycle begins when the econ- Another is that reformed characters have
omy bumps up against a budgetary or a tendency to fall from grace again. But
balance-of-payments constraint. The progress is never in a straight line. When
trigger may be external: an oil-price the potential is great and the price is
shock, say, or a shift in policy by the right, there will always be people willing
Federal Reserve. Funding dries up. Then to bet that next time will be different.
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Finance & economics 71

Insurance in Myanmar
Exchange rates
Meant to be One-way baht
For 15 years two currencies have reliably outperformed all others

YA N G O N
Myanmar admits foreign life insurers
T he past decade and a half has seen
boom and bust, inflation and defla-
tion, globalisation and trade tensions.
average, over the past 15 years.
Another factor that causes exchange
rates to move is one country becoming

K o phoe thar is a cheery 22-year-old li-

quor-store clerk from Mandalay, a city
in central Myanmar. Death, and other less-
Through such economic and political
cycles you might expect currencies to go
in and out of fashion. In fact the two that
relatively more productive than another.
Economic growth is a reasonable proxy
of productivity, and Israel and Thailand
certain future misfortunes, are far from his have strengthened the most against the have had fast growth. (China has also
mind. A host of insurance companies new- dollar over this period—Thailand’s baht grown quickly, but the yuan has been hit
ly arrived in the country would like to and Israel’s shekel—have done so consis- hard by the trade war.)
change that. Last week the finance minis- tently. They have outshone other cur- One curiosity is why both currencies
try issued licences to foreign life insurers rencies over one, five and ten years, too. have performed well over each of the four
for the first time. Five—aia, Chubb, Dai- What explains their popularity? time horizons. The answer may reflect
Ichi Life, Manulife and Prudential plc— Inflation is part of the answer. Ex- policy. Both Israel and Thailand in-
have been permitted to operate as wholly change rates partly reflect relative pur- tervene in markets to limit upward pres-
owned subsidiaries. Others are required to chasing power, so a country with low sure on their currencies. If they are very
find local partners. inflation should see its currency strict, currency regimes can end abrupt-
Foreign insurers have long licked their strengthen against that of a country ly, as when Switzerland abandoned its
lips at the prospect of moving into Myan- where prices are rising fast. Both Israel peg in January 2015. But Israel and Thai-
mar. South-East Asia’s largest mainland and Thailand have had low annual in- land have been more flexible, which has
country, it is home to 54m people, more flation: 1.4% and 2.2% respectively, on strung out their appreciations over time.
than half of whom are under 30. Less than
4% of the population has insurance of any
sort. But under military dictatorship, Coining it
which ended in 2011, the market was mono-
polised by a state firm. Currencies against the $ Currency volatility against the $*
Not until the country made the transi- Dec 3rd 2019, % change on previous: 25
tion to democracy, and the government 1 year 5 years 10 years 15 years
loosened its grip on the economy, were lo- 20
cal private insurers allowed to operate. -5 0 5 10 15 20 25
Swiss franc
Even after Aung San Suu Kyi, whose ruling Thai baht 15
party was elected in 2015, promised to al-
low foreign investment in the sector, there Israeli shekel 10
were delays. Fed up with the government’s Singapore
sluggishness, Samsung Life Insurance, a dollar 5
South Korean firm, closed its Yangon office Chinese yuan Thai baht
last year.  Israeli shekel
0
Other insurers are betting their pa- Swiss franc
2010 12 14 16 18 19
tience will pay off. ikbz, a local firm, thinks
the insurance market may be worth $2.6bn
Consumer prices, average annual % increase, 2003-18 GDP, average annual % increase, 2003-18
in annual premiums in a decade’s time. But
there are bumps on the road to growth. In 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0 2 4 6 8 10
2015 just 0.01% of the population had a life China China
policy, a smaller share than in Laos, Cam-
bodia or Vietnam. Some people in Myan- Thailand Singapore
mar don’t know what insurance is, or think Singapore Israel
it a waste of money—or even unlucky, be- Israel Thailand
cause it circumvents karma.
Aung Si Thu Kyaw, a fruit trader in Yan- Switzerland Switzerland
gon, has motor but not life insurance be- Sources: Bloomberg; IMF *Standard deviation of the daily percentage exchange-rate change over the previous year
cause he doesn’t understand how this “new
concept” works. A freelance agent based in
Yangon told a local magazine in February the same price. The need to avoid adverse president of Chubb Myanmar, see their in-
that, while fire and vehicle insurance were selection meant products were limited. But dustry’s future in modern technology. Just
popular, life policies were a much harder he is optimistic that things will pick up. 26% of Myanmar’s adult population have a
sell. The only people he could persuade to When insurers opened for business in oth- bank account, but there are more phones
buy one were his relatives. er South-East Asian countries ten to 20 than people. Chubb and ikbz are experi-
Anil Mancham, the boss of ikbz, also at- years ago, they encountered, and sur- menting with selling insurance via e-wal-
tributes anaemic growth to a lack of trained mounted, similar obstacles. In Vietnam, lets; aia plans to sell its products via Face-
sales agents—and of attractive products. for instance, the industry is now growing at book. Perhaps in time Mr Thar will come to
Until last week the industry regulator re- 10-20% annually. rely less on karma, and arrange a safer fu-
quired all insurers to sell the same plans at Both Mr Mancham and Son Nguyen, the ture with a tap on his phone.  7
72 Finance & economics The Economist December 7th 2019

P2P platforms The first challenge is new competition.

Fintech startups such as Affirm and After-
Nothing personal pay now provide instalment loans to shop-
pers at checkout. Payment firms such as
PayPal and Square have started lending to
small businesses. Amazon sponsors sellers
on its marketplace; Uber will soon fund its
drivers. Meanwhile banks are snapping up
S A N F R A N CI S CO
fintechs and investing in software.
Created to democratise credit, p2p lenders are now going after big money
Second is a slowing economy. To make

“G et your money right,” says a giant

billboard in garish, Instagram-
friendly colours in San Francisco’s down-
lenders turned to family offices, and pen-
sion and sovereign-wealth funds. They
started to securitise loans, bundling hun-
more money mpls need to issue more
loans. Since they do not take a hit from de-
faults, they have a bias towards accepting
town. It is part of a campaign by SoFi, a fin- dreds of tiny amounts and selling them to- risky borrowers. That bias is worsened by
tech firm, to position itself as a one-stop gether. In 2017 institutional investors reliance on institutional investors, who
shop for alternative finance. Founded in snapped up $13bn worth of securitised p2p demand higher returns than retail inves-
2011 to cut the cost of student loans by en- loans. Last year they funded 90% of tors, says Rhydian Lewis of RateSetter. A
abling alumni to sponsor undergraduates, Prosper’s new loans, 94% of LendingClub’s downturn could see defaults spike—and
last year SoFi spent over $200m courting and 64% of those of Funding Circle, a Brit- investors flee. Default rates are already ris-
shoppers, homebuyers and young parents. ish firm that lends to small businesses. ing at platforms that make them public.
It now collects funding from a wide variety To cut acquisition costs, many plat- That is drawing regulatory attention—
of investors, including big institutions. forms now cross-sell several types of loans. the industry’s third challenge. Britain is
The vision behind peer-to-peer (p2p) Zopa, which obtained a banking licence getting tougher on disclosure, governance
lending—allowing one ordinary person last December, offers car finance and wed- and wind-down arrangements. From De-
with spare cash to help another with a de- ding loans. LendingClub backs small busi- cember 9th firms will be allowed to market
cent plan for spending it—was always a ro- nesses and refinances credit-card debt. themselves only to sophisticated inves-
mantic one. Today only a few die-hards like Some also “white-label” their products, tors. Some are preparing by running stress
RateSetter, a decade-old British lender, still originating loans for traditional banks tests; others by creating “provision funds”
hew to it; the rest, like SoFi, have diversi- while remaining invisible to the public. that will make lenders whole if borrowers
fied. New rules in Britain are the first salvo The shift from pure p2p has earned default. But rising compliance costs have
in a regulatory effort that will bring greater these firms a new moniker: marketplace pushed some smaller ones out of business.
scrutiny. The bets p2p firms have made as lenders (mpl). Last year they issued $50bn Further consolidation is due, insiders say.
they have grown will make or break them. of loans in America, a tiny but growing The winners may emerge stronger. For
Zopa was the first p2p lender, in Britain slice of the stock of consumer credit ($4trn now, however, p2p backers are cautious.
in 2005, closely followed by Prosper and in 2018). pwc, a consultancy, reckons that LendingClub, which was valued at $5.4bn
LendingClub in America. The industry figure will hit $1trn by 2030. Large mpls, in- when it listed in 2014, now has a market
took off after the financial crisis of 2008, cluding LendingClub and Funding Circle, capitalisation of just $1.1bn. Funding Cir-
when consumers lost confidence in banks have gone public. Zopa is rumoured to be cle, which listed 15 months ago at a valua-
and started to move their lives online. The planning to follow. tion of £1.5bn, is worth £346m. SoFi’s
idea was that lower costs and less red tape mpls are now well-positioned for rapid $4.3bn valuation has not budged since its
would enable firms to serve clients whom growth, boosters say. Yet that vision is rosy. 2017 funding round. “At first platforms
banks shunned. Born in an era of lax rules and economic ex- were valued like tech companies,” says Ad-
The retail investors who provided fund- pansion, the sector has never been truly itya Khurjekar of Medici, a data firm. “But
ing could hope for annual returns of 4% or tested. That is about to change. fintech is harder, much harder.” 7
more. The firms would avoid credit risk
while making money from transaction
fees, and any late fees. Between 2013 and
2015 the stock of p2p loans grew fourfold in
Britain, to £2.6bn ($3.4bn), and ninefold in
the Americas, to $29bn.
But further growth proved elusive. One
reason was the high cost of acquiring cus-
tomers. Platforms do not know how credit-
worthy someone who clicks on a Facebook
or Google ad is, says Scott Sanborn of
LendingClub. “[But] I have to pay for that
click regardless.” At first they allowed in-
vestors to price loans—but gave them lim-
ited information about borrowers with
which to do it. Investors thus asked for
higher interest rates across the board, re-
sulting in adverse selection.
Banks can draw on cheap and plentiful
deposits, whereas platforms had to com-
pete for savings held by retail investors.
That required a lot of hand-holding, says
Neil Rimer of Index Ventures, a venture-
capital firm. So from the mid-2010s p2p All wrapped up
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Finance & economics 73

Free exchange Back to the future

Japan’s economic troubles offer the rest of the rich world a glimpse of things to come
fear of starting a recession. Yet even now, five years on, the econ-
omy remains too weak to stomach fiscal tightening. In October the
consumption tax was raised once more, to 10%. The increase land-
ed harder than expected, hurting retail sales and squeezing an
economy already battered by a slowdown in global trade. The gov-
ernment is now preparing a round of stimulus, hoping to tide Ja-
pan through this bout of weakness.
It has become clear, however, that Japan’s demand woes are not
simply an after-effect of financial crisis. Rather they are chronic,
reflecting a profound demographic shift which depresses both de-
mand and supply—and which is creeping its way across the rich
world. Over the past 20 years Japan’s working-age population de-
clined by more than 10m workers, or about 14%. It is projected to
fall by even more over the next 20. Having fewer workers means
lower growth and less need of investment. Although Abenomics
reversed a long decline in investment, spending has been too low
to prevent a steady increase in corporate hoarding: idle cash,
draining demand from the economy. With unemployment so low,
you might expect cash to flow to workers, whose spending could
then energise growth. But incomes have risen surprisingly slow-
ly—partly, the government reckons, because firms are choosing to
automate rather than compete for ever scarcer workers by raising
once offered a cautionary tale of how macroeconomic wages. When firms do invest, some spend on robots.
Japan
mismanagement could transform a juggernaut into a laggard. As Limp private-sector spending has in turn kept the government
weak growth and low interest rates have spread to the rest of the from cutting its debt. Were the state to begin saving in earnest, de-
world, however, it looks more like a window into the future. The mand in the economy would collapse. Japan has long defied pre-
view it reveals is less bleak than it used to be; “Abenomics”—the dictions of imminent fiscal crisis. Even so, demography could
growth-boosting policies of the government of Shinzo Abe since eventually break the public purse. At 46% in 2018, Japan’s old-age
2012—have restored some vim. But as economic growth once again dependency ratio—the number of elderly people compared with
sags towards zero, it is worth asking whether Mr Abe’s programme, the number of working age—is the world’s highest. It is projected
bold as it has been, is radical enough. to rise by nearly 20 percentage points over the next 20 years. Shift-
Japan earned its reputation as an economy adrift in the 1990s, ing the burden of tax away from consumers might reinvigorate
when a popped financial bubble was followed by slow growth, de- household spending. But economists prefer consumption-tax
flation and low interest rates. As the government struggled to pry rises to higher levies on income or profits, which they fear would
the economy from its rut, it pioneered policies like quantitative further depress growth. Pressing firms to raise pay, perhaps with
easing (qe; printing money to buy assets such as government faster increases in the minimum wage, could help in the short run
bonds) that were used around the world after the global financial but accelerate automation over the medium to long term.
crisis. Economists debated how much Japan’s slump owed to weak
demand rather than economic rigidities, for example an insuffi- Hit me Abe one more time
ciently limber corporate sector. Some doubted that, after years of Abenomics may yet fulfil its promise. A short burst of stimulus
easy money and bulging deficits, there was room left for stimulus could see the economy through the current headwinds. Given a bit
to boost growth. Others reckoned that Japan could escape its rut if more reform and some luck, growth could rebound—sufficiently,
only its leaders were bold enough. perhaps, to stabilise government debt even as social spending
Abenomics showed that Japan’s economy was indeed suffering grows. But it would not take much bad luck to spark a recession
from weak demand. Fiscal and monetary stimulus were two of the and reverse the past few years’ hard-won gains. To safeguard Ja-
“three arrows” of Mr Abe’s agenda (the other being structural re- pan’s economic future, more radical policies may be needed.
form). His government increased public investment and lit a fire Large-scale immigration might do the job. But Japan remains a
under the Bank of Japan, which set an inflation target of 2% closed society by rich-world standards. Just 2% of its population is
(stretching, for a country so deflation-stricken) and engaged in foreign-born, compared with 13% in Britain and 22% in Canada.
large-scale qe to meet it. The economy quickly responded. The yen Instead, Japan may continue to blaze macroeconomic trails.
tumbled, giving exporters a lift. Stock prices soared, and in 2013 The Bank of Japan, through qe, has spent trillions in newly created
economic growth hit a respectable 2%. Japan has since built on yen on stocks and bonds. It might instead try distributing new
these successes. The economy has grown every year, just about. money to households. That would either raise inflation, prying Ja-
The unemployment rate has fallen to 2.4%. pan from the trap that has held it since the early 1990s, or demon-
But the slump never quite ended. Perhaps it might have, had the strate how best to manage the macroeconomic challenges posed
government not raised the rate of consumption tax from 5% to 8% by ageing and automation. Or it could simply call bond markets’
in 2014 in an effort to cut its mammoth gross debt pile, which bluff, and borrow and spend as lavishly on public investment as
reached 230% of gdp in 2012. Private consumption, which helped circumstances require. Other countries may boggle at such strat-
power growth in 2013, shrank in 2014 as the economy slowed to a egies. Soon enough, they will learn for themselves just how tricky
stall. The government postponed a second planned increase for Japan’s position is. 7
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 Science & technology The Economist December 7th 2019 75

Also in this section

76 Ancient Rome’s timber trade
76 The latest on malaria
77 A trillion-transistor chip
77 Maternal centipedes
78 Flying planes like skeins of geese

Warfare in space whatever reason (whether enemy action or

otherwise), an orbiting asset stops working
Quickening the countdown and needs replacing.
That concept is known as “responsive
space”, and, in today’s outsourced world, it
often means calling on the private sector to
do the actual launching. American officials
are therefore pleased that a firm called
Growing fears of conflict in space mean America’s officials are seeking faster
Rocket Lab, whose services they often rely
ways to launch satellites
on for lifting payloads of up to 150kg, has

B y shooting a missile into one of its

own satellites in March, India upped
the ante. The immediate intention, sug-
space assets than any other country and re-
lies on them more for its war-fighting capa-
bility. Moreover, as John Hyten, the vice-
quickened the tempo of cubesat launches
from its pad in New Zealand to once a
month. Rocket Lab hopes that, by early next
gests Jeffrey Caton, a retired American air- chairman of America’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, year, it will have improved this rate to once
force colonel who teaches at the Army War eloquently puts it, America’s kit in space a fortnight—an objective which will be as-
College, was to fire “a shot across the bow” consists mainly of large, “exquisite” satel- sisted by its construction of a second
of India’s rival China. The Chinese had, lites that make for “big, fat, juicy targets”. launch pad in Virginia.
after all, blown up one of their own satel- Rocket Lab is also a pioneer of the 3d
lites in 2007, in a similar demonstration of First responders printing of rocket parts, such as the noz-
their ability to do such things. India’s test, One approach to reducing the risk this zles, valves, pumps and main combustion
along with the wider profusion of anti- poses is to make those targets less fat and chamber of the motor. That reduces the
satellite weapons, has lent credence to the juicy. That is happening, as both civil and number of components involved, and
worries of defence chiefs around the world military satellite users shrink their hard- greatly speeds up manufacture and assem-
who believe that future conflicts between ware and scatter its functions over multi- bly. Rockets being expensive, no one wants
great powers will stretch into space. ple pieces of equipment. In particular, peo- to carry a large inventory of them. Having a
Satellites are too militarily useful to ple are deploying more of the modular “just in time” approach to launcher avail-
pretend that adversaries will consider designs known as cubesats. Among other ability is therefore desirable.
them off-limits, says William Roper, the air things, that means individual satellites are Relativity Space, another American
force’s assistant secretary for technology smaller and cheaper, and therefore easier firm, also plans to print its rocket, the Ter-
and acquisitions. America must therefore to stockpile in advance. But for this ap- ran 1. This will carry a payload of 900kg. Its
ready itself for warfare in space. America is, proach to be really useful, it must also be first orbital launch is scheduled for next
indeed, especially vulnerable. It has more possible to launch them quickly if, for year. Relativity Space’s biggest printers 1
76 Science & technology The Economist December 7th 2019

2 produce five-metre sections of propellant launches twice in a matter of days or Malaria

tank. Its most precise ones create engine weeks, each time learning only shortly be-
parts with an accuracy of 40 millionths of a forehand of the mission’s location, desti- Off track
metre. A conventionally manufactured nation orbit and payload characteristics.
rocket of similar size would contain, the This has never been done before. Program-
firm says, nearly 100,000 parts. Terran 1has ming the computers takes time, and the
less than 1,000. That simplifies the supply rocket must be trimmed in advance for the
chain and accelerates the testing of parts. particular trajectory, taking into account
Cases of malaria have stopped falling.
such factors as the weather. Prizes of up to
Better targeting is needed
Bright ideas $10m will be awarded.
Speeding up launcher production in this
way helps. But it will not be enough if
America is to fulfil its goal of launching re-
It is a measure of the task’s difficulty
that, of the 55 teams which signed up ini-
tially, only three qualified, and two have
A few years ago it looked as if malaria
might be on the way out. From 2000 to
2014 the number of cases and deaths fell. As
placement satellites with a day’s notice. subsequently dropped out. The name of the World Health Organisation’s annual re-
That is one reason, says Mr Roper, why the the remaining competitor is secret. port on the disease shows, though, the de-
air force is now buying, at a series of pitch- At least one of the dropouts has not giv- cline in cases has ended (see chart overleaf)
ing events that started in March, ideas for en up completely, though. That firm, Virgin and that in deaths has slowed. The report,
ways of prevailing in “high end” orbital Orbit, has turned a Boeing 747-400 into a published on December 4th, says there
combat. Encouragingly for proposers of flying launch pad. At an altitude of about were 228m cases of malaria in 2018, which
such ideas, little bureaucracy is involved. 10.7km, the aircraft releases a rocket called resulted in 400,000 deaths. Most victims
Settlement for those accepted is immedi- LauncherOne. This rocket’s engine ignites were young children in Africa. That is a far
ate—the air force sidesteps its lumbering after 4.8 seconds of freefall. cry from targets set in 2015 for the near-
payments system by using official credit Such launches, Virgin Orbit says, can elimination of malaria by 2030.
cards to transfer money instantly to peo- take place above nasty weather. They also That strategy of elimination had count-
ple’s PayPal accounts. Those who present make it easier to reach east-to-west “retro- ed on $6bn a year being poured into malar-
clever proposals can thus pocket awards grade” orbits, because the launching plane ia-control efforts. Funding in recent years,
exceeding $100,000 within minutes. The can fly in the opposite direction to Earth’s however, has been about $3bn a year. More
latest of these pitching meetings, on No- spin, reducing the launch velocity required money would surely help. But substantial
vember 5th and 6th, resulted in on-the- for such an orbit. Though Virgin Orbit’s gains can be made by doing things more ef-
spot contracts worth $22.5m. system has yet to put a satellite into orbit, ficiently—something at which malaria
Meanwhile darpa, America’s main mil- Britain’s Royal Air Force seems interested. programmes have been dismal.
itary-research organisation, is trying to In July it announced a deal to launch small Stopping malaria relies on three things:
organise a responsive-space competition satellites on notices possibly as short as a insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent
of its own. Next year it hopes to hold a week. By today’s standards, that is, indeed, nocturnal mosquito bites; the spraying of
challenge in which teams will attempt pretty responsive. 7 homes with insecticides; and the treating
of pregnant women and children with
rounds of preventive medication. These
are all “imperfect tools, often used imper-
fectly”, says Pedro Alonso, head of the ma-
laria programme at the World Health Orga-
nisation. Countries usually deploy the
same package of measures everywhere,
even though infection rates and their sea-
sonal patterns vary a lot between regions,
and particularly between cities and the
countryside. Transmission reaches a peak
in the rainy season, when mosquitoes are
abundant, so preventive mass-treatment
of children then can make a huge differ-
ence. Regional variations are particularly
pronounced in large countries like Nige-
ria—a place that, by itself, accounts for a
quarter of the world’s malaria cases.
The typical approach of a malaria-con-
trol programme is to bombard a country
with bed nets and then use whatever cash
remains for sporadic rounds of preventive
medication. But in many big cities, such as
You can’t get the wood, you know
Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, cases are few
These oak planks, once part of the portico of a property just outside Imperial Rome, and far between, so deploying nets there is
travelled a long way before the builders got their hands on them. The science of dating a waste. Overspending on nets at the ex-
trees by looking at their growth rings is now so good that Mauro Bernabei of Italy’s pense of other things happens partly be-
National Research Council and his colleagues were able to say, in a paper just published cause nets are easy to count—a feature that
in PLOS One, where the trees that provided the planks had grown, and when they were aid programmes are particularly fond of.
cut. Rings’ thicknesses are affected by the local climate. Comparison with samples of Results which cannot be attributed directly
known origin showed that the trees grew in what is now eastern France, and were felled to money a donor spends tend to fall fur-
between 40 and 60AD. That speaks of a sophisticated timber trade, which floated the ther down that donor’s list of priorities.
logs down the Saône and Rhône to the Mediterranean, and thence to the Eternal City. This kind of reasoning tips the scales, be- 1
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Science & technology 77

much expense and trouble would be avoid- tion has many other challenges, such as
Net gains ed. But efforts to implement such wafer- keeping everything synchronised, pump-
Malaria, cases as a % of population at risk scale integration have consistently failed, ing in enough electric power, pumping out
FORECAST 9
either because the technology just did not the resultant heat, and efficiently moving
Current estimates work or the resulting circuits could not gigabytes of data to and from other parts of
Worst-case
scenario† compete with new versions of conven- a machine. But if the cs-1 survives contact
tional designs. with the real world of commercial use, then
6 Now Cerebras, a firm in Los Altos, Cali- wafer-scale integration will at last have
Expected
trend fornia, thinks the time is right to try again. proved itself, and the days of the lonely
Global target* The heart of its new product, a supercom- chip may be numbered. 7
3 puter called the cs-1, could hardly be de-
scribed as a “chip”. It is a slab of silicon
measuring 21.5cm by 21.5cm that the firm Centipedes
refers to as a wafer-scale engine. But what-

2000 05 10 15 20 25 30
0 ever name you give it, it is a record-breaker. Nesting instinct
A high-end modern computer chip might
*Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-30 have billions of transistors on its surface.
Source: WHO †At peak rate, 2000-07
The wafer-scale engine has more than a
trillion of them.
2 cause foreign aid accounts for two-thirds Cerebras’s creation breaks many re-
Even the most aggressive animals will
of the money spent on malaria. cords besides the trillion-transistor barrier
co-operate if they have to
Another problem is patchy data about (it actually has 1.2trn). Its transistors are or-
local disease patterns. This makes it tricky
to work out the best mix of malaria-control
measures for a given area—and when to de-
ganised into 400,000 individual process-
ing units, known in the trade as cores, and
it can shuttle nine petabytes (9,000trn
C entipedes do not generally get on well
together. Even members of the same
species may attack one another when they
ploy them. Still, it is better to use whatever bytes) of data per second around inside it- meet. So it is a surprise to find mother cen-
figures are available, because that will ini- self. For comparison, Intel’s i9-9900k tipedes sharing nests and a double surprise
tiate a virtuous circle, says Dr Alonso. As chips, typical of those found in modern to find that those co-residents are some-
things stand, local health workers respon- pcs, have a mere eight cores and can shuttle times not even conspecifics. This, though,
sible for collecting such data often do a 40 gigabytes per second. is the conclusion of research published in
sloppy job because they do not see the data The cs-1 has some notably small num- Biotropica by Farnon Ellwood and Josie
being put to use. bers, too. Admittedly, ibm’s Summit super- Phillips of the University of the West of
Such things matter. The two countries computer, among the snazziest in the un- England, in Bristol.
that stand out as successes in this year’s re- classified world, offers some 2.4m cores. Dr Ellwood studies the invertebrates of
port are India and Uganda. Both report dra- However, Summit is constructed conven- the Danum Valley, an area of rainforest in
matic falls in cases of malaria between 2017 tionally, using package-laden circuit Sabah, a Malaysian state in north Borneo.
and 2018. Not coincidentally, both have boards. It weighs over 340 tonnes and oc- His past expeditions have found lots of
been busy fine-tuning their regional ma- cupies 520 square metres of floor space. A centipedes living in epiphytes called bird’s
laria-prevention strategies. If other coun- cs-1 weighs around 250kg and is the size of nest ferns. These ferns tolerate the low illu-
tries followed suit, the world might get a domestic refrigerator. It also consumes a mination beneath a forest’s light-absorb-
back on track to beating the disease. 7 mere 15-20kw of electricity. Summit re- ing canopy and may weigh more than
quires 1,000 times as much. 200kg. They and their inhabitants are hard
The purpose of all this computational to investigate because they grow on tree
Computing records heft is to run linear algebra, the mathemat- trunks dozens of metres above the ground.
ics of data processing in general and mach- But when Dr Ellwood did bring a few down
A trillion here, a ine learning in particular. Machine learn- to terra firma he found that the largest of
ing is at the heart of the trendy and them contained, besides the plethora of
trillion there lucrative field of computing branded “arti- herbivorous insects he was expecting, 126
ficial intelligence”. centipedes. That led him to wonder wheth-
The cs-1’s compiler—the software that er, rather than migrating from the ground
turns programs written by human beings as he had previously assumed was the ori-
How to make a small supercomputer
into binary code which a computer can un- gin of such myriapods in tree tops, the
with a really big chip
derstand—is tuned to keep the flow of data creatures were actually being born there.

S ilicon chips have lonely lives. They are

born together, often as tens of thou-
sands of identical siblings a few milli-
from core to core as efficient as possible. It
does this by matching the structure of the
code generated to that of the hardware.
To investigate the matter he and Ms
Phillips collaborated with colleagues from
Sabah’s Forestry Department and the Natu-
metres across, on a single wafer the size of Also, as the cores are positioned within ral History Museum, in London, to set up
an old-fashioned vinyl record. They are fractions of a millimetre of the memory climbing lines in local trees and use them
then broken from their natal wafers like they use, that flow of data is already much to collect bird’s nest ferns. Each specimen
squares of chocolate from a bar, and pack- faster from one part of a circuit board to an- was, as it broke loose from the tree, decant-
aged individually in plastic and metal. other than the long-distance trip which ed straight into a clear plastic bag to stop its
Only after this is a chip reconnected to oth- would normally be required. centipede inhabitants escaping. It was
ers of its kind, as the packages are wired up The wafer-scale engines themselves are then lowered to the ground using pulleys.
to work together on circuit boards and in- made by tsmc, a Taiwanese firm, using a In total, the researchers nabbed 44 ferns in
serted into products. process claimed to be so accurate that each this way—half from the highest part of the
Many inventors over the years have not- has just 150-200 defects. These are easily canopy, above 40 metres, and the rest from
ed that if chips were instead wired together worked around, given the number of other above 20 metres. Once a fern was safely
from the beginning, on the wafer itself, transistors available. Wafer-scale integra- landed they dissected it and dropped every 1
78 Science & technology The Economist December 7th 2019

Aviation would risk crashing the plane. Early experi-

ments used smoke to make vortices visible.
Trail blazers This approach was then replaced with li-
dars (the optical equivalent of radars). Us-
ing these, Airbus’s researchers were able to
measure the shape of a vortex at different
distances behind the leading aircraft.
The trailing pilots then proceeded, in
If aircraft can copy the way geese fly,
careful stages, to approach closer and clos-
everyone will benefit
er to the outer portion of the wake, while

I n the cut-throat business of civil avia-

tion, every little helps. So researchers at
Airbus, Europe’s biggest aircraft manufac-
engineers in the back of the plane
crunched data such as fuel consumption
and the speed and accelerations of the two
turer, have been experimenting with a aircraft. Early in the tests, in 2016, over
wheeze which they hope might shave up to southern France, the team observed that by
10% off an airliner’s fuel consumption. positioning the trailing aircraft at a partic-
This is to hitch a ride on the wake of the ular distance—a “sweet spot”—the ride
plane in front. would be especially smooth, with the fuel-
It is a familiar idea. Evolution blun- burn reduced by more than 10%.
dered across it millions of years ago, and it This sweet spot, they found, is between
explains why skeins of geese, swans and so one and a half and three kilometres behind
on adopt a V-shaped formation when flying the leader, and slightly to its side. Since the
in groups. Vortices of air shed from the tips vortex shape and position change with alti-
Come to Mummy of a bird’s wings represent wasted effort. tude and temperature, as well as the veloci-
But that effort can be captured as lift by an- ty and weight of the leading aeroplane, so
2 centipede found into a solution of ethanol, other bird trailing at the correct distance does the location of the sweet spot.
to kill and preserve it. Also, before them- and angle. Working out how to incorporate all this
selves descending the trees, the collectors Aeronautical engineers have long into an aircraft’s autopilot will take a while.
put data loggers into some of the ferns they dreamed of flying platoons of planes in a Ms Bour Schaeffer hopes to run further
had left in place, to measure the tempera- similar way, with trailing aircraft surfing tests next year and then, in 2021, to extend
ture within and outside the plants. the wakes of those leading the convoy. The these to involve a pair of commercial air-
It quickly became apparent, when the problem is catching the supportive updraft lines. The biggest obstacle, if those tests
researchers began pulling the ferns apart, at one side of a vortex rather than the tur- prove satisfactory, will be gaining the ap-
that some of them contained centipede bulence-inducing downdraft on the other proval of air-traffic controllers and regula-
nurseries. Deep inside they discovered side—and doing so far enough from the tors. At a typical cruising speed a distance
special chambers that the creatures had vortex’s powerful core to ride it safely and of two or three kilometres takes only a few
made by chewing through the fern’s inner without spilling the passengers’ drinks. seconds for a plane to cover, and the idea of
roots. Here, mother centipedes were curled Airbus’s researchers, under the aegis of flying that close for long distances has
protectively around clutches of eggs or ju- Sandra Bour Schaeffer, head of Airbus raised eyebrows among both pilots and en-
veniles. The team found ten such nests. Group Demonstrators, have been trying to gineers. Flight-control and precision-navi-
And three of them were shared by females work out the details by flying a series of gation technology are, though, getting bet-
of different species. tests in which an a350-900 follows in the ter and better. And regulators may also
Maternal behaviour by tropical centi- wake of an a380, both having been loaded wish to take into account the disfavour the
pedes is not unknown. In particular, fe- with ballast to simulate the weight of pas- air-travel industry is experiencing as a re-
males will hang around to keep eggs and sengers and cargo. To do this, the test pilots sult of the carbon dioxide it is adding to the
newly hatched larvae clean, to stop fungal needed a way to see the vortices’ cores, in atmosphere. Saving fuel not only saves
infestations developing on them. They also order to avoid steering into them—which money, it also saves CO2. 7
bring prey for the youngsters to feed on.
Tolerating nest mates, though, is a differ-
ent matter. Dr Ellwood and Ms Phillips
reckon that this curious behaviour is dri-
ven by matters climatic.
The climate in question is not, however,
that of the rainforest as a whole. Rather, it is
the microclimate inside a fern itself. The
data loggers left behind by the fern collec-
tors showed that during the hottest part of
the day the temperature inside a fern is as
much as 6°C lower than that outside. Dr Ell-
wood suspects this heat-shielding makes
ferns attractive places for centipedes to
raise their heat-sensitive young—and that
the limited space available inside a fern has
caused natural selection to put mother
centipedes’ aggressive instincts on hold
and make them considerably more tolerant
of one another’s company when nesting
than might otherwise be the case. 7 Geese do it. Why not planes?
 Books & arts The Economist December 7th 2019 79

Our books of the year recommendations on how to help victims

and perpetrators. A book that manages to
Word up be both personal and panoramic, angry
and hopeful.
Assad or We Burn the Country. By Sam
Dagher. Little, Brown; 592 pages; $29 and £25
Although the horrors of Syria’s civil war
The best books of 2019 were about the ira, Harper Lee’s lost work, rational are well documented, this chronicle by a
economics and an Ohio housewife Wall Street Journal correspondent still
offers new insights into a struggle that has
Winners Take All: The Elite Charade
reshaped the Middle East. Many are based
Politics and current affairs of Changing the World. By Anand
on his rare access to Manaf Tlass, a one-
Giridharadas. Knopf; 304 pages; $26.95.
time confidant of Bashar al-Assad, who
Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row Allen Lane; £12.99
charts the accidental president’s meta-
America. By Chris Arnade. Sentinel; 304 A timely polemic against philanthro-
morphosis into a blood-soaked dictator.
pages; $30 and £25 capitalism, which argues that supposedly
Over several years the author of this book, do-gooding companies merely offer stick- The Light that Failed. By Stephen Holmes
a former Wall Street trader, conducted ing-plaster solutions to social problems and Ivan Krastev. Pegasus Books; 256 pages;
thoughtful interviews in neglected com- that they have helped create. Such efforts, $26.95. Allen Lane; £20
munities across America, and took mov- the author says, do little to make up for a When the Soviet Union collapsed and
ing photographs of his subjects. The result winner-takes-all philosophy that is hold- communism fell, the countries of eastern
is a quietly revelatory portrait of what he ing down wages and transferring the bur- Europe set out to emulate Western democ-
calls the country’s “back row”. den of risk onto employees. racies. But, as the authors of this percep-
tive book eloquently relate, their attitude
An American Summer: Love and Death in No Visible Bruises. By Rachel Louise Snyder.
to liberal democracy soured amid global-
Chicago. By Alex Kotlowitz. Nan A. Talese; Bloomsbury; 320 pages; $28
isation and the financial crisis—forces
304 pages; $27.95 It is the dark matter of violent crime: un-
that also fed the rise of nationalism in the
Chicago has suffered 14,000 murders in seen but everywhere. This investigation
West. Russia, meanwhile, replaced Soviet
the past two decades; overwhelmingly the into domestic violence in America blends
rule with a revanchist autocracy.
victims are African-American or Hispanic. harrowing testimony with persuasive
This is an intimate and sympathetic de- Presidential Misconduct: From George
piction of several people involved in, and Washington to Today. Edited by James
affected by, deadly crime. The killings Also in this section Banner junior. New Press; 512 pages; $29.99
seem senseless, but, says the author, the In 1974 the special counsel to the impeach-
82 Books by our writers
city can do more to grasp their causes. ment inquiry commissioned a survey of 1
80 Books & arts The Economist December 7th 2019

2 presidential misconduct from Washing- started to become modern in the Regency motherhood with the demands of repre-
ton to Lyndon Johnson. Brought up-to- era, this delightful book explains why it senting America on the world stage.
date with chapters on presidents from deserves to be better known.
Family Papers: A Sephardic Journey
Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, this
How to be a Dictator. By Frank Dikötter. Through the Twentieth Century. By Sarah
useful study supplies the scales on which
Bloomsbury; 304 pages; $28 and £25 Abrevaya Stein. Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 336
more recent wrongdoing can be weighed.
What do Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, pages; $28
Kim Il Sung, Nicolae Ceausescu, Papa Doc This history of the Levy family of Salonika
Duvalier and Mengistu Haile Mariam have follows its subjects through interwar
History in common? This insightful handbook for Greece to the present day. It is a painstak-
gangsters is written by a distinguished ing feat of reconstruction that draws on
Say Nothing. By Patrick Radden Keefe.
historian of 20th-century China. correspondence in Ottoman Turkish,
Doubleday; 464 pages; $28.95. William
Hebrew, French and especially Ladino, the
Collins; £20
language of Sephardic Jewry. Much of the
Framed as an inquiry into the death of Jean
Biography and memoir clan was murdered in Auschwitz in 1943;
McConville, a mother of ten who was
those who survive are now spread across
abducted and murdered by the ira in 1972,
An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin’s the globe. And yet, the author says, they
this is a masterful exploration of the mo-
Master Agent. By Owen Matthews. Blooms- retain a family resemblance.
tives of terrorists, the stories they tell
bury; 448 pages; $30 and £25
themselves and how they make the transi- The Last Stone. By Mark Bowden. Atlantic
Richard Sorge’s bravery and recklessness
tion to peace—or, in some cases, fail to. Monthly Press; 304 pages; $27. Grove Press;
in the Soviet cause in Tokyo—where booz-
£16.99
Remembering Emmett Till. By Dave Tell. ing and seduction were among his main
True-crime writers in America face a high
University of Chicago Press; 312 pages; $25 espionage techniques—were matched by
bar, set by illustrious predecessors such as
and £19 the venality and cowardice of his masters
Truman Capote. The author of “Black
A fine history of racism, poverty and mem- in Moscow. Despite their brutal incompe-
Hawk Down” rises to the challenge in this
ory in the Mississippi Delta told through tence, his intelligence helped turn the
reconstruction of how a horrific crime—
the lynching of Emmett Till, a black 14- course of the second world war. A tragic,
the disappearance of two sisters from a
year-old from Chicago whose murder in heroic story, magnificently told with an
mall in Maryland in 1975—was partially
1955—and his mother’s determination to understated rage.
solved 40 years later. Dogged and inge-
display his mutilated features in an open
The Education of an Idealist. By Samantha nious interrogation of a mendacious
coffin—made him an early martyr of the
Power. Dey Street Books; 592 pages; $29.99. suspect finally gets at the truth.
civil-rights movement.
William Collins; £20
Amritsar 1919: An Empire of Fear and the An engaging insider’s account of foreign-
Making of a Massacre. By Kim Wagner. Yale policymaking in what now seems like a Economics
University Press; 360 pages; $32.50 and £20 different era of diplomacy. It describes the
At least 379 people were killed by British efforts of its author—Barack Obama’s Good Economics for Hard Times. By Abhijit
soldiers in the Amritsar massacre on April Irish-born ambassador to the United Banerjee and Esther Duflo. PublicAffairs; 432
13th 1919, making that one of the darkest Nations—to juggle idealism with the pages; $30. Allen Lane; £25
days in the history of the empire. On the realities of governing, while also juggling The real meaning of this book by a Nobel-
event’s centenary, this book persuasively prizewinning duo of economists lies in its
argues that it was less of an aberration method—a patient attempt to take on
than apologists for empire, including tough problems through empirical evi-
Winston Churchill, have chosen to believe. dence. Known for pioneering the use of
randomised controlled trials, the pair offer
Maoism: A Global History. By Julia Lovell.
insights into thorny global issues ranging
Knopf; 610 pages; $37.50. Bodley Head; £30
from inequality to corruption, all with
Mao Zedong was a despot who caused tens
refreshing humility.
of millions of deaths; yet his name does
not attract the same opprobrium as Hit- Open Borders. By Bryan Caplan. Illustrated
ler’s or Stalin’s. Indeed, his legend and by Zach Weinersmith. First Second; 256 pages;
ideas have inspired revolutionaries $19.99. St. Martin’s Press; £15.99
around the world. As the author of this An enlightened polemic in cartoon format,
book shows, his manipulated image re- this book—by a team comprising an eco-
tains a powerful allure in China and be- nomics professor and an illustrator—
yond. “Like a dormant virus”, she writes, persuasively rebuffs the arguments
“Maoism has demonstrated a tenacious, against migration commonly made by
global talent for latency.” politicians. At the same time it shows how
an accessible and respectful case can be
The Regency Years. By Robert Morrison.
made on a neuralgic subject.
W.W. Norton; 416 pages; $29.95. Published in
Britain as “The Regency Revolution”; Atlantic Narrative Economics. By Robert Shiller.
Books; £20 Princeton University Press; 400 pages; $27.95
“I awoke one morning and found myself and £20
famous,” Lord Byron, a Regency poet, once The author, another Nobel laureate, ex-
said. The period itself has suffered from plores how the public’s subjective percep-
the opposite problem—eclipsed by the tions can shape economic trends. The
more solemn and substantial Georgian result is a sensible and welcome escape
and Victorian ones that preceded and from the dead hand of mathematical mod-
followed it. Arguing that Britain truly els of economics. 1
 The Economist December 7th 2019 Books & arts 81

2 Schism. By Paul Blustein. CIGI Press; 400

pages; $27.95. McGill-Queen’s University
Press; £27.99
A fascinating, detailed account of the
history of tensions in America’s trade
relationship with China. It explains the
back story to today’s conflict—and reveals
how difficult it will be to escape it.
Capitalism, Alone. By Branko Milanovic.
Belknap Press; 304 pages; $29.95 and £23.95
A scholar of inequality warns that while
capitalism may have seen off rival eco-
nomic systems, the survival of liberal
democracies is anything but assured. The
amoral pursuit of profit in more liberal
capitalist societies has eroded the ethical
norms that help sustain openness and
democracy, he argues; now that tendency
threatens to push such places in the direc-
tion of more authoritarian capitalist soci-
eties, such as China.

Culture and ideas subjects “stand for the whole of what confirms that Grossman was the supreme
longing in America looks like”; she spent bard of the second world war.
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last
time in their home towns to study their
Trial of Harper Lee. By Casey Cep. Knopf; 336 Ducks, Newburyport. By Lucy Ellmann.
daily routines, jobs and, above all, their
pages; $26.95. William Heinemann; £20 Biblioasis; 1,040 pages; $22.95. Galley Beggar
desires. With a novelist’s eye for detail, she
An ingeniously structured, beautifully Press; £14.99
captures the pain and powerlessness of
written double mystery—one concerning The year’s unlikeliest literary triumph: a
sex, as well as its heady joys.
the Reverend Willie Maxwell, who was 1,000-page fictional monologue delivered
accused of murdering five relatives for the A Month in Siena. By Hisham Matar. Random by a worried Ohio housewife and baker,
insurance money in Alabama in the 1970s House; 126 pages; $27. Viking; £12.99 much of which is made up of a single
(before being fatally shot himself); the The author’s life and writing have been sentence. A prize-garlanded novel that is
other, Harper Lee’s abortive efforts to write shaped by his Libyan father’s kidnapping funny, angry, erudite, profound—and full
a book about the case. Tom Radney, a in 1990 by the regime of Muammar Qad- of great cake recipes.
lawyer who is the story’s third main char- dafi. In previous work he tried to uncover
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange
acter, defended Maxwell—and his killer. what happened; in this slim, bewitching
World. By Elif Shafak. Bloomsbury; 320 pages;
book he finds answers, of a sort, by travel-
Kafka’s Last Trial: The Case of a Literary $27. Viking; £14.99
ling to Siena. Meditating on art, history
Legacy. By Benjamin Balint. W.W. Norton; The protagonist of this story is dead when
and the relationship between them, this is
288 pages; $26.95. Picador; £14.99 it begins. The body of “Tequila Leila” has
both a portrait of a city and an affirmation
An account of the struggle over Kafka’s been dumped in a wheelie bin on the
of life’s quiet dignities in the face of loss.
papers between competing archives in outskirts of Istanbul; yet, somehow, her
Israel and Germany—plus a woman who This is Shakespeare. By Emma Smith. mind remains active. While it does, she
inherited them from a friend of his editor, Pelican; 368 pages; £20 scrolls back through her life—a pained
Max Brod—which played out after most of A brilliant and accessible tour of Shake- childhood, stalwart friends in adult-
the writer’s family had died in the Holo- speare’s plays that is also a radical mani- hood—in a powerful, unflinching novel
caust. A book about the provenance of art, festo for how to read and watch his work. that, like all of the Turkish author’s work,
and how much, in the end, it matters. Witty, irreverent and searching, this book, is political and lyrical at once.
by a professor at Oxford University, shines
Underland: A Deep Time Journey. By Robert Homeland. By Fernando Aramburu. Translat-
dazzling new light on the oeuvre of the
Macfarlane. W.W. Norton; 384 pages; $27.95. ed by Alfred MacAdam. Pantheon; 608 pages;
world’s greatest literary genius.
Hamish Hamilton; £20 $29.95. Picador; £16.99
A haunting examination of the world A monumental novel—and a bestseller in
below the surface—a place that has always Spanish—which explores how eta’s terro-
been envisioned as a zone of treasure and Fiction rism divided families and lifelong friends
of dread. From the Paris catacombs to the in a claustrophobic Basque town. Empa-
Stalingrad: A Novel. By Vasily Grossman.
soil of Epping Forest to caverns in remot- thetic but morally acute, this may be the
Translated by Robert and Elizabeth Chandler.
est Norway, the author, a celebrated na- definitive fictional account of the Basque
NYRB Classics; 1,088 pages; $27.95. Harvill
ture-writer, re-envisions the planet from troubles; it suggests that redemption is
Secker; £25
the ground down. hard but not impossible.
At last, the Russian novelist-journalist’s
Three Women. By Lisa Taddeo. Simon mighty prequel to “Life and Fate”, his epic The Volunteer. By Salvatore Scibona.
& Schuster; 320 pages; $27. Bloomsbury of the battle of Stalingrad and its after- Penguin Press; 432 pages; $28. Jonathan
Circus; £16.99 math, has received a definitive—and Cape; £16.99
Eight years of reporting went into this hugely powerful—English translation. A This intricate novel spans decades and
portrait of American sexuality from a seething fresco of combat, domestic rou- continents and incorporates multiple,
female perspective. The author’s three tine under siege and intellectual debate, it looping stories. After being captured in 1
82 Books & arts The Economist December 7th 2019

2 Cambodia, Vollie returns to America and is the 21st century. To keep the country safe, “minds like the legs of racehorses, fast but
dispatched to New York to conduct sur- he contends, the top brass need to mo- vulnerable to catastrophic failures”.
veillance on a supposed renegade Nazi. dernise their thinking, and respond to the
Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelli-
This assignment will come to haunt him, information warfare that is now waged by
gence. By James Lovelock with Bryan Ap-
too. “Who among us”, he asks, “has lived their adversaries.
pleyard. MIT Press; 160 pages; $22.95. Allen
only once?” A searing yet poetic record of
Good Reasons for Bad Feelings. By Ran- Lane; £14.99
war and the lies people live by.
dolph Nesse. Dutton; 384 pages; $28. Allen In a brief but thought-provoking book, the
The Far Field. By Madhuri Vijay. Grove Press; Lane; £20 scientist who developed the “Gaia Theory”
448 pages; $27 and £14.99 A fascinating study of the evolutionary about the Earth’s life and climate—and
A courageous, insightful and affecting roots of mental illness. The author, a pro- who this year turned 100—predicts that
debut novel—and the winner of the presti- fessor of psychiatry, argues that, in the cyborgs may eventually evolve to supplant
gious jcb prize for Indian literature— right proportion, negative emotions may carbon-based humankind. But don’t de-
which places a naive upper-class woman be useful for survival in a similar way to spair: the robots, he suggests, might de-
from southern India in the midst of far physical pain. Humans, he says, may have cide to keep people around as pets.
messier realities in Kashmir. Along the
way, the story challenges Indian taboos
Staff books
ranging from sex to politics.
Trust Exercise. By Susan Choi. Henry Holt; Giant leaps
272 pages; $27. Serpent’s Tail; £14.99
The title of this tricksy, beguiling novel,
winner of a National Book Award, refers to This year our writers went to the Moon and back
the relationship between writer and read-
Genesis. By Geoffrey Carr. Elsewhen Press; “Engrossing”, reckoned the Washington
er, as well as to the bonding exercises
285 pages; £9.99 Post. By our briefings editor.
undertaken by the theatre students in the
Our science editor’s debut novel is a
story—and to the trust between teenage Uncommon Knowledge: The Economist
techno-thriller in which computerised
girls and predatory men. A tale of missed Explains. Edited by Tom Standage. Econo-
devices suddenly go haywire; scientists
connections and manipulation, and of mist Books; 272 pages; $11.99 and £8.99
and researchers perish in a string of
willing surrender to the lure and peril of A compendium of our explainer articles
mysterious accidents; and a billionaire
the unknown. and daily charts, which spell out why
inventor schemes to colonise Mars.
Americans are sleeping more, why the
Black Sun. By Owen Matthews. Doubleday; Meanwhile, deep in the Cloud, some-
global suicide rate is falling and why
320 pages; $26.95. Bantam Press; £16.99 one—or something—is watching the
carrots were not always orange. Com-
Based on real events—the bid by Andrei havoc unfold.
piled by one of our deputy editors.
Sakharov to develop a bomb to end all
Extreme Economies. By Richard Davies.
bombs—this story is set in a secret Soviet Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 416 pages; $28.
city in 1961. Featuring murder and betray- By Tim Wigmore and Freddie Wilde. Polaris;
Bantam Press; £20
als, and a flawed but principled kgb man 320 pages; $28.95 and £17.99
An exploration of the lessons to be drawn
as its hero, it unfolds in the aftermath of Through dozens of interviews with
from disaster-stricken economies and
Stalinism, amid the scars left by the players and executives, Mr Wigmore, a
imperilled (but innovative) people,
purges, denunciations and Great Patriotic frequent contributor on sport, and his
which ranges from the jungles of Panama
War. The prolific author (see Biography), a co-author show how the shortened
to post-tsunami Indonesia to the prison
former Moscow correspondent, knows his Twenty20 format has transformed crick-
system of Louisiana and Syrian refugee
terrain inside out. et for an age of globalisation and big data.
camps. By a former economics editor,
The New Statesman called it “a lucid and
now at the London School of Economics.
thoughtful guide”.
Science and technology The House on the Hill. By Christopher
Impey. Tangerine Press; 215 pages; £14
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warm- This history of Brixton prison (now 200
ing. By David Wallace-Wells. Tim Duggan years old) recalls the stints behind its
Books; 320 pages; $27. Allen Lane; £20 bars of Mick Jagger, Oswald Mosley and
One of the most persuasive of the many Bertrand Russell, and chronicles its place
books that spell out the consequences of in criminal-justice policy, from tread-
climate change—and one of the most mills to rehabilitation schemes. By a
terrifying. As Earth moves beyond the senior producer on “The Intelligence”,
conditions that allowed people to evolve, our daily podcast, who was formerly
the author warns, “the end of normal” has editor of National Prison Radio.
arrived. Yet amid the rising seas, floods,
The Moon: A History for the Future.
fires, droughts and hurricanes, both cur-
By Oliver Morton. Hachette; 352 pages;
rent and impending, he remains optimis-
$16.99. Economist Books; £20
tic about humanity’s ability to deal with
A multifaceted account of humankind’s
the havoc it has caused.
past relationship with the Moon—from
The New Rules of War: Victory in the Age of the imaginings of artists to the Apollo
Durable Disorder. By Sean McFate. William missions—and of its possible future,
Morrow; 336 pages; $29.99 from space tourism to Moon-mining and
A former paratrooper and mercenary (perhaps) human settlement. “Brilliant
makes the case that the American armed and compelling”, said the Sunday Times.
forces are ill-equipped for the conflicts of
Property 83

Tenders
84
Economic & financial indicators The Economist December 7th 2019

Economic data

Gross domestic product Consumer prices Unemployment Current-account Budget Interest rates Currency units
% change on year ago % change on year ago rate balance balance 10-yr gov't bonds change on per $ % change
latest quarter* 2019† latest 2019† % % of GDP, 2019† % of GDP, 2019† latest,% year ago, bp Dec 4th on year ago
United States 2.1 Q3 2.1 2.2 1.8 Oct 1.8 3.6 Oct -2.4 -4.8 1.8 -135 -
China 6.0 Q3 6.1 6.1 3.8 Oct 2.7 3.6 Q3§ 1.5 -4.3 3.0 §§ -12.0 7.07 -3.3
Japan 1.3 Q3 0.2 1.0 0.2 Oct 0.9 2.4 Oct 3.2 -2.9 -0.1 -19.0 109 3.9
Britain 1.0 Q3 1.2 1.2 1.5 Oct 1.8 3.8 Aug†† -4.2 -2.1 0.8 -64.0 0.76 4.0
Canada 1.7 Q3 1.3 1.6 1.9 Oct 1.9 5.5 Oct -2.3 -0.9 1.5 -63.0 1.32 nil
Euro area 1.2 Q3 0.9 1.2 1.0 Nov 1.2 7.5 Oct 3.1 -1.1 -0.3 -57.0 0.90 -2.2
Austria 1.5 Q3 -0.7 1.5 1.1 Oct 1.5 4.6 Oct 1.7 0.1 -0.1 -61.0 0.90 -2.2
Belgium 1.6 Q3 1.7 1.3 0.4 Nov 1.3 5.6 Oct -0.1 -1.6 nil -82.0 0.90 -2.2
France 1.4 Q3 1.1 1.3 1.0 Nov 1.3 8.5 Oct -0.7 -3.2 nil -66.0 0.90 -2.2
Germany 0.5 Q3 0.3 0.5 1.1 Nov 1.3 3.1 Oct 6.6 0.5 -0.3 -57.0 0.90 -2.2
Greece 1.9 Q2 3.4 1.9 -0.7 Oct 0.6 16.7 Aug -2.5 0.4 1.6 -265 0.90 -2.2
Italy 0.3 Q3 0.2 0.2 0.4 Nov 0.6 9.7 Oct 2.9 -2.2 1.4 -178 0.90 -2.2
Netherlands 1.9 Q3 1.8 1.7 2.7 Oct 2.7 4.3 Oct 9.6 0.6 -0.2 -66.0 0.90 -2.2
Spain 2.0 Q3 1.7 2.1 0.4 Nov 0.9 14.2 Oct 0.8 -2.3 0.5 -103 0.90 -2.2
Czech Republic 3.4 Q3 1.5 2.6 2.7 Oct 2.8 2.2 Oct‡ 0.5 0.2 1.5 -54.0 23.1 -1.0
Denmark 2.1 Q3 1.3 2.1 0.6 Oct 0.8 3.7 Oct 7.8 1.6 -0.3 -52.0 6.74 -2.5
Norway 1.3 Q3 0.1 1.0 1.8 Oct 2.2 3.9 Sep‡‡ 5.4 6.5 1.4 -41.0 9.16 -7.3
Poland 4.2 Q3 5.3 4.0 2.6 Nov 2.2 5.0 Oct§ -0.7 -2.0 2.0 -106 3.86 -2.3
Russia 1.7 Q3 na 1.1 3.8 Oct 4.5 4.6 Oct§ 6.2 2.3 6.5 -221 63.9 4.2
Sweden 1.7 Q3 1.1 1.2 1.6 Oct 1.8 6.0 Oct§ 3.5 0.4 nil -48.0 9.51 -5.3
Switzerland 1.1 Q3 1.6 0.8 -0.1 Nov 0.4 2.3 Oct 10.2 0.5 -0.6 -55.0 0.99 1.0
Turkey 0.9 Q3 na -0.3 10.6 Nov 14.8 14.0 Aug§ -0.2 -2.9 11.9 -478 5.75 -6.3
Australia 1.7 Q3 1.8 1.6 1.7 Q3 1.6 5.3 Oct 0.1 0.1 1.1 -147 1.46 -6.8
Hong Kong -2.9 Q3 -12.1 -0.3 3.1 Oct 3.0 3.1 Oct‡‡ 4.4 0.1 1.6 -64.0 7.83 -0.4
India 4.5 Q3 4.5 4.9 4.6 Oct 3.4 7.5 Nov -1.8 -3.9 6.5 -111 71.5 -1.4
Indonesia 5.0 Q3 na 5.1 3.0 Nov 3.1 5.3 Q3§ -2.2 -2.0 7.1 -62.0 14,105 1.3
Malaysia 4.4 Q3 na 4.5 1.1 Oct 0.8 3.3 Sep§ 3.1 -3.5 3.4 -65.0 4.18 -0.7
Pakistan 3.3 2019** na 3.3 12.7 Nov 9.8 5.8 2018 -3.5 -8.9 11.3 ††† -119 155 -11.3
Philippines 6.2 Q3 6.6 5.7 1.3 Nov 2.3 4.5 Q4§ -1.3 -3.2 4.6 -240 51.0 3.0
Singapore 0.5 Q3 2.1 0.5 0.4 Oct 0.6 2.3 Q3 14.3 -0.3 1.7 -58.0 1.36 nil
South Korea 2.0 Q3 1.7 1.8 0.2 Nov 0.4 3.0 Oct§ 3.0 0.6 1.7 -44.0 1,194 -7.4
Taiwan 3.0 Q3 2.4 2.5 0.4 Oct 0.5 3.7 Oct 12.0 -1.0 0.7 -25.0 30.5 0.7
Thailand 2.4 Q3 0.4 2.4 0.2 Nov 0.7 1.0 Oct§ 6.0 -2.8 1.4 -96.0 30.3 7.9
Argentina 0.6 Q2 -1.3 -3.3 50.5 Oct‡ 53.7 10.6 Q2§ -1.4 -4.3 11.3 562 59.9 -38.0
Brazil 1.2 Q3 2.5 0.8 2.5 Oct 3.6 11.6 Oct§‡‡ -1.9 -5.8 4.7 -330 4.19 -8.6
Chile 3.3 Q3 3.0 1.8 2.5 Oct 2.4 7.0 Oct§‡‡ -1.5 -1.7 3.4 -105 793 -15.8
Colombia 3.3 Q3 2.3 3.1 3.9 Oct 3.5 9.8 Oct§ -4.4 -2.5 6.1 -82.0 3,482 -8.8
Mexico -0.3 Q3 0.1 0.1 3.0 Oct 3.6 3.6 Oct -1.1 -2.7 7.1 -202 19.5 5.3
Peru 3.0 Q3 2.9 2.6 1.9 Nov 2.1 6.7 Oct§ -2.1 -2.0 5.6 64.0 3.38 nil
Egypt 5.6 Q3 na 5.6 3.1 Oct 8.4 7.8 Q3§ -0.8 -7.0 na nil 16.1 11.1
Israel 4.1 Q3 4.1 3.2 0.4 Oct 0.9 3.4 Oct 2.4 -3.9 0.8 -162 3.47 7.5
Saudi Arabia 2.4 2018 na 1.0 -0.3 Oct -1.2 5.6 Q2 1.9 -6.0 na nil 3.75 nil
South Africa 0.1 Q3 -0.6 0.6 3.7 Oct 4.2 29.1 Q3§ -3.9 -5.9 8.4 -50.0 14.6 -6.1
Source: Haver Analytics. *% change on previous quarter, annual rate. †The Economist Intelligence Unit estimate/forecast. §Not seasonally adjusted. ‡New series. **Year ending June. ††Latest 3 months. ‡‡3-month moving
average. §§5-year yield. †††Dollar-denominated bonds.

Markets Commodities
% change on: % change on:
Index one Dec 31st index one Dec 31st
The Economist commodity-price index % change on
In local currency Dec 4th week 2018 Dec 4th week 2018 2015=100 Nov 26th Dec 3rd* month year
United States S&P 500 3,112.8 -1.3 24.2 Pakistan KSE 40,270.5 5.6 8.6 Dollar Index
United States NAScomp 8,566.7 -1.6 29.1 Singapore STI 3,159.8 -1.7 3.0 All Items 111.2 111.2 nil 6.7
China Shanghai Comp 2,878.1 -0.9 15.4 South Korea KOSPI 2,068.9 -2.8 1.4 Food 97.7 98.5 1.6 6.4
China Shenzhen Comp 1,608.5 0.4 26.9 Taiwan TWI 11,510.5 -1.2 18.3 Industrials
Japan Nikkei 225 23,135.2 -1.3 15.6 Thailand SET 1,565.5 -2.6 0.1 All 123.8 123.0 -1.2 6.9
Japan Topix 1,703.3 -0.5 14.0 Argentina MERV 34,691.6 2.2 14.5 Non-food agriculturals 98.9 99.0 2.1 -10.0
Britain FTSE 100 7,188.5 -3.2 6.8 Brazil BVSP 110,300.9 2.4 25.5 Metals 131.2 130.2 -2.0 11.6
Canada S&P TSX 16,897.3 -1.2 18.0 Mexico IPC 42,191.9 -2.0 1.3
Sterling Index
Euro area EURO STOXX 50 3,660.0 -1.4 21.9 Egypt EGX 30 13,635.5 -0.9 4.6
All items 132.2 130.6 -1.0 4.5
France CAC 40 5,799.7 -2.1 22.6 Israel TA-125 1,600.7 -1.0 20.1
Germany DAX* 13,140.6 -1.1 24.4 Saudi Arabia Tadawul 7,871.2 0.2 0.6 Euro Index
Italy FTSE/MIB 23,034.2 -1.9 25.7 South Africa JSE AS 55,022.9 -2.0 4.3 All items 111.9 111.3 -0.1 9.2
Netherlands AEX 591.0 -1.2 21.1 World, dev'd MSCI 2,275.5 -1.2 20.8 Gold
Spain IBEX 35 9,270.8 -1.0 8.6 Emerging markets MSCI 1,036.6 -1.6 7.3 $ per oz 1,459.7 1,478.8 -0.4 19.4
Poland WIG 56,123.7 -3.0 -2.7
Brent
Russia RTS, $ terms 1,430.0 -0.8 34.1
$ per barrel 63.9 61.2 -2.8 -1.5
Switzerland SMI 10,334.6 -1.8 22.6 US corporate bonds, spread over Treasuries
Turkey BIST 107,701.3 1.8 18.0 Dec 31st Sources: Bloomberg; CME Group; Cotlook; Datastream from Refinitiv;
Australia All Ord. 6,714.4 -3.4 17.6 Basis points latest 2018 Fastmarkets; FT; ICCO; ICO; ISO; Live Rice Index; LME; NZ Wool
Services; Thompson Lloyd & Ewart; Urner Barry; WSJ. *Provisional.
Hong Kong Hang Seng 26,062.6 -3.3 0.8 Investment grade 155 190
India BSE 40,850.3 -0.4 13.3 High-yield 511 571
Indonesia IDX 6,112.9 1.5 -1.3 Sources: Datastream from Refinitiv; Standard & Poor's Global Fixed For more countries and additional data, visit
Malaysia KLSE 1,560.9 -1.7 -7.7 Income Research. *Total return index. Economist.com/indicators
Graphic detail Britain’s election The Economist December 7th 2019 85

The Liberal Democrats could win seats directly from the Tories, but hurt Labour in Conservative-Labour marginals

England and Wales, general election 2019 YouGov projection Based on current forecasts the Conservatives
are expected to win a 68-seat majority
2017 result 2019 projection Projected three-party Changes from 2017
vote share, %
Conservative seat gain
100

←M
Lib Dem seat gain 2019 projection

ore
Lib
326 seats for majority

De
m
20 Con 359 Lab 211 Lib Dem 13 Others 67
80
This upward sweep
shows surging Lib Dem
support in Tory seats, If the Lib Dem vote surges to 23%, gained equally
Liberal
Democrat but not enough to make from all parties, the Tory majority is 28 seats
win big seat gains given
40

60 the Lib Dems’ current Changes from 2017

There are few Labour- national vote share
Lib Dem marginal seats.
Labour is expected to St Albans
2019 projection
lose vote share to the
Conservatives Sheffield Hallam
60

Lib 41, Lab 33, Con 26 326 seats

40
Con 339 Lab 199 Lib Dem 42 Others 70
Kensington

If this surge draws heavily from Remainers backing

80

20
ur

Labour reluctantly, the Tories get a 42-seat majority

o
Lab

Changes from 2017

ore
←M
100

Labour win Conservative win 2019 projection

0
20

40

60

80

100
0

More Conservative → 326 seats

The Conservatives currently lead in
the bulk of Labour-Tory marginals,
Con 346 Lab 193 Lib Dem 40 Others 71
thanks partly to Lib Dem gains Sources: Electoral Commission; British Election Study; YouGov;
Chris Hanretty, Political Studies Review, 2019; The Economist

Yellow submarine and 13% of Remain-supporting Labourites.

This has doubled the Lib Dems’ vote
live in each constituency, to determine the
seat-by-seat impact of a Lib Dem surge.
share, from 7% in 2017 to 14% in YouGov’s In terms of winning seats in England for
poll. But it may not yield many new seats, themselves, the Lib Dems pose a serious
because Lib Dem voters are spread out geo- threat only to the Tories. There are 13 seats
graphically. YouGov matched personal data in which those two parties are the front-
from respondents with the demography of runners and are separated by a single-digit
If the Lib Dems surge, they could hurt
each constituency to estimate voting re- margin. Between the Lib Dems and Labour,
the Tories as much as Labour
sults in every seat. The Lib Dems come first the only close fight is in Sheffield Hallam.
in just 13. However, the Lib Dems could still hurt
P erhaps the only view shared by Brit-
ain’s big parties is that backing the Lib-
eral Democrats is a dire risk. “A vote for the
Jo Swinson’s party has fallen back in re-
cent polls. However, late surges are com-
Labour, by taking votes from the left-wing
party and letting the Tories sneak through.
Lib Dems gets you Brexit,” Labour warns. “A mon in British elections, particularly when This is especially likely in Tory-Labour
vote for the Lib Dems risks putting Corbyn tactical voting is widespread. How might marginals in the north and Midlands.
in Downing Street,” claim the Tories. the race change if the Lib Dems approach Which of these two effects is larger de-
Both sides cannot be right. However, the 23% vote share they won in 2010? pends on tactical voting. We explored two
survey data of 100,000 Britons from You- To find an answer, we scaled up their endings for our hypothetical scenario: one
Gov, a pollster, imply that both parties are popularity in every constituency to reach a in which Lib Dems surge uniformly, and
wrong. Because the Lib Dems have pulled scenario in which their national vote share one in which they disproportionately rally
votes equally from their two rivals, further was 23%. First, we grouped Britons based in seats where their former supporters
growth in their support would probably on their Brexit vote and whom they sup- have reluctantly flipped to Labour, hoping
cost both Labour and the Tories seats. ported at the last general election—for ex- to prevent a hard Conservative Brexit.
With Labour neutral on Brexit, the Lib ample, Leavers who voted Lib Dem in 2017. If the swing is uniform, the Tories will
Dems are the main national pro-Remain According to YouGov, just 30% of these lose out most, with perhaps 25 seats going
party. Voters have noticed. YouGov’s data people plan to stick with the Lib Dems. To from blue to yellow. If tactical Labour vot-
show that the few Leavers who backed the get to a national share of 23%, the party ers flock back to the Lib Dems, it will be Je-
Lib Dems in 2017 largely plan to defect. But would need its support in this category to remy Corbyn who suffers more. But in both
the party should pick up a fifth of the Re- double. Next, we estimated how many vot- cases, late gains for Britain’s third party
mainers who voted Conservative last time, ers in each group (such as Labour Leavers) would leave the main two worse off. 7
86
Obituary Jonathan Miller The Economist December 7th 2019

and put them in a circle, in their own clothes, acting out the drama;
his film of “The Symposium”, called “The Drinking Party”, put the
actors into dinner jackets as old boys at a school reunion, reading
Plato’s discourse on love in one of the temples at Stowe.
All those were great successes, cementing his reputation as the
most brilliant mind on the British cultural scene, and yet even then
he agonised over why he was doing this. He had meant to be a doc-
tor, specifically a neurologist. Instead, probably out of weak-mind-
edness, he always said “yes” whenever anyone turned up at his
door and asked if he would like to play. (It was almost involuntary,
like blushing or sneezing, and he could never identify the point at
which the conscious exercise of intention occurred.) The first of
these accidents happened when he was lured away from his medi-
cal training by three Cambridge friends, Alan Bennett, Peter Cook
and Dudley Moore, to write and perform in “Beyond the Fringe” in
1960, a revue which pilloried everything the English held dear,
from the Battle of Britain to tea to Shakespeare. After this had elec-
trified both London and New York, it was hard to go back to hospi-
tal work. But he would have done, had he not been invited to direct
a play at the Royal Court…then to direct opera for Sadler’s Well-
s…then to the National Theatre…and so it went. He fell into work as
he fell into long-lasting love, accidentally.
Yet he should have stayed intentionally with medicine. First,
because what he was doing was ephemeral, even when his “Rigo-
letto” and his “Mikado”(translated to the Marx Brothers’ Fredonia,
and with the Japanese stripped out) were both in the repertoire for
decades. By contrast, originality in medicine could bring lasting
Intention and accident benefit. And second, because in science one was either right or
wrong, and one’s work was peer-reviewed by people who at least
knew the topic. Instead he had to put up with critics, snivelling
pipsqueaks who knew 100% less than he did about the piece in
question but whined that he was messing it around. When they
called him a polymath, a term he loathed, they really meant he was
Jonathan Miller, alternately pillar and goad of the British
a jack of all trades and master of none. What idiot invertebrates
cultural scene, died on November 27th, aged 85
they all were, like the sea slugs he had collected as a boy and then

W henever he erupted onto a set or into a studio, Jonathan

Miller made an instant impression. Part came from his
height and gawkiness, the tweed jacket, the excessively angular el-
had the greatest pleasure dissecting and slicing for his micro-
scope. God (though it had never occurred to him that there might
be a God) could rot the lot of them.
bows and knees (since the body was not only possesssed by him As some consolation, he could bring his medical expertise to
but also possessed him, making up a large part of what he actually bear on art. For the bbc he produced a television series, “The Body
was, including his notions of effort and success). But he also drew in Question”, in which among a firework display of observations
attention because, as often as not, he had a book of neuroscience he compared red blood cells clotting to Duchamp’s “Nude descend-
in his hand. ing a staircase” and the movement of cilia on cells to Van Gogh’s
The point he was making was this. Science was hard, and need- “Wheatfield with Lark”. His radio series on madness featured the
ed constant application. But the sort of thing he spent five decades voices of both experts and those being treated. In opera, too, he ap-
doing, putting on plays, making television documentaries, direct- plied the knowledge gained from listening to, and watching, pa-
ing more than 50 operas, he could achieve with his left hand be- tients. In “La Traviata” he asked Violetta to twist her hair as she
hind his back. Art was easy, ridiculously so. Most television was ut- sang, another almost involuntary gesture, and strictly made her
ter banality; most opera forgettable, vulgar and sentimental. So it stay in bed for her death aria. It was a full-time business, dying.
took very little originality to make them memorable. He liked to in-
voke the psychologists’ duck-rabbit sketch, in which the seeing of The incremental world
the duck precluded the alternative seeing of the rabbit, and vice England he found difficult, with its snobberies and condescen-
versa; to bring to the fore “aspects” of a work, as Wittgenstein said, sions. His knighthood (though of course he said yes to it, weakly, as
that had previously been invisible, so that audiences would per- ever) made him shrivel up. He could have lived in New York, where
ceive it in a completely different way. he briefly worked for the New Yorker and where, for the first time,
For the bbc in 1966, for example, he turned “Alice in Wonder- he felt Jewish. But he stayed put, moving all of a mile from Park
land”, which had been horribly Disneyfied, into a Victorian child’s Crescent nw1, where he was born, to Gloucester Crescent nw1, with
dream of a hot Oxford summer in which all the characters were Alan Bennett over the road. He lived among countless books, the
prating or dozing dons. That was what the story was about: Oxford, notebooks in which he recorded his curiosity about everything,
childhood. (People who said it was Freudian clearly knew nothing and his photographs of bits of buildings and superimposed layers
about Freud.) In 1982 he set Verdi’s “Rigoletto” in Little Italy in New of posters on walls, the discrete instalments from which his per-
York, with mobsters swaggering and “La Donna è Mobile” kicked ception of the world incrementally emerged.
out of a jukebox, because Verdi’s duke was clearly a hoodlum too, Did all this add up to a triumphant life? Many would have
and the atmosphere that of “The Godfather”. His “Così fan Tutte” in thought so. In moments of relaxation and satisfaction he would
1995 had costumes by Armani, huge mirrors and mobile phones, a rock his long frame back and clasp his hands behind his head. But
comment on the narcissism of the modern age. His “St Matthew Wittgenstein’s nagging question remained: exactly what made the
Passion” took the performers out of their tuxedos and inert choirs difference between “I lift my arms,” and “My arms go up”? 7
Hosted by

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Speakers on stage at the World Trade Symposium 2019

Peter Navarro, Director of the Office of Caroline Freund, Global Director of Gerald Sun, vice-president, Mastercard:
Trade and Manufacturing Policy: Trade, Investment and Competitiveness, “Harmonisation has been difficult
“The mere threat of tariffs can serve as a World Bank: because most of the [standards] bodies
useful tactical tool to provide negotiating “It’s very important the goods move that we find in trade operate vertically
leverage.” quickly and predictably in a global value within their industries.”
chain. The next stage in production is
going to be waiting for that good and a
delay is money.”

Last month senior leaders from the world trade community came together at the fourth
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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trade dispute was a recurring theme throughout the event. Important discussions click the link.
followed, about the practicalities of using real technology to tackle the inefficiencies and
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