The Economist The next catastrophe (and how to survive it)

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From: The Economist this week - Thursday Jun 25, 2020 05:33 pm
   
June 25th 2020 Read in browser
   
  The Economist this week  
 
  Highlights from the latest issue  
   
 
     
  cover-image   
     
  Our cover this week looks at global catastrophes and how to survive them. Covid-19 offers a tragic example. Virologists, epidemiologists and ecologists have warned for decades of the dangers of a flu-like disease spilling over from wild animals. But when SARS-CoV-2 began to spread, very few countries had the winning combination of practical plans, the kit those plans required and the bureaucratic capacity to enact them. Low-probability, high-impact events, such as volcanic eruptions, massive solar flares and, yes, more pandemics are a fact of life. Individual humans look to governments for protection and, if they can afford it, to insurers. Humanity, at least as represented by the world’s governments, reveals instead a preference to ignore the risk until forced to react—even when foresight’s price-tag is small. It is an abdication of responsibility and a betrayal of the future.

 
 
  Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-In-Chief  
     
 
  Editor’s picks  
 
  Must-reads from the current edition  
 
 
 
Short-selling
The markets need more sceptics

Wirecard shows the benefits of winkling out uncomfortable news
Leaders
 
 
 
Into darkness
Israel weighs the future of the West Bank

Talk of annexation shows how badly the peace process has failed
Middle East and Africa
 
 
 
Like a ton of bricks
Is investors’ love affair with commercial property ending?

After covid-19 the investment world will become more discriminating
Finance and economics
 
 
 
Nukes in Nevada
Will America resume nuclear testing?

Its 28-year moratorium on setting off nukes is looking shakier than ever
United States
 
 
 
Walk on by
Donald Trump is not the only leader who fails to stand up for the Uighurs

China oppresses Muslims; the world changes the subject
China
 
 
 
Schumpeter
Live-streaming will change rock ’n’ roll for the better

How to raise live music from the dead
Business
 
 
 
Citius, Altius, Fortnite
Why the next Olympics should include e-sports

If dressage and curling are Olympic sports, why not video games?
Leaders
 
 
  The world this week
  
     
  Some states in the South and West of the United States recorded their biggest daily rise in cases of covid-19, bringing America’s total to over 2.3m. The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, urged people to stay indoors. He also declared that the state remained “wide open for business”. California recorded new highs in hospital admissions. Connecticut, New Jersey and New York are to quarantine visitors from states that are covid hotspots.
  
     
  More from politics this week  
     
  Apple said it would start offering desktop and laptop computers powered by chips designed in-house, rather than those from Intel, its current supplier. The chips, derived from designs by ARM, which is based in Britain, will be similar to those that already power its smartphones and tablets. Apple hopes that the ability to run software across multiple devices might boost sales of its Mac computers.
  
     
  More from business this week  
     
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Sea of troubles
Covid-19 has led to a pandemic of plastic pollution

As the world produces more protective equipment—and gorges on takeaways—pity the oceans
 
 
  From Economist Films  
 
 
 
Film
Covid-19: what you need to know about the second wave

The world faces the threat of a second wave of coronavirus outbreaks. Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, and Slavea Chankova, our health-care correspondent, answer your questions
 
 
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