| Welcome to the newsletter highlighting The Economist’s best writing on the pandemic. We have three covers this week, on Google, migration and left-behind Britain.
In our American edition we report on Google’s mid-life crisis. Signs of ageing are apparent in Google’s maturing business, its changing culture and its ever-more-entwined relationship with government. How do companies sustain the creativity and agility that made them great, even as they forge a culture and corporate machine that is built to last?
In our Asian and European editions we look at the plight of migrants in the time of covid-19. Every country in the world has closed or partly closed its borders since the pandemic began. Yet when the coronavirus is vanquished, migration will still lift up the poor, rejuvenate rich countries and spread new ideas around the world. A pandemic is no reason to abandon it.
And in Britain we ask how to spread prosperity. Regional inequality is a worse problem in Britain than in any other rich country. Having won seats in left-behind areas in last year’s election, the ruling Conservative party needs to honour its promises to voters.
In our coverage of the pandemic 1843, our sister publication now featured on The Economist website, tells the story of doctors, nurses and paramedics in London as they fight the disease over three traumatic months. We also look at the prospects for immigration after infections subside—though our reports on the resurgence of the disease in parts of Asia and Europe suggest that this may yet be some time off. In Perspectives, our occasional series putting the pandemic in context, we explain how the history of economic expansion is partly a history of hand-washing. And, from Dubai, we write about a package holiday for the times, which includes the airfare, hotel—and funeral insurance.
Our mortality tracker uses the gap between the total number of people who have died from any cause and the historical average for the time of year to estimate how many deaths from the virus the official statistics are failing to pick up. We have also been focusing on the pandemic in Economist Radio and Economist Films. In Money Talks, our podcast on markets, the economy and business, we discuss how the monetary and fiscal response to covid-19 heralds a new era in macroeconomics. We are in full vacation season, but you’d better get away soon because the upsurge in infections is beginning to restrict travel once again. Happy holidays! |
