| Hello from France.
It’s the eve of Bastille Day. France’s holidays are beginning. The country is bathed in glorious sunshine and its beaches, cafés and marinas are packed. Or, if you prefer, the poor French are enduring a ferocious heatwave that will bring more wildfires and suffering. Because I’m an optimist (a rational one), I see plenty to feel positive about.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, paid a state visit to Britain last week—the first by any EU leader since the regrettable Brexit-referendum result nearly a decade ago. Thank goodness. I’m not usually much fussed about pomp and ceremony, but I’m pleased to see relations growing more cordial between these European democracies. In turn, Britain should be able to work more closely with the whole of the EU. (I hear, incidentally, a rumour that King Charles was terribly anxious to have someone, even the French, pay a state visit in advance of Donald Trump’s expected one this autumn.)
France and Britain have agreed to co-ordinate how they would deploy nuclear weapons in the face of a Russian threat. That’s welcome, indeed essential, in a world where America is becoming a less trustworthy ally. France and Britain have even struck a modest deal to allow Britain to send some asylum-seekers who cross the English Channel in small boats back to France. When Britain was in the EU that was relatively easy to do: with Brexit it became all but impossible. Give Sir Keir Starmer some credit for his foreign-policy efforts, even if his domestic and economic ones don’t yet amount to much.
Here’s another surprisingly positive turn of events. Last week we reported—exclusively, as tabloids like to say—that Britain and Argentina are also, for now secretly, restoring their defence ties. The idea is for Argentina to be able to co-ordinate with NATO powers, such as Britain, in patrolling the South Atlantic, especially as China becomes more active there. As someone who has a vivid memory of the Falklands war between Britain and Argentina in 1982, I find this a striking and encouraging change.
We have more upbeat news to report. One of our more eye-catching stories in the past week considered whether companies suffer when their staff work from home. In particular, we asked if workplace culture, meaning values and standards that are fostered in part by in-person conversations and spontaneous meetings in the office, is damaged by WFH. I found the article truly encouraging—and not only because I’m WFF (working from France) for a few days. I suggest you read it, especially if you also need to justify some remote toil.
Finally, if you bought shares in Nvidia a few years ago, you must be chuckling smugly these days. The chipmaker has become a colossus, worth a hard-to-credit $4trn. As we explain in a new article, demand from governments for “sovereign AI” could be come a big source of growth for Nvidia. Its new customers are preparing to spend vast sums of money, but it may not bring them the benefits they expect.
Thank you for all of your comments on Elon Musk’s proposed America Party, which he claims could be a third political force. Quite a few of you, including Josselien Janssens, Albert Assely and Anthony Lanier, note that many voters are so fed up with the dominant two parties that they yearn to support some other outfit. But it seems that almost nobody expects Mr Musk to succeed. Indeed, my favourite response this week came from Karen Arrandale, who asks if “what we’re witnessing is Peak Musk”. As Karen observes, “pretty much nothing he’s done lately has had any positive effect whatever, and certainly not on his reputation. Loadsamoney but what else?”
For next week, I’d welcome your thoughts on working from home: is remote working something to celebrate, or a scourge that is cutting us off from one another even more than before? Write to me at economisttoday@economist.com. |
