A New Problem

How do we avoid future authoritarians? Winning back the working class is key

Date: 25‑11‑2020

Source: The Guardian by Bernie Sanders

A segment of working‑class people in our country still believes Donald Trump defends their interests. We must win them over

‘Democrats’ job during the first 100 days of the Biden administration is to make it absolutely clear whose side they are on.’

As the count currently stands, nearly 80 million Americans voted for Joe Biden. With this vote against the authoritarian bigotry of Donald Trump, the world can breathe a collective sigh of relief.

But the election results did also reveal something that should be a cause for concern. Trump received 11 million more votes than he did in 2016, increasing his support in many distressed communities – where unemployment and poverty are high, healthcare and childcare are inadequate, and people are hurting the most.

A Triumph of German Innovation and Immigration

Date: 25‑11‑2020

Source: Project Syndicate by Hans‑Werner Sinn

Hans‑Werner Sinn, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Munich, is a former president of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research and serves on the German economy ministry’s Advisory Council. He is the author, most recently, of The Euro Trap: On Bursting Bubbles, Budgets, and Beliefs.

 BioNTech’s new‑model RNA‑based vaccine has emerged as the leading contender to bring an end to the COVID‑19 pandemic, possibly within the coming year. Pioneered by a Turkish‑German couple whose parents immigrated to Germany in the 1960s, the breakthrough’s symbolic importance matches its practical value.

MUNICH – The world took note when the German start‑up BioNTech announced its breakthrough in the development of a new type of vaccine to combat COVID‑19. After testing tens of thousands of people, BioNTech’s vaccine has been shown to be 95% effective in providing protection for those who would otherwise have been infected. The company was the first to apply for emergency use authorization for a coronavirus vaccine in the United States, and it has announced that it will soon take similar steps in Europe.

Europe’s Faustian Bargain

Date: 24‑11‑2020

Source: Project Syndicate by Melvyn Krauss

Melvyn Krauss is a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. 

Lost behind the news of the European Union’s budget and recovery fund is a long‑awaited improvement in the eurozone’s internal balance. The convergence between north and south is such an important development that it is likely to take precedence over guaranteeing member states‘ adherence to the rule of law.

NEW YORK – The second wave of COVID‑19 infections has struck Europe harder than many expected. The hope of a V‑shaped recovery has been replaced by the fear of a double‑dip recession, implying that there will be no quick return to normal European Union budget rules. More worryingly, Europe now finds itself forced into a tradeoff between two objectives, both of which are critical to its long‑term viability as a supranational political and economic bloc. Now more than ever, the EU’s commitment to the rule of law appears to be on the chopping block.

A Tale of Two Economies

Date: 24‑11‑2020

Source: Project Syndicate by Stephen S. Roach

Stephen S. Roach, a faculty member at Yale University and former Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, is the author of Unbalanced: The Codependency of America and China. 

As financial markets celebrate the coming vaccine‑led boom, the confluence of epidemiological and political aftershocks has pushed us back into a quagmire of heightened economic vulnerability. In Dickensian terms, to reach a “spring of hope,” we first must endure a “winter of despair.”

NEW HAVEN – Suddenly, there is a credible case for a vaccine‑led economic recovery. Modern science has delivered what must certainly be one of the greatest miracles of my long lifetime. Just as COVID‑19 dragged the world economy into the sharpest and deepest recession on record, an equally powerful symmetry on the upside now seems possible.

If only it were that easy. With COVID‑19 still raging – and rates of infection, hospitalization, and death now spiraling out of control (again) – the near‑term risks to economic activity have tipped decidedly to the downside in the United States and Europe. The combination of pandemic fatigue and the politicization of public health practices has come into play at precisely the moment when the long anticipated second wave of COVID‑19 is at hand.

IST DIESMAL WIRKLICH ALLES ANDERS?

FURCHE-Kolumne 306  , Wilfried Stadler

Der zweite Lockdown führt nicht nur in Österreich, sondern in ganz Europa zu parteilichen Verhärtungen und voreiligen Schuldzuweisungen. Den politischen Rettungskräften werden permanent „Triagen“ zwischen gesundheitlichen, sozialen und wirtschaftlichen Zielsetzungen abverlangt. Kaum irgendwo ist unstrittig, wie weit die jeweiligen Einschränkungen gehen sollen oder dürfen.

Anders verhält es sich – von wenigen Ausnahmen wie Finnland einmal abgesehen – meist nur in Staaten, deren Erfolge mit Methoden erzielt werden, die wir aus guten demokratiepolitischen Gründen nicht einsetzen wollen. Die so dringend gefragten einvernehmlichen Strategien wird es deshalb wohl erst geben, wenn wir uns mit einer deutlich verbesserten Streitkultur darum bemühen.

How a Collective Infrastructure Push Will Boost Global Growth

November 24, 2020, IMF Blog

 With vaccines around the corner, there is increased hope that the pandemic could soon be under better control. That said, the need for cooperative efforts to work toward a better future has never been greater. Priority areas relate to the need to produce and distribute vaccines globally, tackle climate change, and bolster the economic recovery from the crisis.

An IMF report published ahead of the G20 leaders meeting argues that a synchronized infrastructure investment push could invigorate growth, limit scarring, and address climate goals. In fact, when many countries act at the same time, public infrastructure investment could help lift growth domestically and abroad through trade linkages. This positive “spillover” effect could provide an additional boost to global output.

Here we go again: Europe’s double‑dip downturn

Date: 23‑11‑2020

Source: The Economist

Today’s IHS Markit eurozone purchasing‑managers’ indices are likely to confirm the downward trend in European economic activity that began last month.

Measures to contain a second surge in covid‑19 infections have forced many businesses in the bloc’s dominant service sector to limit operations. The damage caused by the second wave of lockdowns is expected to be less severe than that of the first.

Unlike in the spring, schools, factories and shops remain open in Germany and other countries. However, the region is still on track for its first double‑dip recession in nearly a decade, which few economists had expected earlier this year.

Can American democracy survive Donald Trump?

Date: 22‑11‑2020

Source: The Guardian Sarah Churchwell

Lying, paranoia and conspiracy are defining features of a totalitarian society. What hope is there for a brand new era, in the aftermath of an administration that has relied on all three?

“IWON THE ELECTION!” Donald Trump tweeted in the early hours of 16 November 2020, 10 days after he lost the election. At the same time, Atlantic magazine announced an interview with Barack Obama, in which he warns that the US is “entering into an epistemological crisis” – a crisis of knowing. “If we do not have the capacity to distinguish what’s true from what’s false,” Obama explains, “by definition our democracy doesn’t work.” I saw the two assertions juxtaposed on Twitter as I was finishing writing this essay, and together they demonstrate its proposition: that American democracy is facing not merely a crisis in trust, but in knowledge itself, largely because language has become increasingly untethered from reality, as we find ourselves in a swirling maelstrom of lies, disinformation, paranoia and conspiracy theories.

Is this the beginning of an mRNA vaccine revolution?

Date: 23‑11‑2020

Source: The Guardian

No one knew whether mRNA technology would work against this virus – but it does. It’s an extraordinary moment for science

The past few months have brought a number of scientific terms to public attention. We’ve had to digest R (a virus’s reproduction number) and PCR (the polymerase chain reaction method of testing). And now there’s mRNA. This last one has featured heavily in recent news reports because of the spectacular results of two new mRNA vaccines against coronavirus. It stands for “messenger ribonucleic acid”, a label familiar enough if you studied biology at O‑level or GCSE, but otherwise hardly a household name. Even in the field of vaccine research, if you had said as recently as 10 years ago that you could protect people from infections by injecting them with mRNA, you would have provoked some puzzled looks.

The Biden Formula

Date: 21‑11‑2020

Source: Project Syndicate by Javier Solana

Javier Solana, a former EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, secretary‑general of NATO, and foreign minister of Spain, is President of EsadeGeo – Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics and Distinguished Fellow at the Brookings Institution. 

Just as US President‑elect Joe Biden has pledged to “build back better” to promote economic recovery, America also urgently needs to reinvent its international role. Doing this successfully will require an empathetic leader like Biden, who has always taken pride in his ability to navigate sensitive issues.

MADRID – There is an eternal debate about how much leadership and personality matter in international relations. But after the turbulence of the last four years, there can no longer be any doubt that a lot depends on who is at the helm, particularly in the United States. Moreover, as Harvard’s Joseph S. Nye convincingly argues – and contrary to what skeptics believe – foreign policy is not devoid of moral considerations. For both these reasons, the election of Joe Biden as America’s next president is excellent news for the world.