The Economist USA - 26.10.2019

16 The EconomistOctober 26th 2019

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Letters

A changing anti-Semitism

The question of whether criti-

cism of Israel can be disentan-

gled from anti-Semitism is an

empty one (Graphic detail,

October 12th). To criticise Israel

and its policies is perfectly

kosher. Every newspaper,

including in Israel, does it

every day. But saying things

like Israel is the greatest danger

to peace in the world, or that it

is an abnormality and should

be peacefully dissolved—

sentiments that were emailed

by German academics to the

Israeli embassy in Berlin—go

further than this and are

examples of the latest

incarnation of anti-Semitism.

There are limits to the

statistical examination of

anti-Semitism you wrote

about. To ask people on the

street what they think about

Jews produces doubtful results

and in the end leaves the

matter unexplained. Mixing

questions on attitudes towards

Jews with other issues only

causes confusion.

Anti-Semitism is a histori-

cal phenomenon, a negative

attitude towards Jews and

Judaism deeply rooted in

Western culture. Over the

centuries it has changed

themes, but remains basically

the same negative cultural

value. In the Middle Ages Jew-

hatred was mainly religious

(its answer to the “Jewish

Question” was conversion to

Christianity). In modern times

it became secular and adopted

racial tones. In the 20th cen-

tury, this came mostly from the

right of the political spectrum.

One reason for much of

today’s misunderstanding

about anti-Semitism is that it

is undergoing another

thematic change. A lot of

today’s Jew-hatred is directed

against the most evident

symbol of continuing Jewish

vitality: the state of Israel. And

much of this Israelisation of

Jew-hatred originates in the

centre-left and the left. The

anti-Semitic tropes uttered in

the British Labour Party are far

from being the exception.

professor monika schwarz-

friesel

Technical University of Berlin

Just three little words

The numbering of homes in

rural France needn’t rest on the

archaic logic of Napoleonic

systems (“The view from No

2027”, September 28th). The

baffling metric numbering

system used in French villages

could be remedied by using

What3Words. This app has

comprehensively mapped the

entire world by giving any

position on the planet a unique

three-word combination.

Recently deployed by delivery

drivers in Nigeria, it could also

be helpful in the somewhat

more Amazon-friendly terrain

of rural France.

Every philosopher has his

time and place. Perhaps the

days of relying solely on Carte-

sian address conventions are

numbered, ironically by

words.

tom bottomley

jonathan moon

Riga, Latvia

Religious dialogue

As you report, African

languages are spreading to

northern latitudes (“The other

African-Americans”, October

19th). Perhaps knowledge of

African linguistics should

spread, too. Another recent

article, on the pope in Africa,

describes a stand-off between

the pontiff and a Nigerian

diocese where a bishop-elect

was seen as an ethnic and

linguistic outsider (“Stony

ground”, September 7th).

Whatever the perceptions, let

me assure you that the bishop

and his potential flock were all

speakers, like me, of the Igbo

language, whose dialects differ

no more than, say, the Geordie

and Scouse forms of English.

kenneth amaeshi

Edinburgh

Leave Brexit to people’s juries

What a pleasure to read “Tiny

democracy” (October 5th),

about people who have been

randomly chosen to sit on civic

institutions in Belgium’s Ger-

man-speaking area. This meth-

od was used successfully by

Britain’s lottery charities board

and its successor between 1998

and 2004 to choose some

members of nine regional

panels, which dispensed many

millions of pounds. In 2003 a

parliamentary committee

examined its workings and

called for a wider experiment,

but this was rejected and a year

later the panels disappeared.

A citizen’s involvement in

civic affairs is meritorious. In

“Democracy in America”,

Alexis de Tocqueville wrote

perceptively of randomly

chosen juries as forms of

political institutions. He

concluded that the jury “is both

the most efficient way of

establishing the people’s rule

and the most efficient way of

teaching them how to rule.”

Unlike referendums.

martin wainwright

Kidlington, Oxfordshire

Flashier trading

Yes, more of the financial

industry is being automated,

which is the evolutionary

nature of every business

(“March of the machines”,

October 5th). The good news is

that humans are not going

away. There is no substitute for

human interaction, judgment

and experience. I doubt there

are any trading operations with

zero human oversight; some-

one has to press the stop but-

ton to turn a malfunctioning

system off. After all, a fool with

a tool is still a fool.

As for the stability of the

financial system, particularly

equity markets, the answer has

been staring us in the face for

some time. Does share trading

have to be continuous? Is faster

always better? A good market

needs to be efficient and fair,

not necessarily faster. Intro-

ducing a periodic single-price

auction (spa) trading mecha-

nism in place of the continu-

ous system we have today

would reduce the risks of

future market meltdowns. It

would also obviate the insane

speed-trading arms race.

Almost as ridiculous as

microsecond trade executions

is the speed-bump mechanism

used to slow things down. A

spamarket mechanism would

not only be more elegant, it

would also provide more li-

quidity, as it would concen-

trate trading interest both in

time and place.

This would help deal with

the question of market frag-

mentation. Do we really need

so many markets to trade? With

trade executions essentially a

commodity (for equities at

least), one could argue that the

execution of business in a

spa-oriented market should be

a regulated utility, whether

member-owned or not.

joseph rosen

Editor, “The Handbook of

Electronic Trading”

New York

Granted, computers can do

many things in finance quicker

and better than any human.

However, programming a

computer to run an index fund

is child’s play compared with

teaching it what to do when

one of Donald Trump’s tweets

declaring a new trade war

sends everyone running for the

exit. An experienced trader

instinctively knows that the

markets can remain irrational

longer than you can remain

solvent. How do you build that

truth into an algorithm?

atilla ilkson

Woodstock, New York

You said that the first trans-

atlantic cable ran between

Liverpool and New York,

carrying cotton prices, and was

completed in 1866 (“Masters of

the universe”, October 5th). In

fact, the first transatlantic

cable was laid between

Valentia Island in Ireland and

Newfoundland. After several

attempts, it delivered its first

message in 1858.

ronan o’shea

London

Is it only a matter of time

before artificial intelligences

discover the joys and profits of

insider trading?

mark van dusen

Mandalay, Myanmar