The Economist - USA (2020-07-25)

12 The EconomistJuly 25th 2020

Lettersarewelcomeandshouldbe

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Letters

Stability in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s new national-

security law is hardly “draco-

nian” or “sweeping” (“The

evening of its days”, July 4th,

“The party’s grip”, July 11th). It is

relatively mild as far as nation-

al-security laws go, focusing

on just four well-defined and

well-confined activities:

secession, subversion of state

power, terrorist activities and

collusion with foreign or ex-

ternal forces. Nor is it spread-

ing fear among the vast major-

ity of Hong Kongers. After a

year of violent protests and

traumatising social and busi-

ness disruption, we are return-

ing to a stable, secure life.

The new law stipulates that

the chief executive shall

compile a list of judges to hear

national-security cases. She

may consult Hong Kong’s

Committee for Safeguarding

National Security and the chief

justice of the Court of Final

Appeal before doing so. This

does not affect judicial

independence at all. Hong

Kong’s unique “one country,

two systems” framework has

been successfully implement-

ed since 1997 and will continue

to drive its progress.

Moreover, your charge that

“censorship is spreading”

following the removal of sever-

al books from public libraries

does not reflect the facts. The

books you mentioned are

being reviewed to establish

whether they violate the

national-security legislation’s

stipulations (they will be

unavailable until that process

is complete).

Let me stress that Hong

Kong’s fundamental freedoms

remain intact under the Basic

Law and the applicable provi-

sions of international cove-

nants on human rights. Hong

Kong will continue to thrive as

a highly autonomous and

vibrant international financial

and business centre under-

pinned by the rule of law and

an independent judiciary.

Between June 30th, when the

law was passed, and its open-

ing on July 9th the Hang Seng

index rose by 7%. Cash equity

market turnover on July 6th,

7th and 9th surpassed

HK$200bn($26bn),thehigh-

estdailytradinglevelsinmore

thantwoyears.Inshort,Hong

Konglooksforwardtoa peace-

fulandprosperousfuture.

matthewcheungkin-

chung

Chiefsecretaryfor

administration

HongKongSpecialAdminis-

trativeRegionGovernment

Marketdisrupters

Youlaudedshort-sellers

becausetheyoccasionally

correctthepriceoffalselyor

overvaluedshares(“Inpraise

ofshort-sellers”,June27th).Yet

ona routinebasissmall-and

mid-capcompaniesthatare

knowntorequireadditional

fundsfindthattheirmarket

capitalisationdeclinesalarm-

ingly.Short-tradersbenefit

fromhighlydiscounted

dilutiverightsissues,or

defaults.Theshortinterests

havedeeppocketsandroutine-

lyworklikea packwithout

actualcollaborationthrough

commentsonsocialmediaand

bulletinboards.Thisis

destructiveandmakesmarkets

suchasaima dangerousplace

fora companyknowntoneed

investment,andfortheun-

warytoinvest.

alistairhindle

Edinburgh

Moreunitedthandivided

“Theworldthisweek”inthe

July11thissuereferredtoa 9-

decisionatAmerica’sSupreme

Courtasa “rareinstanceof

unanimity”.Infact,unani-

mousrulings(9-0votesand

8-0whena justicewasrecused)

accountedforalmosta thirdof

thecourt’sjudgmentsinits

latestsession.Thesharply

divided5-4and5-3votesmay

havegotallthepress,butmade

upjusta fifthofitsdecisions.

marknelson

Denver

Leaping horses

The list of odd and now

defunct Olympic events you

proffered in “Citius, Altius,

Fortnite” (June 27th) over-

looked the equestrian long

jump at the games in 1900.

ConstantvanLanghendonck,a

Belgianhorse-rider,wongold

withanunimpressiveleapof

6.1 metres,onemetrebelowthe

winninglongjumpinthe

athleticscompetition.Admit-

tedlytheathleteinthatevent

didnothavetocarrya jockey.

rafmoons

Mortsel,Belgium

I amnota number

Toa devotedfanof“ThePris-

oner”(June20th),youressay

wasparticularlywelcome

reading.It remainsarguably

themostoriginalandthought-

provokingserieseverairedon

networktelevision.The

themesit explored—man

versusthestate,theuseand

abuseoftechnology,individ-

ualitystrugglingagainstcon-

formity—areevenmorereal

andpressingtodaythanwhen

theserieswasfirstbroadcastin

whatseemsa lifetimeago.

AtitsheartisPatrick

McGoohan’sperformanceas

Number6,a formerspywho

refuses,despiteallmannerof

deception,torevealwhyhe

resigned.Washe,assome

speculate,JohnDrakefrom

McGoohan’searlierseries

“DangerMan”?Orwashethe

symbolofaneveryman?What

wasthemeaningofthefinal

episode?WhoisNumber1?A

quotefromtheseriessaysit

best:“Questionsarea burden

toothers;answersa prisonfor

oneself”.

michaelkaczorowski

Ottawa,Canada

Emergency words

Bartleby’s musings on

pointless esoteric acronyms

really resonated with me (June

13th). Although technical

abbreviations are still regularly

used in hospitals, cbt(Chronic

Burger Toxicity), udi

(Unidentified Drinking Injury)

and ofig(One Foot In the

Grave), have for some reason

fallen out of favour.

Adam Fox, who has

researched the use of medical

slang, once recalled the story of

a doctor who had scribbled

ttfo(polite translation:

patient told to leave) on a

patient’s notes. When asked in

court what this meant, the

doctor replied shrewdly that he

had advised the patient “to take

fluids orally” before sending

him on his way.

dr joshua rabinowitz

London

Rising to the challenge

The global flour-milling

industry has been surprised by

the surge of interest in home

baking during lockdown (“The

need to knead”, July 11th). As

you observe, people have more

of that most valuable baking

ingredient, their time. As well

as an interest in food, home

baking is a leisure activity that

people do for many reasons,

including educating their

children. Baking is for sharing.

How do you value that time?

Surely it is priceless.

george marriage

Director

Marriage’s Millers

Chelmsford, Essex

I’m as big a fan of Ricardian

economic theory as the next

Economistreader, but your

article on sourdough econom-

ics failed to persuade this

attorney (and newly minted

amateur breadbaker) to hang

up his apron. Should those less

musically adept than Jimi

Hendrix or Jimmy Page also

hang up their guitars? Those

less deft at painting than

Vincent van Gogh discard their

brushes? Creative endeavours

have value above that captured

by economic measures. May

the trend in dabbling, like our

loaves, continue to rise.

colin mcdonell

Tampa

Thanks for sensibly dissuading

amateur breadmaking. I also

encourage my friends to leave

gambling, football and love-

making to the professionals.

Much more efficient.

seb farquhar

Oxford