The EconomistAugust 8th 2020 United States 252
1never worked for usps; he ran a logistics
company and has been a generous donor to
Republicans. Gerry Connolly, a Democratic
congressman who chairs the subcommit-
tee that oversees usps, calls Mr DeJoy’s ra-
tionale “a smokescreen...Under the guise
of ‘We can’t afford it and we’re making effi-
ciencies’, it’s directly affecting the delivery
of mail on the eve of an election.”
Others posit different motives. Two
years ago the Office of Management and
Budget released a report mulling the sale
and privatisation of the usps, a position
long advocated by some market-friendly
wonks. Mr Trump has a long-standing
grudge against Jeff Bezos, who owns both
Amazon and the Washington Post. Some be-
lieve the president sees raising package
rates as a way to exact revenge. The latest
stimulus bill passed by the House contains
$25bn for usps, and removes any condi-
tionality—such as letting Treasury see con-
tractual terms—from its $10bn line of cred-
it. This may not survive negotiations, or
the threat of Mr Trump’s veto.
Mr Connolly is defiant. “We have a pan-
demic spreading; it’s more virulent than
ever, the unemployment numbers are go-
ing up, gdpshrank by the largest number
ever recorded, and you want to veto a bill
over the fact you have your nose in a snit
about Jeff Bezos and Amazon? Good luck on
selling that.” The postal service too will be
on the ballot in November—if the ballot pa-
pers can be delivered by usps.^7T
hecrackofthebatmadeanabnor-
mal baseball season feel fleetingly
familiar. On August 2nd Aaron Judge, the
Yankee right-fielder, hit his second
home-run of the game, his sixth in five
straight games. The eight-inning moon
shot broke a 7-7 tie against the Boston
Red Sox, the Yankees’ bitter rival. As the
ball soared 468 feet into the stand, the
commentators went wild. Your corre-
spondent leapt from her sofa. It was
exciting, but weird. No scrum of fans
chased the ball in the bleachers, which
were devoid of Bleacher Creatures. There
were no fans. The crowd cheering was a
recording.
Baseball’s season began on July 23rd,
four months late because of the pandem-
ic. After just three games, the Miami
Marlins’ games were temporarily sus-
pended after 18 players—more than half
the roster—and some backroom staff
tested positive for covid-19. Five games
into its season the St Louis Cardinals
were hit by an unrelated outbreak. Seven
players and six team staffers tested posi-
tive. Rob Manfred, Major League Base-
ball’s (mlb) commissioner, threatened to
shutdowntheseasonunlessthesport
improveditshandlingofthevirus,but
helaterbacktracked.It ishardtoimagine
theseasoncontinuingif a thirdteamhas
anoutbreak.“It’sa littlebitofthree
strikesandyou’reout,”saysZachary
Binney,anepidemiologistwhofocuses
onsportsatOxfordCollegeatEmory
UniversityinAtlanta.
mlbhasa 113-pageprotocolmanual
designedtokeepteamsvirus-free,yet
playersandstaffarestillspittingand
givinghigh-fivesandfist-bumps.Bob
Geren,a LosAngelesDodgers’coach,was
caughtoncamerapullingdownhismask
tocough.Protocolsarebeingtightened
andeachteammusthavea compliance
officer.Manyplayersandarounda dozen
umpiresareoptingoutoftheseason.
DavidPrice,a pitcherwiththeDodgers,
recentlytweeted,“PartofthereasonI’mathomerightnowisbecauseplayers’
health wasn’t being put first. I can see
that hasn’t changed.”
Perhaps mlbshould have followed
the professional basketball and hockey
leagues’ bubble model. The National
Basketball Association’s teams are living
and playing their games, without fans, in
Disney World in Florida, while the Na-
tional Hockey League’s teams are playing
in two bubble sites in Canada, which has
managed to flatten its curve, unlike its
neighbour. Neither league has had a
coronavirus case since the bubbles were
put in place.
The National Football League, which
begins its season in September, is keep-
ing an eye on the mlb’s performance. The
nature of football, with its large rosters,
contact on every play and huddles, puts
its players at risk of covid-19. The time of
year it is played, in the autumn and
winter, when there might be a second
wave, may also prove challenging. The
nflgets a disproportionate amount of
its income from television, so it is espe-
cially keen for the season to last to the
end of the playoffs and the Super Bowl.Striketwo
Baseball returnsNEW YORK
America’s favourite pastime, like America itself, is struggling to contain covid-19TestingandtracingF
or decadesnot much has changed in
how Americans shift themselves and
their goods about. They mostly still rely on
cars, lorries, trains and planes that would
look familiar to someone visiting from the
mid-20th century. Now, various compa-
nies are pushing for the regulation of (and
public support for) schemes to create pub-
lic intercity transport within depressur-
ised pipes. A mention of the method, in a
House infrastructure bill passed last
month, has spurred excitement that these
pipe-dreams could become reality.
A hyperloop system involves passen-
gers or freight transported by pods elevated
by magnets, which travel within raised
pipes. The pods can be propelled at
620mph (1,000kph), says Jay Walder, boss
of Virgin Hyperloop One, one of the firms
pushing the idea. At that pace “you could
move between Columbus and Chicago in40 minutes”, he says, so covering the 460
miles many hours quicker than by driving
and at a cost (and overall carbon impact)
that he says would be lower than flying.
His firm runs an experimental centre
near Las Vegas, where engineers—includ-
ing some who worked on the Mars Rover
programme—have run over 400 tests using
a 500-metre-long pipe. So far they have
sent pods flying at 240mph, though slow-ing down can be tricky. “We’ve shown it can
work,” he says. He hopes next to build a
15km pipe to test the higher speeds, possi-
bly near Columbus, Ohio, though Missouri
and parts of some western states are also
interested. Requirements include flat to-
pography, empty space and no corners.
These schemes are sufficiently ad-
vanced for some state and local-govern-
ment officials to take them seriously. TheaCHICAGO
Could long-dawdling America lead the
world in a new form of transport?HyperloopsPipes of fancy