The EconomistAugust 8th 2020 3
1 Contents continues overleaf
Contents
The world this week
5 A summary of political
andbusinessnews
Leaders
7 Universities
The absent student
8 Tech wars
Trumpian TikTok
8 Lebanon
No way to run a country
9 Vaccine economics
A biggerdose
10 Gayrights
Theworldcomesout
11 Economics
Whenthefactschange
Letters
12 Onreopeningschools,
oil,Frenchaccents,
Amazon,sportsteams
Briefing
14 Covid-19andcollege
UncannyUniversity
Asia
17 Sectarianism in India
18 Australia’s internal
borders
19 Corruption in Uzbekistan
19 Schools v hair in Thailand
20 BanyanLee Teng-hui,
Taiwan’sTrojanhorse
China
21 Hunan’s cultural rise
22 Debate about divorce
United States
23 Electing a president
24 The postal service
25 Hyperloops
25 Covid-19 and pro sports
26 Washington history
27 UBI and cities
28 LexingtonOne America
NewsNetwork
The Americas
29 Argentina’s debt deal
30 Democracy wins in
Guyana and Suriname
32 BelloJoe Biden and Latin
America
Middle East & Africa
33 An explosion ruins Beirut
34 The mess in Mali
35 Prohibition in a pandemic
36 Covid-19 nears 1m in Africa
BagehotBoris Johnson’s
new list of peers reveals a
dangerous contempt for
governing institutions,
page 43
On the cover
Covid-19 will be painful for
universities, but it will also
bring long-needed change:
leader,page 7. Higher
education was already in
trouble. The pandemic could
push some institutions over
thebrink:briefing,page 14
- Lebanon after the blast
A massive explosion caused by
spectacular negligence shatters
an already-reeling Lebanese
capital, page 33. It should lead to
big change: leader,page 8 - The trouble with Trumpian
TikTokThe forced sale of the
app is the wrong way to deal
with Chinese tech: leader,
page 8. What does a
middle-aged tech giant want
with a teen sensation? Page 50 - How much to spend on a
vaccine?The economics of
vaccination: leader, page 9.
As scientists race to develop
covid-19 vaccines, governments
must work out how best to
distribute the goods, page 55
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