The Economist - USA (2020-08-22)

The EconomistAugust 22nd 2020 3

1 Contents continues overleaf

Contents

The world this week

6 A summary of political

andbusinessnews

Leaders

9 Viruses

The aliens among us

10 Mali’s coup

Suffering in the Sahel

10 Israel and the

Arab world

Out of the closet

11 TechIPOs

SiliconValleyv

WallStreet

14 TheeasternMed

A seaoftrouble

Letters

16 Onsoftwareproblems,

Britain,India,racism,

ClementAttlee

Essay

17 The huge impact of the

very smallest bits of life

United States

23 The postmaster always

rings twice

24 African-American elites

25 Veterans in politics

26 National security

27 Arctic drilling

28 Lexington

UnconventionalDems

The Americas

29 Caribbean covid-

30 No more Morneau

Asia

31 Myanmar’s forever war

32 Japan’s VR grave visits

33 Protests in Thailand

33 The internet in Pakistan

34 BanyanSouth Korea’s

illiberalliberals

China

35 Household registration

37 ChaguanRepression in

Hong Kong

Middle East & Africa

38 The UAE’s quiet strength

39 Israel’s next Arab friend

40 A rite old mess in Iran

40 Unusual African stamps

41 Mutiny in Mali

41 Oil on Mauritian water

BagehotThe

over-enthusiastic

application of scientific

management is

weakening the public

sector, page 48

On the cover

Viruses cause pandemics. They
also shape the world: leader,
page 9. Why viruses are deeply
alien, and profoundly
wonderful: essay, page 17.
Most people recover quickly
from covid-19. The mystery is
whysomedonot,page 65

• America’s black eliteHow do
  wealthy African-Americans
  respond to Black Lives Matter?
  page 24. Albert Murray was one
  of the finest bards of America’s
  racial complexity, page 67


• Reinventing the IPOTech
  firms are taking advantage of
  frothy stockmarkets to
  experiment with new ways to
  go public. Good: leader,page 11.
  Initial public offerings are back
  in Silicon Valley amid the
  pandemic,after a fashion,
  page 52


• A sea of trouble: the eastern
  MedTurkey and Greece must be
  encouraged to exchange views,
  not blows: leader,page 14.
  A quarrel between the two
  countries, ostensibly over gas,
  highlights hostilities in the
  region and beyond, page 49

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