The Economist - USA (2021-02-13)

16 The Economist February 13th 2021
Letters

Impatient nationalists

Rather than the patient strate-

gists that Bagehot portrayed

them to be (January 9th), the

Scottish National Party are

constant opportunists. If

nationalists were truly patient

they would not be talking

about plans for independence

during a pandemic. In 2014

they campaigned for sep-

aration from the United King-

dom based on a high oil price,

knowing that leaving the uk

would automatically have

meant leaving the eu. Now,

with the oil price less than half

of what it was in 2014, they

claim Brexit as the new reason

for independence. The circum-

stances change, but the snp’s

solution is always the same.

In the current nationalist

narrative, there is no waiting

to see how Brexit will pan out,

no consideration that the

post-covid world might be very

different, and no acknowl-

edgment of a future change in

the British government. Even

covid-19 is claimed as a reason

for breaking away. John Swin-

ney, Nicola Sturgeon’s deputy,

recently asserted that a second

independence referendum is

an “essential priority”. I am not

sure these are the words of a

patient pragmatist.

alastair cameron

Director

Scotland in Union

Glasgow

As you say, in May the snpwill

probably win a mandate at the

Holyrood elections to hold a

further independence referen-

dum (“Searching for the exit”,

January 30th). If so, it would be

the will of the Scottish people

and the Westminster govern-

ment should not try to prevent

a referendum.

However, it is absurd to

think that a single vote could

determine the outcome of

such a significant constitu-

tional question. A narrow win

for either side would simply

lead to rancour, bitterness and

division. It is common sense

that a matter of this magnitude

should require at least 60-65%

of the vote to settle the matter.

Moreover, it should be made

clear at the outset how long

beforea furtherreferendum

canbeheld.Afterall,both

nationalistsandunionists

mayhaveaninterestinanoth-

erre-run.

jamesmaybee

Farr,ScottishHighlands

GameStop’srealwinners

Greedisfine.Itisthejuicethat

keepsourfinancialsystem

going.That’swhyI findthe

narrativethatr/wallstreetbets

andotherarmiesofretail

investorswerestickingit to

theestablishmentdisingen-

uous(“WilltheGameStop?”,

January30th).Callmea cynic,

butexactlywhichpartofWall

Streetwasbeingpunished?

Wasit theprivate-equitystake-

holdersofamcthatconverted

debtintoa profitofhundreds

ofmillionsofdollars?Orper-

hapsBlackBerryexecutives

whosoldtheirsharesata

five-yearhigh?Andlet’snot

forgetRyanCohen,whose

stakeinGameStopswelledtoa

billiondollars.

nishadtrivedi

NewYork

ThesageofOologah

Buttonwood’sparaphrasing

(January30th)oftheadvice

thatWillRogersofferedon

markettimingdidnotfully

capturehisimpeccablelogic

concerningthearrangementof

eventsinthecorrectorder.

Rogerssaid“Don’tgamble;

takeallyoursavingsandbuy

somegoodstockandholdit

tillit goesup,thensellit.Ifit

don’tgoup,don’tbuyit.”

emmettgriner

Potomac,Maryland

Three points on innovation

The role of innovation in

economic growth evolves as

markets and technologies

change. Your briefing on gov-

ernment investment in re-

search and development pro-

vided useful pointers, but

underplayed three important

changes in the landscape

(“Molecules, missions and

money”, January 16th). First,

r&dcreates and deepens

knowledge and the talent to

use it in new fields: what econ-

omistscallabsorptivecapacity.

Tobeeffective,government

r&dandinvestmentintalent

shouldalign.Second,data

analyticsinducesfundamental

changesinr&d, potentially

speedingupinnovation,cre-

atingnewbusinesses.Artifi-

cialintelligenceanddata

analyticshavebecomea uni-

versalpartofthescientific

infrastructure,requiringnew

investmentandpolicies.

Third,universitiesbecame

moreentrepreneurialafterthe

financialcrisisin2008.Stu-

dentswanttoparticipatewith

socialpurposeandstakehold-

ersarerightlyfocusedon

impact.Governmentsthat

investintalent,digitalin-

frastructureandentrepren-

eurialuniversitieswillgaina

higherreturnfromtheirr&d

spending.

professordavidgann

Pro-vice-chancellor

DevelopmentandExternal

Affairs

UniversityofOxford

Ditchingpartyprimaries

ThesuggestionfromWilliam

Hornstoreformpartyprimar-

iesbyadoptingnon-partisan

blanketelections(Letters,

January23rd)hasalreadybeen

setinplaceinCalifornia.Itis

calleda “toptwo”system

where,regardlessofparty,the

candidateswhocomefirstand

secondina primaryforCon-

gressfaceoffagainsteach

otherinthegeneralelection.

Californiaalsohasa citizens’

commissiontodrawthe

boundariesofstatelegislative

districts.Thoughpersonally

happyaboutthereform,I can’t

saythatit hasmadea lotof

difference.Californiaisso

solidlyDemocraticthatRepub-

licansbarelyhavea voice.Most

ofthetimethetop-twovote

winnersarebothDemocrats.

susangiegerich

Berlin

Fields of dreams

Minor-league baseball grew

from the desire of people to

have access to a community-

based game, which created a

loyalty to and identity with

their local club. The economics

and demographics may have

changed over the years, but the

clubs’ success is based on

providing affordable family

entertainment in a clean and

safe environment. An owner

once told me that he believed

80% of people left his park

after a game not having any

idea who won, but it didn’t

matter. The fun and sense of

community did.

The squeeze that major-

league baseball is putting on

minor-league clubs is an act of

civic vandalism (“Trouble on

the farm”, January 16th). In its

quest for control it is destroy-

ing years of identity-building

in towns small and large.

Trenton is the best example of

a kneecapped franchise now

saddled with a questionable

future that it did not deserve.

With all the problems in the

country, I doubt this outrage

will gain much attention.

bob golon

Little Egg Harbor Township,

New Jersey

Pass us a ziggie

Although Rizla is synonymous

with cigarette rolling-paper in

much of the world, asking for a

pack in America would be met

with a blank stare (“Rolling in

it”, January 16th). Zig-Zag dom-

inates the American market.

Its parent company has just

had its best quarter ever, in a

country where tens of millions

of people can smoke pot legal-

ly, and have had plenty of time

and reason to do so recently.

tony rutt

Portland, Oregon

Your article reignited memo-

ries of craving for a smoke

when battling around the New

Hebrides in the 1960s. The

rice-paper pages of the airmail

edition of The Economistmade

an excellent substitute for

Rizlas.

peter gillott

Sydney

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