The Economist - USA (2021-11-13)

24 The Economist November 13th 2021
Letters

Datahoarding

Youhavea rosyviewoftheuse

oftimely,highfrequencydata

ineconomics,whichyou

describeasa “thirdwave”in

thediscipline(“Thereal­time

revolution”,October23rd).

However,thereisa bigdown­

side.Noteveryonehasequal

accesstothesefigures,espe­

ciallytodatacollectedbythe

privatesector.Thisunequal

accesswillwidenthedivide

betweenthe“haves”andthe

“havenots”.Democracies

cannotworkproperlyif citi­

zensdonothaveanopportuni­

tytoaccesstheeconomic

informationthatisnecessary

tomakegoodeconomicand

votingdecisions.Basingpolicy

onsummarystatisticsfrom

inaccessiblemicrodatawith

manypossibleflawswillonly

leadtomoredistrust.

ralphbradley

Formerdivisionchief

PriceandIndexNumber

Research

BureauofLabourStatistics

Washington,dc

Theconnectionyoumade

betweenthevalueofreal­time

informationandSalvador

Allende’sProjectCybersynisa

reminderofa lostopportunity.

OneofAllende’sprincipal

adviserswhenhewaspresi­

dentofChilewasStaffordBeer,

a visionarycyberneticist,then

atManchesterBusiness

School,whocameupwiththe

pioneeringviablesystem

model.Someofuswerenot

entirelysureaboutStafford’s

connectionwithreality,but

thatwasourmistake.Had

Allendelivedonwemightnow

bemuchfurtheraheadinthis

burgeoningfieldofanalysis

andadministration.Still,

betterlatethannever.

tonyeccles

London

Structural differences

Ursula von der Leyen may have

been a bit optimistic when she

hailed the opening of the Svilaj

bridge between Croatia and

Bosnia­Herzegovina (“Bigger is

still better”, October 9th).

Bridges in the Balkans have

unfortunate connotations. The

Peljesacbridgeislaudedbyits

supportersforunifyingCroa­

tiabutdenigratedbyitsdetrac­

torsforbypassingBosnia.The

Mitrovicabridgeinnorthern

Kosovoexistseitherasa

tenuouslinkbetweenSerbs

andAlbaniansorasaninsu­

perablebarrier,dependingon

yourperspective.TheMostar

bridgewasblownupinfight­

ingbetweentheCroatsandthe

Bosniaks,whohadbeenallies

intheearlystagesofthe

Yugoslavcivilwar.

BeforetheEuropeanUnion

canevenconsiderenlarge­

ment,it needstodealwith

theseandotherfestering

sores,suchasthedisputed

watersbetweenSlovenia,Italy

andCroatia.Thesemayseem

minorissues,buttheymatter

hugelytothosewholivethere.

richardscott

Exeter

Shakespeareanphraseology

EchoingHamlet,yousaidthat

vaccinemandatesinpoor

countriesareoften“honoured

inthebreach”,suggestingthat

theedictsarenotcomplied

with(“Strictlycomejabbing”,

October23rd).Shakespeare’s

phrasehasa morenuanced

meaning.Inthepassagewhere

HamletsaysthattheDanish

customofboozyrevelryis

“Morehonour’dinthebreach

thantheobservance”,he

meansthatit ismorehonour­

abletoignorethecustomof

drunkencarousingthanto

followit.SoShakespeareis

referringtoa practicethatis

bestignoredthanfollowed,

notmerelyonethatisoften

ignored.

johndoherty

Stratford-upon-Avon

Dig deeper

After eight years in the Amer­

ican army followed by 20 years

in business, I could not agree

more with Bartleby's scepti­

cism about applying military

mission values to business

(October 30th). Shifting un­

certainties and testosterone­

infused competition are com­

mon to both worlds, but not

much else. Over time I have

found gardening and cooking

metaphorstobemoreuseful

forbusinessthanfightingand

sportingones.

raymorin

Frankfurt

Thinkingofcorporatemission

statementsremindedmeof

CharlesMackay’saccountof

theSouthSeaBubblein

“ExtraordinaryPopularDelu­

sionsandtheMadnessof

Crowds”,publishedin1841.At

onepointinthefrenzyMackay

mentionsa bubblecompany

withthemissionstatementof

“carryingonanundertakingof

greatadvantage,butnobodyto

knowwhatit is”.

aurelioortizcamacho

LaPaz,Mexico

Financingforhydrogen

Uncertaintyaboutfuture

carbonpricescanslowprivate

investmentinhydrogen(“A

verybigbalancingact”,Octo­

ber9th).TheGermangovern­

menthasproposedcarbon

contractsfordifference

(ccfds)tomitigatethepro­

blem.Underthesecontracts

thegovernmentanda compa­

nyseta priceatwhichitszero

carbonhydrogentechnology

wouldbecompetitive.Until

theagreedcarbonpriceis

reached,thegovernmentpays

thepricedifferencetothe

company.Oncethepriceis

exceeded,thepaymentdirec­

tionisreversed.

ccfds havethreebenefits.

Carbonpricesbecomepredict­

ableforthelengthofthecon­

tract.Subsidisedtechnology

cancompetewithcarbon­

emittingincumbents.And

shouldcarbonpricesrise

abovethesetpriceduringthe

contractperiod,thegovern­

mentsubsidiescouldbereco­

veredandthenecessityforthe

contractvanishes.

timothéehornek

Tuttlingen,Germany

Facebook fury

Your observations about the

incoherence of Facebook’s

many critics were helpful as

far as they went (“Facepalm”,

October 9th). But the most

vexing question is why, after

years of frustrated policymak­

ers calling for more regulation,

and as many years of Facebook

inviting them to dish it up,

have lawmakers and regulators

produced so little other than

noise? Maybe their inaction

betrays an implicit recognition

that the same human failings

that are distorted and ampli­

fied on Facebook are already

legislated for, and that the

social network’s worst trans­

gression is that it is as

unflattering but depressingly

accurate as any hi­def selfie.

gregory francis

Managing director

Access Partnership

London

The true romance language

As an adult, I tried to learn the

French language (Johnson,

October 16th). Our teacher, a

native French speaker, told us

beginners to make over­exag­

gerated facial gestures in order

to produce sounds common in

the French language. Her

reasoning was that we were

trying to pronounce French

with an English mouth, and we

needed to retrain our mouth to

move correctly to produce the

right sound.

If we were ever in doubt on

how to pronounce something,

she had a standing rule: “When

speaking French, you must

always position your lips, so

that if required, they are

always in position to give a

kiss on a moments notice.”

jim miller

Minneapolis

APolish Brexit?

Discussing Poland’s latest row

with the eu, Charlemagne

used the term “Polexit” to

describe a potential outcome

of the stand­off (October 16th).

Polexit sounds clunky and

doesn’t roll off the tongue.

Might I suggest “Pout” instead?

benjamin tennenbaum

Chicago

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