The Economist December 4th 2021 7
ContentsContents continues overleafOnthecover
Theworldthisweek
13 A summary of political
andbusiness newsLeaders
17 The world economy
Danger ahead
18 Build Back Better
saltin the wounds
18 Technology
The third way
19 Sex and gender
Bad medicine
20 Global crime
Whowillpolice Interpol?Letters
22 On Kyle Rittenhouse,
Centerra Gold, housing,
social mobility, London’s
bridges,business speakBriefing
26 The Omicron variant
Watchful waitingUnitedStates
29 salt’s giant tax break
30 Tainted drinking water
31 Crime-spotting tech
31 Roe’s last stand
32 Navy shipyards
33 Road rage rising
34 LexingtonSon of a slaveTheAmericas
35 Mexican supply chains
36 Honduras’s election
38 BelloCultural mestizajeAsia
39 India’s falling fertility
40 Kyrgyzstani thuggery
41 South Korea’s floating city
41 Business succession
in Japan
42 BanyanViolence in
the PacificChina
43 Single mothers unite
44 Women’s tennis v China
46 ChaguanThe democracy
war with AmericaMiddleEast&Africa
47 Omicron’s economic hit
48 Africa’s data centres
49 China and Africa
49 Iran and the nuclear deal
50 Saudi Arabia’s booze banOmicron amplifies three
dangers that stalk the global
economy: leader,page 17.With
its wonky spike, the variant
looks ominous. How bad is it
likely to be? Briefing,page 26.
Assessing China’s slowdown,
page 71.How vulnerable are
emerging economies?Page 72
Local heroes: Asia’s tech giants
For vibrant, competitive internet
firms, look to emerging markets:
leader, page 18.Grab’s upcoming
$40bn Nasdaq listing is a key test
for Asian tech, page 61
The Democrats’ hypocritical
tax plansThey make a mockery
of the party ’s progressive
pledges: leader, page 18.Why
Democrats may spend hundreds
of billions subsidising the rich,
page 29
Of stablecoins and free
bankingThe explosion in
pegged digital tokens revives a
debate about 19th-century
American banks: Free exchange,
page 78
Why Interpol needs policing
Theelectionofa worryingnew
presidentis thelatestthingtogo
wrongattheglobalpolicing
agency:leader,page20.A tussle
forcontrolofInterpolpitsgood
copsagainstbad,page 59
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stories. Visit economist.comChaguanDysfunction in
the West tempts China’s
Communist Party to make
risky boasts, page 46