The Economist - USA (2022-01-29)

14 The Economist January 29th 2022
Letters

HowtheWestlostRussia

Littlehasbeensaidabouthow

actionstakenbytheWestwith

regardtoRussiasince 1991 have

limitedthesecurityoptions

availabletoustoday(“Howto

talktoMrPutin”,January8th).

Thosedecisionshavenotonly

complicatedourrelationship

withRussiabutalsoimpeded

theestablishmentofdemoc­

racyinthatcountry.You

assertedthat“natoisa

defensivealliance”.Itisnot

perceivedthatwayinRussia.

Ourdecisiontoexpandinto

areaspreviouslydominatedby

theSovietUnionreinforced

theperceptionthatnatois

aggressivelypursuingpolicies

detrimentaltoRussia’spoliti­

calandsecurityinterests.

Russiansfindit difficultto

understandhownatomem­

bershipforEstonia,Latviaand

Lithuaniaenhancesthesecuri­

tyofcountrieslikeBelgium,

FranceandIceland.Estoniais

only 200 milesfromStPeters­

burg.TheRussianreaction

shouldhavebeenexpected.It

isrelativelymoderatewhen

comparedwiththeAmerican

reactiontoMoscow’seffortto

establisha militarypresence

inCubaduringthe1960s.We

wouldhavebenefitedmoreby

comingupwithsomethingfor

theBalticcountriesshortof

natomembershipthatstill

enhancedtheirsecurity.

Thesedecisionshave

helpedfacilitatetheriseof

demagogueryinMoscow.Ina

waywehelpedcreateopportu­

nitiesforpeoplelikeVladimir

Putintorule.Nowwehaveno

otheroptionthantodealwith

hislike.

robertmorley

Formerstaffmemberofthe

NationalSecurityCouncil

Richmond,Texas

Dropping the baton

You made the assertion that

Herbert von Karajan was

Hitler’s favourite conductor

(“Out of the abyss”, January

15th). Actually, Karajan had the

misfortune to be the conduc­

tor at a disastrous performance

of “Die Meistersinger von

Nürnberg” held in Berlin in

1938, which was marred by

RudolfBockelmann(inthe

roleofHansSachs)appearing

tobetheworsefordrink.

HitlerblamedKarajanforthe

debacle.Hisfavouriteconduc­

torwasWilhelmFurtwängler.

peterbest

Christchurch,Dorset

Electricity in Mexico

Your article on Mexico’s energy

reforms said that the plans “are

a grave threat, not only to the

economy but also to the rule of

law” as “they would make

electricity both dirtier and

more expensive” (“Back to the

disco era”, January 8th). The

only contracts that will be

cancelled are those for firms

that take advantage of the

Comisión Federal de Electrici­

dad’s (cfe) transmission and

distribution network to avoid

paying what they should. This

has cost Mexicans around $1bn

over the past three years. New

contracts will be made to

establish alliances with the

private sector and promote the

generation of energy in a fair

way. If a firm operates legally

to produce energy it should

not be afraid of these reforms.

Moreover, we are not

proposing a return to “dirty

energy”. In fact, 38% of the

total energy injected by cfe

into the electrical circuit was

clean in 2021. As part of the

energy transition cfewill

build the most important

solar­energy plant in Latin

America and keep running its

hydroelectric power plants.

This will lessen the need to

build more coal­fired plants

(cfeonly has three; China has

946). You were also wrong in

thinking that cfemay not

produce enough electricity to

meet Mexico's needs. 

Finally, you say that the

proposed changes “would also

probably violate several trade

agreements”. The reform is not

trying to strip private firms of

their assets, but rather to foster

new links. The Economistpro­

motes a liberal vision of the

market and a belief that private

initiative should drive a coun­

try’s economy. It should review

what is happening in Britain’s

energy sector, where the

commitment to energy

deregulationandprivate

initiativehasbeentotally

detrimentaltoitscitizens.

luisbravonavarro

Corporatecommunication

co­ordinator

ComisiónFederalde

Electricidad

MexicoCity

Spain’snorth-westfrontier

Itistruethatlivingstandards

haverisenintheSpanish

regionofGalicia;asyousay,

untilrelativelyrecentlythe

drivefromMadridtooknine

hours(“Totheendofthe

earth”,January8th).Pricey

infrastructurehasbeena

consistentdrag;fewcheap

flightsareavailabletogethere.

AndGaliciahasbeenleftoutof

mostpublic­investmentinitia­

tives,whicharedesignedwith

otherregionsinmind.

Spanishpoliticshasnoth­

ingtodowithGaliciansuc­

cess.Longneglectedbytherest

ofSpain,Galiciadeveloped

itselfthroughstableregional

politics,learningnottoexpect

solutionsfromtheSpanish

government.Inditex(theZara

fashiongroup)embodiesthis

spirit.Itworksina highly

competitivemarketwithout

governmentaid,creating

thousandsofjobsandcontrib­

utingmoretoGalicianliving

standardsthananyrail

connectionorstatebody.

javiercastrovaldivia

A Coruña,Spain

The pitfalls of blockchains

One fundamental point

missing from your “Build

block better” (January 1st) was

a meaningful explanation of

what problem blockchains,

particularly public block­

chains, are meant to solve.

“Openness” is an aspiration

that has been around for years.

Yet public blockchains are

arguably less open because

each one uses a different

technology and there is no

accountable party in charge to

make changes. 

Moreover, the notion that

blockchains are more resistant

to government influence is

fundamentally a call for aban­

doning all attempts to regulate

the financial system. If block­

chain and cryptocurrency

advocates simply want a

financial system with no

controls at all against fraud,

reckless behaviour or tax

evasion, the honest thing to do

would be to campaign through

the political system to change

the law. That would be better

than pursuing regulatory

arbitrage and special treat­

ment by hiding behind a wall

of complex, unnecessary and

wasteful technology. 

martin walker

Director for banking and

finance

Centre for Evidence­Based

Management

Leiden, Netherlands

Boris done wrong

Boris Johnson did not get

Brexit done (Bagehot, January

15th). We are still renegotiating

the Northern Ireland protocol,

which was apparently accept­

able to sign, but was then not

acceptable. The sunny uplands

and reinvigorated relation­

ships with our closest allies are

nowhere to be seen. Unless of

course Liz Truss and, previ­

ously Lord Frost, have a simi­

larly tenuous relationship

with the truth as their boss. A

more accurate description

would be Boris botched Brexit.

hugh mcevoy

Lamberhurst, Kent

Bagehot wrote a fine column

on Mr Johnson’s penchant for

lying, but Captain Jack

Sparrow from “Pirates of the

Caribbean” said it best: 

Me? I’m dishonest, and a

dishonest man you can always

trust to be dishonest. Honestly.

It’s the honest ones you want to

watch out for, because you can

never predict when they’re

going to do something in­

credibly stupid.

alex fine

Washington,dc

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