The Economist - USA (2022-02-12)

12 The Economist February 12th 2022
Letters

Ukraine’sgaspipelines “Putin’senergyweapon”(Janu ary29th)containeda map showingEurope’sgaspipeline network.Thefigureyougave of40bncubicmetresper annum(bcmpa)forthe volumeofgastransitedfrom RussiaviaUkraineismost certainlynota “theoretical capacity”ofourextensive pipelinenetwork.TheUkrai niansystemisdesignedto accommodateasmuchas 146 bcmpaofinternationaltransit. Theimagepaintsa picturein whichNordStream2 seems necessary;thatisnotso. In 2021 Gazprom,Russia’s stategascompany,exported 175 bcmpatoEuropethrough fivemajorgascorridors.Itis obvious,whentheUkrainian transitsystemisproperly reflected,thattheexisting eastwestpipelinenetworkis fullycapableofhandlingthe gasflow.IfGermanywereto doubleitsimportsofRussian gasin2022,theexistingeast westtransitsystemcould easilyhandleit andhavespare capacityleft.Infact,Germany cantripleitsimportsofRus siangasandtheneedforNord Stream2 stillwillnotarise. Itisalsoreadilyapparent thatthecurrentgascrunchis nota questionoftransitcapac ities.TheInternationalEnergy Agencyhascorrectlyconclud edthatRussiaisorchestrating Europe’sgascrisis.Wehaveno doubtsthatif NordStream 2 becomesoperational,gas flowsviaUkrainewillbe terminatedandGazpromwill controlallincominggaspipe linesintoEurope.Itisstillnot toolateforGermanyandfor EuropetorejectNordStream 2 anddecisivelydefendour sharedenergysecurity. sergiymakogon Chiefexecutive GasTransmissionSystem OperatorofUkraine Kyiv

Behind-the-scenes diplomacy Bello stated that Soviet mis siles were removed from Cuba in 1962 in return for an Amer ican promise not to invade the island (January 29th). Many

academics consider America’s placement of missiles in Turkey as the trigger for the Soviet deployment in Cuba. Soon after the crisis America quietly removed its Turkish weapons. America didn’t have to advertise its concession and the Soviets got something they seriously wanted. With Ukraine in mind, diplomacy works on many levels. bruce babcock Guildford, Surrey

If I knew then... Your special report on the state’s new interventionism revealed governments’ wide spread enthusiasm for taxes and regulation (January 15th). You warned that politicians lack experience of the private sector and should not mess with the classic liberal princi ples rediscovered in the 1980s. That reminded me of a stun ning admission by George McGovern, the Democrats’ presidential candidate in 1972, who steered the party well to the left. After earning a small fortune in postretirement speeches, McGovern bought an inn in Connecticut. In 1990 it went bankrupt and closed the following year. In a column written for the Wall Street Journalin 1992, the Democratic lion blamed the failure on suﬀocating red tape. He described these myriad regulations as being worthy in their intention, but admitted:

“I...wish that during the years I was in public office I had had this firsthand experience about the difficulties busi nesspeople face every day. That knowledge would have made me a better ussenator and a more understanding presi dential contender.”

Blanket rules on business ignore the reality of the marketplace. After the pan demic, let’s hope government oﬃcials rediscover their promarket memory, and that the guiding principles of liberal capitalism reemerge. francois melese Professor of economics Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, California

Mental-healthresponders Itisnot“allbutimpossible”to determinewhich 911 callscan replacepolicewithtrained mentalhealthresponders (“Refundingthepolice”, January15th).Wehavehelped jurisdictionsacrossAmerica analysehundredsofthou sandsofemergencycalls, reviewcallcodeswithlaw enforcement,identifysitua tionsthatarelesslikelyto resultinarrest,rewritecall scriptstoaskcallerswhich emergencyresourcesthey need,andcoordinatewith clinicianswhoareembedded in 911 callcentrestohelptriage mentalhealthcalls.Initial datafromcommunitiesthat practisediversiontacticsshow thatveryfew,if any,callsto alternativeemergency responseprogrammesrequire lawenforcement. InDenver’sprogramme,not a singlecallhasrequired policebackup.LosAngeleshas divertedhundredsofsuicide relatedcallstoa localhospital withspecialisedsuicide responseunits.These approachesarelogicaland practicalandfreeuppoliceto focusonpublicsafety incidentsthatarebetter alignedwiththeirtraining. gloriagong Executivedirector GovernmentPerformanceLab HarvardKennedySchool Cambridge,Massachusetts

Our new Culture section Stories don’t only oﬀer vicarious adventure and solidarity (“Food for thought”, January 22nd), they have cognitive functions, too. Stories, whether associated with a computational model, novel or a ﬁlm, convey models of the world that shape public reasoning. Just as Jane Austen’s novels model some of the rules of society in Regency England, so Kim Stanley Robinson, who spoke at cop in Glasgow, writes models of possible future societies as they adapt to climate change. Storylistening is as impor tant as storytelling, and The Economist’s new Culture sec

tion won’t only be acknowl edging the erosion of past and present, its reﬂections on the present will inform the future. claire craig Provost The Queen’s College Oxford sarah dillon Professor of literature and the public humanities University of Cambridge

Drunk on power I enjoyed Bartleby’s column about drinking in the office (January 22nd). Perhaps the inhabitants of Number 10 are simply taking their lead from Herodotus, who told us how the Persians made important decisions: It is also their general practice to deliberate upon affairs of weight when they are drunk; and then on the morrow, when they are sober, the decision to which they came the night before is put before them by the master of the house... Sometimes, however, they are sober at their first deliberation, but in this case they always reconsider the matter under the influence of wine.

alan buxton Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire

Boris Johnson’s accusation that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile, Britain’s most notorious paedophile, is a perfect example of the adage that when the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers (Bagehot, February 5th). joe kennedy London

The world is watching Mr Johnson’s excruciating performances in Parliament. When in time this is written as an updated fable of Aesop, it might be titled, “The Tortuous and the Hair”. bruce stening Canberra, Australia

Letters are welcome and should be addressed to the Editor at The Economist, The Adelphi Building, 1-11 John Adam Street, London wc 2 n 6 ht Email: [email protected] More letters are available at: Economist.com/letters

The Economist - USA (2022-02-12)

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