The Economist - UK (2022-04-09)

14 The Economist April 9th 2022
Letters

The Floridian inquisition

The Economist’s explainer on

“Why Florida is banning les­

sons on sexual orientation and

gender identity” (March 30th)

neglected to mention Florida’s

history of removing queer

people from classrooms.

Between 1956 and 1965, Charley

Johns, a member of the Florida

state Senate and a former

governor, oversaw an investi­

gation “to understand and

effectively deal with the grow­

ing problem of homosexual­

ity” in Florida’s schools. The

resulting and definitely not­

safe­for­work report was chill­

ingly titled “Homosexuality

and Citizenship in Florida”. 

The Johns Committee, as it

was colloquially known,

worked with local police to

forcibly remove students and

educators suspected of being

anything but straight. Suspects

were pressed to out them­

selves and forced out of Flori­

da’s academic institutions.

Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” act,

signed into law recently by

Ron DeSantis, is just the latest

attempt to scrub the existence

of queer people from educa­

tional settings. 

julian valdivia

Fort Myers, Florida

Hollywood loses the plot

As the Ukrainian people are

bombed, driven from their

homes, and forced to live

without heat or food, Holly­

wood fusses over a beautiful

woman in a ballgown, miffed

at having been likened to an

equally beautiful star from a

movie that is 25 years old

(“Have the Oscars lost their

way?”, digital editions, March

28th). Said beautiful woman’s

husband takes it upon himself

to smack around the comedian

who made the comparison,

then wins the Oscar for best

actor, gives a tearful speech,

and basks in a standing

ovation from the room. The

next day he offers an apology

that reads as if it has been

written by a roomful of pub­

licists and lawyers. No wonder

they call it La La Land.  

margaret mcgirr

Greenwich, Connecticut

ToriesloveRussianmoney

“AbriefhistoryofLondongrad”

(March12th)reviewed“Butler

totheWorld”,Oliver

Bullough’snewbookonRus­

sianmoneyintheBritish

capital.Althoughit isobvi­

ouslya topicaltomeforthese

blightedtimes,thereviewwas

neverthelessbereftofonekey

detail:theConservativeParty’s

insatiableloveofRussian

oligarchs’cash.Likea three­

leggedchair,thereviewtop­

pledoverratherspectacularly

byomittingtherolethatthe

Torypartyhasplayedduring

itslongtenureingovernment

incourting,cuddlingand

sucklingatthebreastofhun­

dredsofRussianoligarchs.

BorisJohnsonandDavid

Camerondoappearbriefly,but

thewholesaleshovellingof

crookedcashintoBritain

underthesoletutelageofthe

Conservativesforthepast

decadeissomehowabsent.

Thereviewercallsfora

“changeofphilosophy”to

rectifysuchembraceofcrimi­

nality.Butwhosephilosophy

exactly?Yours?Mine?

nickwest

Bath

The Falklands political effect

Without the Falklands war

British politics could have

taken an even more dramatic

turn than you describe (“Not

even past”, April 2nd). Polling

day for the Beaconsfield parlia­

mentary by­election took place

on May 27th 1982, as a British

victory in the war came in

sight. The Conservative cam­

paign featured a personal

appeal from Margaret Thatcher

to “support our troops”, with

its party agent pictured in

second­world­war battle dress.

Unsurprisingly, the Liberal/

sdpAlliance candidate (me)

only achieved a respectable

second place, although relegat­

ing the Labour nominee (one

Anthony Blair) to third. Had

this previously very true blue

seat followed the pattern of

Croydon, Crosby and Hillhead

with an Alliance victory, then

it is a reasonable assumption

that the Alliance would have

out­polled Labour in the gen­

eralelectionof1983.Would

thatnothavebrokenthe

mouldoftwo­partypolitics?

paultyler

Stroud,Gloucestershire

Ablizzardofschoolclosings

TheEconomist’s nosefor

weatherisaskeenasever.The

recentflurryofactivitythat

closedAmericanschoolsfor

“snowdays”isanearlygust

froma muchlargerstorm

brewinginprimaryeducation

(“Sayit ain’tsnow”,March

19th).Weather­relatedemer­

gencyschoolclosuresare

becomingunbearablyfre­

quent.Thebestdatacome

fromCalifornia,wherethe

numberofschoolsthatclosed

forweatherrose800%from

2016 to2019.Anecdotally,

schoolclosuresduetofires,

floods,mud,heat,stormsand

snowareontheriseacrossthe

wholecountry(ahighschool

wasdestroyedrecentlybya

tornadoinJacksboro,Texas).

Remotelearning,which

manysawasa temporary

pandemicmeasure,isthebest

toolavailabletomitigatethe

effectsofclimatechangeon

education.Nowisthetimefor

communitiestopermanently

adopta remote­resilientdigi­

talcurriculumandpreparefor

a futurewhena significant

fractionoflearninghappens

remotely.Underthesurface,

thatiswhatNewYork’ssnow­

dayplanisallabout.

isaacvanwesep

President

WorkonLearning

Boston

Currency precision

The Daily Chart on “Why is the

rouble so resilient?” (March

31st) stated that the one­year

forward exchange­rate for the

Russian currency is a measure

of the market’s expected ex­

change rate, given the interest­

rate differential between Rus­

sia and America. This is not

strictly incorrect, but it is

slightly misleading. 

The forward exchange­rate

is purely a reflection of the

interest­rate differential,

based on the current spot rate.

It is an arbitrage value and not

a market prediction in itself.

All expectations of the future

value of a currency are priced

into the spot rate. 

andy hill

International Capital Market

Association

London

Europeans are doing their bit

Charlemagne chastised the

European public for “living as

if nothing were amiss” during

the energy crisis and war in

Ukraine, and urged us to do

things like turning down the

thermostat to help save fuel

(March 26th). Actually in Por­

tugal, many deaths during the

winter months are related to

low temperatures in homes.

Charlemagne made a compari­

son with the energy crisis of

the 1970s. But times have

changed since then, even if

Europeans are today living

with higher fuel prices and

raging inflation. 

This is an era of austerity

economics, coupled with a

pandemic that has especially

affected Europe’s young adults.

We face unemployment, stag­

nant salaries, surging food

costs and soaring rents. To

suggest that we aren’t sacrific­

ing anything is uncalled for.

The behaviour of Europeans is

not a cause of shame. We are

doing a lot; and note the gener­

ous European response to

Ukrainian refugees.

inês vasconcelos

Estoril, Portugal

Regarding Britain’s dismal

chilly weather and the Roman

bathhouses that tried to make

Roman Britain bearable (“Life

in a cold climate”, March 19th).

I recall from my schooldays a

Latin textbook with a cover

picture of a Roman legionnaire

with the title, “O me Miserum”.

It didn’t take a Latin scholar to

work that one out. 

david rossington

Lincoln

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