The Economist - USA (2019-12-21)

The EconomistDecember 21st 2019 5

1 Contents continues overleaf

Contents

The world this year

8 A look back at the

political and business

newsof 2019

Leaders

13 Technology and society

Pessimism v progress

14 Boeing’s bet backfires

Maxed out

14 British politics

Boris Johnson’s northern

strategy

15 Homelessness

Mean streets

16 Country of the year

Theimprovementprize

Letters

20 On purposeful firms,

aircraft-carriers, dogs,

ice-skating, Singapore,

Oxford, “Macbeth”

United States

39 The border wall

41 Gun control

41 A win for au pairs

42 Missile-testing

44 LexingtonFahrenheit

Wisconsin

The Americas

49 Stable Venezuela

50 Canadian cannabis

comes off a high

Asia

51 America and North Korea

52 Uzbekistan votes

53 Kangaroo carnage

53 The future of Bougainville

China

54 Minimum wages

55 Political vloggers

56 ChaguanThe

communism problem

Middle East & Africa

74 Diplomacy in the Gulf

75 Mercy for Omar al-Bashir

76 Trying a warlord in Congo

76 Pachyderm-poo gin

BartlebyAn inspiring

holiday message from

Buck Passer, cheerleader

extraordinaire, page 91

Holiday specials

22 Hot-metal printing

26 The death-row sleuth

29 The $17bn chip factory

31 Enigmatic eels

34 China and the piano

37 Planets on the move

57 Essay: Beware the Borg

63 Africa’s melting-pot

66 Setting climbers’ routes

69 A Cockney Brigadoon

72 Our Christmas quiz

101 Eucalyptus Road

104 Leonora Carrington

107 Dubbing returns

111 The ironies of Siberia

115 Liberal Ireland