The Economist - USA (20212-12-04)

22 The Economist December 4th 2021
Letters

Letthejuriesdecide Yourpreverdictarticleonthe trialofKyleRittenhouse suggestedthattheoverarching questionofgunlawsinAmer ica,andparticularly“when shootinga personisaccept able”,isoneforthepolitical systemandnota jury(“Provok ingquestions”,November 20th).Lookingtopoliticians fora clearanswerastowhat constitutesreasonableself defenceisimpractical.These arethesamepoliticianswho, dependingonwhetherthey appearedonmsnbcorFox News,describedthetroublein Kenoshaaseithera peaceful demonstrationorriotous looting.TothesepoliticiansMr Rittenhouseiseithera vigilan techaostouristwhowantedto killinnocentpeople,ora wellmeaningyoungmanwho lookedtoprotecthiscommu nityandwasambushedby mentallyderangedcriminals. Thesearethesame politicians,includingour president,whopubliclycom municatetheiropinionabout a defendantbeforethejury’s conclusions.Theypromote narrativesthatviewshootings throughthelensofeither systemicracismorwoke fascism,pushingtheirfollow erstotaketothestreetsif the verdictdoesn’tmatchtheirs. Canwereallyexpectpoli ticianstograpplewithcom plexlegalissuescoveringthe combinationofcircumstanc es,protagonistsandweapons thatleadtoa lethalconflict? Thesearequestionsthatonlya jurycananswer,afterevaluat ingtheevidenceofthespecific conflictinquestion. tonyvenezia ParkCity,Utah

Mining in Kyrgyzstan We agree that the Kumtor gold mine is vital to Kyrgyzstan (Banyan, November 6th). We take issue, however, with the assumption that Centerra, the mine’s owner, did not engage with the Kyrgyz government about how it could best beneﬁt the country and its people. For nearly 30 years Centerra and its predecessor have operated the

Kumtorconcessioninclose cooperationwithmany Kyrgyzgovernments.Asthe largestprivateemployerin Kyrgyzstan(morethan99%of employeesareKyrgyznation als),Kumtorcontributed almost$4.5bntotheeconomy between 1994 and2020. Wehavealwaysresolved disputeswithsuccessive Kyrgyzadministrations throughnegotiationand compromise,yetthecurrent governmenthasshownno willingnesstoengageinmean ingfuldialoguesincesending secretpolicetoseizethemine onMay15th.Thegovernment’s illegalconductthreatensnot justCenterra’sinterestsbutthe futureofforeigndirect investmentinKyrgyzstan. scottperry Chiefexecutiveoﬃcer CenterraGoldInc. Toronto

Investment and rents Governments are wrong, you say, to think that allowing privateequity ﬁrms into hous ing markets will drive up rents (“Barbarians at the garden gates”, November 20th). Your reasoning implies that more investment in housing should be welcomed because it would bring down house and rental prices. This is not the case. In many countries, private equity has invested primarily, and sometimes exclusively, in existing housing stock. This was certainly the experience in the two largest European markets for privateequity investment, Germany and Spain. Landlords increased rents and often failed to main tain properties. Even when investment takes place in new construc tion rather than existing hous ing, we cannot assume that more supply automatically lowers prices. This has deﬁnitely not been the case in Spain and Ireland. Both countries heavily oversupplied housing in the runup to the 2008 crisis. Did prices fall? No. They rose well above the European average. House prices are no longer simply driven by housing

supplyanddemand,butrather bythesupplyofﬁnanceto housing.Expandingmortgage creditdrivesupprices,asdoes thearrivalofnewlandlords whothinktheycanmakemore moneythancurrentlandlords. Andinvestmentsrequire returns.Ifinvestorspaya higherpriceso,inevitably,will theirtenants. professormanuelaalbers UniversityofLeuven Leuven,Belgium

Allowingprivateequityin housingshouldnotcomeat theexpenseofthepushfor equitablehousing,especially mandatoryrequirementsfor affordablehousing.These requirethata certainpercent ageofnewlybuilthomeshave cheaprentsforpeopleonlow incomes.Thehomesina developmentthataresoldat marketratesubsidisethe affordableones,makingthe ventureprofitable.Affordable housingpoliciesallowbig fundstomakea returnwhile providinginexpensivehomes toa city’sworkingclass. anthonyhascheff NewYork

Struggling to get ahead The case for investing in social mobility in America is stronger than your brieﬁng suggests, because it rests on political as well as economic grounds (“Stuck in place”, November 6th). In a recent paper Philip McCann, who coined the term “geography of discontent”, wrote that “Social mobility is the crucial indicator of populist voting.” Contrary to popular percep tions, populist voters are not uniformly deplorable, stupid and racist; they are deeply motivated by perceptions of a rigged, socially immobile economy. Whether a citizen has an unlucky start in life or is knocked down by an economic crisis, too many Americans cannot get ahead on their own merits. Given the Democrats’ recent drubbing in Virginia, the party would do well to pivot away from condescend ing culture wars and towards a fairer economy where

opportunity is more equal and reward is allocated in line with contribution. It is important that the message of social mobility is not confused with income and wealth inequality. We have shown that the latter are poor predictors of populism. People generally prefer fair economic outcomes regardless of wheth er they are equal or unequal. eric protzer Research fellow Growth Lab John F. Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts

Spanning the ages “London’s bridges are falling down” (November 13th). Indeed. In 1282 a royal charter was granted establishing the Bridge House Estates as a charity to maintain London Bridge and subsequently other bridges leading into the City of London. Today it stewards a fund of around £1.6bn ($2.1bn). A simple solution to London’s bridge woes would be to place them in the charity’s ownership, and for the local council authorities to pay an annual fee in exchange for ongoing maintenance. calum galleitch Gordon, Scottish Borders

Business phraseology Thank you to Bartleby for his short guides to business speak (November 20th). He nailed it on the head with most of them, though I would amend this: “Do you have five minutes?” Ostensible meaning: This question will take ﬁve minutes to answer. Actual meaning: This question will take 45 minutes of discussion and two days of analysis to answer. ivan grabowski Westwood, Massachusetts

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 (20212-12-04)

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