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August 10
Far-ranging, August 6th
SIR —
China lacks the necessary naval capacity to invade of Taiwan. They have many aircraft, but they, like most of their weapon platforms, are obsolete by Western standards. They lack the necessary air cover to provide the invasion force with air superiority. Their land forces are limited by the eroding effect of time. Their vast inventory of tanks are mostly Soviet models from the 1950s. China's many missiles are aging quickly. They are pouring money into their military, but most of it goes directly to new systems that usually take years, if not decades, to enter front-line service, thus having the effect of eroding their current capability.
Raul Colón
Where black and brown collide, August 4th
SIR —
Lest we forget or lest we remember?, August 4th
SIR —
Your article concludes that the Rwandan people who survived the civil war were lucky to have a gene that partially disabled their emotional memories. The question is, was this luck a matter of intelligent design or natural selection? If there were data on the genetics of the population that did not survive, one or the other of these two hypotheses would be falsified.
George D. Turner
Oakland, California
How to help the poorest, August 4th
SIR —
Your review of Paul Collier's new book failed to mention the most important positive consequence of aid: its potential to improve economic policy. The contradiction of aid is that is it most needed where it is least likely to be well used. Countries with good policies can do well without aid; countries with bad policies are likely to see the aid siphoned off before it reaches those it is supposed to benefit.
When aid does make a difference, it operates through the conditions attached to it, a mechanism reviled by the pro-aid left and ignored by the anti-aid right. For example, I think the World Bank can properly take credit for helping to create the policy environment where Bangladesh's garment-export industry was able to take off. Many aid dollars may have funded unproductive projects or simply capital flight in Bangladesh, but in a concession to the donors, a piece of the economy was opened up to relatively free entry by foreign and domestic investors. And the results have been profound.
Aid buys donors a place at the policy-making table. It is there that they can exercise the influence that, at best, launches an economy into a sweet, sustainable growth spurt.
Bernard Wasow
Washington, DC
Nuclear fallout, August 4th
SIR —
There seems to be ever less doubt that nuclear power should play a greater rôle in the future, for coal is a dire substitute in view of climate change, but much needs to improve on both sides of the debate before a satisfactory resolution can be found. Unfortunately, the two recent mishaps in German nuclear power plants only cloud the issue. Environmentalists may have overreacted, but their opponents have surely underreacted. Designers, builders, and operators of nuclear power
plants must make every effort not only to develop and implement a much safer technology, but they also must assure the general public that everything has been done to make that technology safe for generations to come. Given that the latter is sorely lacking, it is difficult to be sanguine about the former. The environmentalists thus have a useful rôle to play in the debate, which you fail to fully acknowledge. Mishaps can easily turn into disasters, as Chernobyl reminds us.
Ranko Bon
Motovun, Istria, Croatia
Stirring the melting pot, August 4th
SIR —
Paul Johns
London
Five years under the thumb, July 28th
SIR —
I am surprised that economists “cannot determine” what has led to the increased scrutiny by auditors in the post-Enron era. There are many factors contributing to higher auditor skepticism, but the greatest impact has been made by the tremendous increase in fees to auditors due to section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX).
A significant portion of partner compensation at accounting firms is based on the amount of business each partner brings to the firm. Before SOX and related reforms, audit partners were challenged to keep up with their fellow consulting and tax partners as their practices earned lower fees and were subject to intense competition from rival firms. The threat of a client departing for another firm when in disagreement with audit findings was a powerful incentive for auditors to find for justification for the client’s position. In the worst cases clients such as Enron and World Com successfully used their weight as very significant customers to push the auditors to close their eyes and cover their ears.
The requirements of Section 404 resulted in a boom of business for the auditors which reduced the pressure on audit partners to be flexible with controversial positions of their clients. The unprecedented fees as a result of section 404 put audit partners in a much stronger position which enabled them to turn away noncompliant clients as well as those without the resources to meet the requirements of SOX.
Compensation of audit partners could of course be changed not to reflect the amount of business a partner is responsible for. This however would remove a powerful incentive for the best and brightest to seek out careers in auditing. The current higher compensation potential in audit departments has already resulted in an increased number of college students electing accounting as a major. Congress certainly did not intend to enrich the accounting firms with the passage of SOX, however more than any of the requirements in the act, the resulting boom of business has not only sharpened the auditors pencils but also given them strength not to break under pressure.
Paul N. Nasrani
New York
The good German, August 4th
SIR —
I admire the courage of Stauffenberg and the others in attempting to rid the world of Hitler. I would admire them even more if they had made the attempt in 1940 or 1941, rather than in 1944, when it was obvious they were no longer backing a winner.
Albert S. Kirsch
Bal Harbour Florida
SIR —
Regarding the absurd embrace and admiration of Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg as some sort of savior by the post-war ersatz Germans one is bewildered, as most of these admirers weren't there. In other words they are admiring something of which they know nothing about but embrace it to achieve some sort of vicarious relationship of good over evil.
Blatant benevolence and conspicuous consumption, August 4th
SIR —
The idea that the human brain is akin to the peacock’s tail, which you attribute to Geoffrey Miller of the University of New Mexico, is not likely to change the way people think of themselves, as you too credulously claim. Evolutionary psychologists have long toyed with that idea, as witnessed by a plethora of studies linking human intelligence and sexual selection. But the disappointing bit of Dr Miller’s recent work, which you report in quite some detail, is that he sticks to student subjects and imaginary amounts of money they can spend on charity and art, among other things. Why not focus instead on the information in the public domain about the monies spent by “real” rich men and women on charitable institutions and art collections? Many among them would be more than pleased to contribute to the research. And especially if properly acknowledged by the intrepid researchers, as Dr Miller’s theory would suggest.
Ranko Bon
Motovun, Istria, Croatia
SIR —
Your article on selfish charity is another example of sloppy thinking posing as science. Evolutionary triggers for sexual competition probably have little to do with the human drive toward charity. For instance, what causes truly anonymous charity or the immense amount of female giving? The answer is more likely to be found in dopamine, the brain chemical that seems to elicit feelings of optimism. It is well known that romantic feelings generate large amounts of dopamine and mood elevation is associated with generosity, but it works both ways: generous acts also increase dopamine. It seems likely all these researchers did is confirm that happy, optimistic thinking produces more charitable feelings than unstimulated dull feelings. Duh. Any connection to evolutionary sexual competition is simply a speculative, highly unscientific story made up to get
published. Of course that is the problem with "social science".
Social science is in itself an oxymoron. Experiments in human behavior never seem to yield truth similar to hard science. In experiments like the one reported, most often a large percentage of the subjects do not respond similarly to the statistically significant group. The actual number of
individualistic counter-responses is usually in the 30% range, often over 50%. Imagine if gravity only worked 50% of the time.
Also, most social science experiments are performed with college students under 25. Recent news research has confirmed that the neocortex, in which independent judgmental thinking occurs, does not fully mature in most people until they reach 25. This brings decades of studies in doubt.
Real science is having a hard enough time discovering truth. The world's smartest physicists still don¹t know what 94% of our material world is made of. That's why it's called "dark" matter. When we add the parlor tricks of social science to try to describe a deterministic, mechanical world of
predictable outcomes we sacrifice a genuine search for truth to superficial certainty. Arrogance and ignorance are lethal in any form.
Will Marre
San Diego, California
August 9
Double deluge, August 4th
SIR —
Smoke gets in their eyes, August 4th
SIR —
You propagate the commonly held belief that cigarette ends are responsible for arson. If you take a moment to try and burn a piece of paper with a lit cigarette you will realise that cigarettes don't
burn hot enough to start a fire (though a prevailing wind may stimulate the embers, I don't know). The most likely cause of forest blazes has not been properly examined, to my knowledge, and public policy is much the worse for it.
For example the 1989 Kings Cross enquiry found that the fire was due to the combustion of debris under a poorly maintained escalator. The press promptly blamed cigarettes and we all banned smoking on the Underground forthwith. My point is that a spark of friction was the most likely cause of the flame, and the disaster remains as likely to recur today as before.
On the subject of forest fires, one fire vector I can think of is broken glass in illegally dumped rubbish refracting naked sunlight. Much better to prosecute fly-tipping than to take some draconian discriminatory action against smokers. Also consider that forest fires have been a feature of the rural landscape for millennia, so a human causation is not even necessary. So check your facts before you pick on beleaguered smokers (some of us do actually have college degrees), and then kindly inform us of your findings afterwards.
Christopher G D Tipper
Gotcha!, August 4th
SIR —
It’s not that I’m a believer in reincarnation but I detect the presence of Robert Maxwell’s ghost in Rupert Murdoch’s campaign to capture the Wall Street Journal. I sense it in an acquisition mentality driven by unchained egotism. I feel it in the personal trait of possessiveness that motivates victory any price. I see it the acceptance of the overvaluation of property that is not necessarily born out by the fundamentals of the business. I find it in the similarity of ethical standards practiced by both men. I feel that The Economist erred in placing this story with the business news. It would have been more appropriately reported in the Obituary section under the heading, “The Wall Street Journal: The Passing of a Great Newspaper”.
Jud Hendelman
Montreux, Switzerland
They shall overcome—but perhaps not always, August 4th
SIR —
I do not contest that non-violent resistance is far from a sure strategy. As in any tactical contest, it is possible that peaceful insurgents will lost. But the exceptions highlighted in your article and the manner in which they are presented demonstrate a common misconception about the practice of non-violent resistance. In making the success and failure of mass protest central to your evaluation of movements in Belarus and Azerbaijan, you overlook the wide array of tactics that non-violent activists have used throughout the past century to slowly erode the edifices of tyranny. These brave men and women do protest, but they also disobey laws, distribute alternative newspapers, establish pirate-radio broadcasts and develop civic organisations committed to resistance. Taking to the streets can be an effective show of force, but the gradual expansion of a civil society that is organized and self-governing is what creates the social space for political resistance.
The goal of non-violent protest is not to flood the streets. It is to sever authoritarian regimes from the most vulnerable and important piece of their political machinery: an obedient public. In Poland, Argentina, Chile and the Philippines this process of social transformation took years, sometimes decades, to succeed. All of which is to say that any attempt to write of the current struggles of ex-Soviets based on such an abbreviated reporting period can only be premature.
Matthew Cole
Northfield, Minnesota
A winning streak for Zapatero, August 4th
SIR —
In Spain ETA would never be called a "Basque separatist movement" I think that's an absolute shame. They are not a "separatist movement". They are a terrorist organization (recognised as such by the European Union and the US, and suffered as such by the Spanish for more than
50 years) and they have killed more than 900 people. They call themselves a "separatist group" which gives them the aura of idealists and fighters against a repressive regime, and which is the image they have in some places outside Spain, but that is far from reality. There are lots of nationalists (or separatists) in the Basque Country that are not murderers, and it's disgusting that you should make them equal to terrorists.
I am Spanish , now living in Melbourne, and I'm sick of newspapers that refer to ETA as a Basque separatist group. Theoretically they fight for their "freedom" and a separate Basque country, although their means of fighting through extortion and murder removes all sense from their claims and makes them just terrorists.
Amaya Unzueta
Melbourne, Australia
Continue reading “A winning streak for Zapatero, August 4th” »
A price too high, August 4th
SIR —
You argue that the United States is paying a heavy price for improving its standing with India. I would contend that the United States must do what it takes to improve ties with India, even to the point of bending the Non-Proliferation Treaty's rules. China’s potential should not be underestimated, and its growing power needs to be checked. The United States could be repeating, albeit at a different level, Henry Kissinger’s famous Sino-Soviet split. The United States is aiming to encircle China with its allies, including Australia, Japan and South Korea. Furthermore, in a world where the United States is deeply unpopular, the Indian population is one of the few that is pro-American. The United States would do well to harness its popularity among the Indian population by bring the two countries closer. Finally, India is an important representative in the developing world. Building closer ties with India could improve American standing with the nonaligned bloc. Better relations with India may be among the brightest spots of President's Bush's legacy.
Zishan Jiwani
Port Orange, Florida
In praise of usury, August 4th
SIR —
You state in light of Dean Karlan and Jonathan Zinman's study that "Despite the demanding terms on offer, those reconsidered for a loan seemed to prosper. Six to twelve months later, they were less likely to go hungry, and their chances of being in poverty fell 19%. Not concidentally, they were also more likely to have kept their jobs, perhaps because the credit helped them to overcome emergencies that might otherwise have forced them to abandon their posts."
This is all well and good, but the author fails to consider those whose quality of life did not improve. It seems a proportion of those reconsidered for loans were able, as a result of the loan, to make gains on their path from poverty, but is it not conceivable, if not entirely probable, that those who didn't make gains actually moved backwards, and that this equally can be atributed to the loans they received? This is a crucial part of the debate, and not to be ignored.
Timothy Root
London
August 7
Better late than never, August 4th
SIR —
A good time for a squeeze, August 4th
SIR —
Dirty dealing, August 4th
SIR —
Interesting as your article was (particularly in its discussion of endemic low-level corruption across China), it didn't quite go far enough in addressing the deep loathing many Chinese people harbour toward both government and corporate corruption. In a recent survey among Chinese people, corruption trumped pollution as the most serious problem in China. Finally, fu ze ren bu zai, does not translate to anything quite as eloquent as “the man with the key is not here”. It simply means, "the person in charge is not here".
Jason Bedford
Beijing
The elusive feel-good factor, July 28th
SIR —
Regarding your story on Peru's president, Alan Garcia, let me offer a "local perspective". In August 2006, immediately following the election, I was taking a tour in Peru. Naturally, our main tourist interest was the country's Inca history. But at each of our stops—Lima, Cuzco, and Machu Picchu—the local guides gave an overview of current Peruvian culture, economics and politics. As they discussed the political situation, each of the guides in those three locations reviewed the recent presidential election with a degree of irony, flatly stating that Alan Garcia's previous term as president was perhaps the most incompetent in recent Peruvian history. Nonetheless, the people voted for him. They believed his opponent Humala was too influenced by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, and preferred the incompetent to the puppet. Isn't that strange, that people would cast their vote based on "the lesser of two evils"? Fortunately, that only occurs in Peru, and not in other of the world's democracies.
Lost for words, July 28th
SIR —
Building on sand, July 28th
SIR —
You refer to "sturdy cement dykes". You obviously meant to say "sturdy concrete dykes". Cement is fine grey powder that is usually supplied in bags. It is used, along with other ingredients, to make concrete. This is a small point but it is a also a common mistake. I read The Economist because I believe it to be accurate and reasonably balanced. It is important that your standard of accuracy applies right down to the smallest detail.
Cloud, or silver linings, July 28th
SIR —
Your analysis of Japan’s aging population was thorough, but your prescription overlooked a simple and glaring solution: immigration. Many countries, mine included, have avoided a demographic bubble by opening their doors to skilled migrants who more than offset the economic impact of an aging native-born population. Of course, instituting a policy of immigration requires first overcoming two obstacles that may prove much greater in this particular case: xenophobia and racism.
Tim Hughes
Toronto
Gently does it, July 28th
SIR —
It comes as no surprise that The Economist looks to the private sector to improve prison conditions in the United States; corporate management efficiency seems a welcome alternative to government bureaucracy. But let us stop and think about what it means for corporations to be charged with the care of the citizens society is least interested in caring for.
When you cite overcrowding in pubic prisons, you neglect to note that since private prisons are paid per prisoner, they have a built-in financial incentive to pack in as many inmates as possible into as small a facility as possible (that's the efficiency you were lauding). Despite the endorsement of your incarcerated film projectionist, punishment-for-profit has a long history of egregious neglect and abuse, a history that dates back to well before the draconian practices of the 19C convict lease system and its offshoot, the chain gang. In 1997, for example, prison guards at a Texas Capitol Correctional Resources Incorporated facility foreshadowed Abu Ghraib by videotaping themselves beating prisoners using stun guns, cattle prods, and attack dogs. The efficiency of a profit-based enterprise had led to the hiring of security guards, many as young as 19 years old, who were paid $8 an hour and received minimal training (training is expensive) with no codified regulations on the treatment of prisoners.
The private prison industry has also created a disturbing political phenomenon: well-funded lobbyists are now cajoling state and federal legislators to endorse stricter sentencing for a broader spectrum of crimes. Whether a harsher judicial system is better for society is debatable, but surely that system should be debated on its merits for society, not on its profitability for select businesses.
Nina Billone
Berkeley, California
The lesson from Turkey, July 28th
SIR —
Your leader on Turkey’s general election praises Mr. Erdogan and his party and points out lessons the Muslim world can draw from them. In many cases connecting religion with politics has proven to be unsuccessful and in some of them even devastating. Religion should be understood from an individual point of view and should not in any way interfere with a country’s internal or external affairs. Even though the Justice and Development Party doesn’t necessarily represent a radical form of Islam, it is still a group of individuals who are connected to each other mainly by religion.The people of Turkey definitely made their choice on July 22nd. And that is the most important thing in democracy. The only thing that counts is that you have a choice.
Jure Kosec
Ljubljana, Slovenia
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