Contents The Economist December 5th 2020 7

The world this week Britain

11 A summary of political 27 The NHS unleashed
and business news 29 Trans rights
29 The Brexit endgame
Leaders
30 Eastern European
15 Energy migrants
Make coal history
30 Cyber defence
16 Belarus
32 Retail’s decline accelerates
The colours of terror
33 Bagehot Boris’s
16 Health care
Alive and kicking organisation man
18 America and Iran
Europe
A better nuclear deal
35 An interview with
On the cover 20 “The Crown”
Belarus’s leader in exile
Truth and fiction
Celebrate the decline of coal 36 Istanbul’s next earthquake
in rich Western countries. Asia Letters 37 France’s security law
must be next: leader, page 15. 37 Dutch populism
The world is finally burning 22 On Afghanistan,
less of the stuff. It now faces diplomats, Hong Kong, 38 Charlemagne To ski or
the challenge of using almost the Democrats, the colour not to ski?
none at all: briefing, page 24 black, hipsters
United States
• How covid-19 improved the Briefing 39 The recovery falters
nhs The pandemic has pushed
24 Coal’s endgame 40 Wasting campaign cash
the NHS to breaking-point. It has
Crushing it
also brought forth a wave of 41 In praise of Congress
innovation, page 27. The world’s 42 Lead pipes in cities
most complex and immovable
43 The future of intelligence
industry has been reinventing
itself: leader, page 16 and 44 Lexington Jake Sullivan
analysis, page 62. Artificial
intelligence is solving one of The Americas
biology’s biggest challenges, 45 Artists dissent in Cuba
page 76
46 Alberta goes green
• Taiwan’s perky economy 47 Bello Argentina’s
Covid-19 has ravaged economies president without a plan
all over the world—but not
Taiwan’s, page 52
• Torture on the eu’s doorstep
Having stolen an election, Middle East & Africa
Belarus’s government is abusing 48 Biden’s ideas on Iran
those who object: leader, page 16.
An interview with Svetlana 50 Torturing refugees
Tikhanovskaya, page 35 51 Victory in Ethiopia?
51 Boko Haram kills farmers
Charlemagne Why
shutting down Europe’s
ski resorts proves so
tricky, page 38
We are working hard to
ensure that there is no dis-
ruption to print copies of
The Economist as a result of
the coronavirus. But if you
have digital access as part of
your subscription, then acti-
vating it will ensure that you
can always read the digital
version of the newspaper as
well as all of our daily jour-
nalism. To do so, visit
economist.com/activate
1 Contents continues overleaf
8 Contents The Economist December 5th 2020

Asia Finance & economics

52 Taiwan’s perky economy 69 Ping An’s fintech might
53 India’s wild inequality 71 Data and the quant boom
54 Coal in Australia 71 Biden’s economic team
55 Dynasticism in Indonesia 72 Buttonwood The case
55 Japan’s hungry ungulates for Europe
56 Banyan 50 years after a 73 Investing in royalties
novelist’s seppuku 73 India’s stockmarket rally
74 Free exchange Digital
China currencies
57 A beefier coastguard
58 Jailings in Hong Kong Science & technology
58 Hong Kong’s grand plan 76 How proteins fold
59 Chaguan The costs of 77 The Starship SN8
bullying other countries 78 Tracking fisherfolk
79 Covid-19 vaccine safety

International
60 The growth of
communal living Books & arts
80 Our books of the year
83 Books by our writers

Business
62 Digital medicine
63 Pandemic gastronomy Economic & financial indicators
64 Volkswagen’s boss 84 Statistics on 42 economies
65 US Congress v China Inc
Graphic detail
65 Chinese hospitality
85 A covid-19 vaccine and share prices
66 Salesforce gets some Slack
66 Swiss stakeholderism Obituary
67 Bartleby Managing by 86 Diego Maradona, a genius fuelled by rage
Zoom
68 Schumpeter Nestlé gets
a pick-me-up

Volume 437 Number 9223

Published since September 1843 Subscription service
to take part in “a severe contest between For our full range of subscription offers, including The best way to contact our Customer Service Please
intelligence, which presses forward, digital only or print and digital bundled, visit: team is via phone or live chat. You can contact us
and an unworthy, timid ignorance Economist.com/offers on 0333 230 9200 or 020 7576 8448; please check
obstructing our progress.” our website for up to date opening hours.
If you are experiencing problems when trying to
Editorial offices in London and also: subscribe, please visit our Help pages at: PEFC certified
Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Cairo, www.economist.com/help This copy of The Economist
Chicago, Johannesburg, Madrid, Mexico City, for troubleshooting advice. is printed on paper sourced
Moscow, Mumbai, New Delhi, New York, Paris, from sustainably managed
San Francisco, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, forests certified by PEFC
Singapore, Tokyo, Washington DC PEFC/16-33-582 www.pefc.org

Registered as a newspaper. © 2020 The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of The Economist Newspaper Limited. Published every week, except for a year-end double issue, by The Economist Newspaper Limited. The Economist is a
registered trademark of The Economist Newspaper Limited. Printed by Walstead Peterborough Limited.
Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction
prohibited without permission.