October 27th 2022

The Economist this week

Highlights from the latest issue

When Ian Dury and the Blockheads listed their “Reasons to be cheerful, Pt. 3”, they included “cheese and pickle” (a popular British sandwich filling), “slap and tickle” (a popular pastime) and “a bit of grin and bear it” (a reference to British stoicism). We borrowed the song title for our British cover this week, for the country will need a bit of stoicism. Its third prime minister in less than two months, Rishi Sunak, is widely praised for being decent and competent. But for a head of government to have such qualities should be a given, not an ambition. Mr Sunak is fiscally sober, but has a penchant for bad policies, notably Brexit. He inherits an economy whose indicators are all flashing red. He may be able to restore stability after his predecessor, Liz Truss, did more damage per day in office than any previous premier. But Britain needs more. Our editorial offers some suggestions. 
   
America’s midterm elections are less than a fortnight away, and the soaring cost of the weekly shop is dominating voters’ daily lives. Our cover story in the United States and Asia looks at two years of Bidenomics. President Joe Biden’s colossal economic stimulus helped stoke the inflation that could cost the Democrats control of Congress. His industrial policy has praiseworthy aims: to compete with China and curb climate change. But it is too dirigiste and includes a flaw that weakens the whole enterprise: protectionism. It is as if, having correctly identified the destination, Mr Biden has tied his legs together before setting off. 
 
Our third cover this week asks whether Iranian women will win. The protests rocking the Islamic Republic, sparked by the death in custody of a woman who was arrested for failing to cover her hair, are far from the first the regime has faced. In the past, it has always managed to crush unrest by killing, torturing and censoring. But there are reasons for thinking this time may be different. Today’s protests are nationwide, persistent and involve people of every ethnic group and from all walks of life. They are also led by women. Simply by doffing or burning their hijabs, they can send a message of defiance that spreads virally, inspiring all who chafe at clerical rule. And if the ailing, unpopular supreme leader orders the security forces to shoot masses of women in the street, it is unclear whether they will obey. The world should be prepared for the possibility that this is the beginning of the end for a joyless, terrorism-sponsoring theocracy.

Zanny Minton Beddoes
Editor-in-chief

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The world this week

More than 230 people have been killed and over 12,000 have been arrested, according to tallies by human-rights groups, as protests rage on in Iran. The movement against the ayatollahs’ regime has largely been led by women. In response to the violence, America has lengthened the list of individuals and groups subject to sanctions. The ruling clerics seem uncertain whether to give ground or crack down more fiercely.

More from Politics this week

Adidas, a German sportswear-maker, joined Balenciaga, a fashion label owned by Kering, a luxury-goods conglomerate, in cutting ties with Kanye West, a rapper and fashion designer, for his anti-semitic remarks. The decision is set to cut Adidas’s annual profits in half this year.

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