The banking system we take for granted is unfixable. The good news is that we no longer need to rely on any private, rent-seeking, socially destabilizing network of banks, at least not the way we have so far.
shows why the current private system is unfixable – and why we don’t need to tolerate it anymore.
Like Vladimir Putin, China's leader is so steeped in a narrative of victimhood and fearful of appearing weak that it is hard to imagine him ever leading China out of the mess he has created. He could well be remembered as the leader who squandered history's most remarkable economic success story.
about the country's increasingly worrisome trajectory, both at home and abroad.
Artificial IdiocyFrank Rumpenhorst/picture alliance via Getty Images
发自芝加哥——上月中国新冠清零政策的终结为近三年的各种限制措施划上了一个动荡的句号。此举的突然性几乎超出了所有人意料。整个过程本可以更为循序渐进,从大规模强制封锁慢慢转变为自愿自我隔离和保持社交距离等更加灵活的政策,但政府实际上把谨慎抛到了九霄云外。
结果就是中国如今遭遇了自新冠疫情开始以来全世界范围其中一个最严重的爆发状况。在短短几周内就有数亿人感染,许多专家预计死亡人数将超过一百万。中国社交媒体上充斥着令人痛心的死亡和医院不堪重负的图片。虽然确切的感染和死亡数字尚不明确,但是整体局面是不可否认的:中国民众正在挣扎求生。
这让人想起许多其他国家在疫情头几周所经历的状况。但与大多数发达经济体不同,中国社会和经济结构的一些主要特点致使普通家庭特别难以应对病毒。
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