The Economist Asia Edition May 21, 2022

Politics Finland and Sweden both formally submitted their applications to join NATO. The two Nordic countries had stayed outside the alliance since its inception in 1949, for fear of provoking the Kremlin. But since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, Swedes and Finns have decided they would be safer inside than out. Rapid acceptance of the two wouldbe members is expected, although Turkey is raising objections. NATO’s border with Russia will double in length. Russian forces pulled back from the area around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city. It is no longer in range of Russian artillery, having been pounded since the start of the war in February. Elsewhere, the invaders continued to make slow progress. In Mariupol more than 250 fighters, who had been holed up in the Azovstal steel works, surrendered. An…

BY INVADING UKRAINE, Vladimir Putin will destroy the lives of people far from the battlefield—and on a scale even he may regret. The war is battering a global food system weakened by covid-19, climate change and an energy shock. Ukraine’s exports of grain and oilseeds have mostly stopped and Russia’s are threatened. Together, the two countries supply 12% of traded calories. Wheat prices, up 53% since the start of the year, jumped a further 6% on May 16th, after India said it would suspend exports because of an alarming heatwave. The widely accepted idea of a cost-of-living crisis does not begin to capture the gravity of what may lie ahead. Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, warned on May 18th that the coming months threaten “the spectre of a global…

FOR FINLAND and Sweden to join NATO is a rebuke to the anti­ NATO arguments of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. Two countries that are proud of their long history of military nonalignment think the risk of antagonising their neighbour to the east is outweighed by the security they will gain. It is the direct result of the invasion of Ukraine, which Mr Putin ordered ostensibly to forestall NATO’s expansion. Finland and Sweden submitted their applications on May 18th. Despite Turkey’s stalling tactics, over Kurdish militants and possibly American fighter planes, their admission is likely. They will bring formidable capabilities in Arctic warfare and, in Finland’s case, the largest artillery force in Europe. Membership will more than double the length of NATO’s border with Russia. It will also make the Baltic…

FINANCIAL APHORISMS are trotted out by investors in every financial cycle. Think of “Buy the rumour, sell the fact”, or “Markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent”. These sayings have staying power because they often ring true. Today, amid a general market rout, cryptocurrency assets are collapsing in value, and the aphorism of the moment is “When the tide goes out, you find out who is swimming naked”. The crypto slump has been brutal. In November the market value of cryptocurrencies was almost $3trn. That fell to $2trn by mid-April before plunging by another 35% to just $1.3trn now. Bitcoin has briefly dipped below $29,000, its lowest since late 2020. Crypto’s detractors have long argued that it is useless—unless you are a money-launderer or con-artist—and predicted its…

CONGRESSIONAL DYSFUNCTION can cause chaos in America. Look at illegal immigration, where the law strands 10.5m unauthorised migrants in limbo, with little chance of deportation or the legal status that confers the right to work. In the absence of legislation, presidents oscillate wildly. Barack Obama sought to declare almost half of the unauthorised population exempt from deportation and eligible to work. Donald Trump turned the screws the other way, and tried deterring migrants by heartlessly separating parents from children. President Joe Biden is facing dissent from Democrats fearful of Republican attacks if, as planned, he ends a pandemic-response measure called Title 42 on May 23rd. This lets American border police expel asylumseekers and other migrants on public-health grounds. America’s federalist system wisely leaves much room to the states to act…

IN AUCKLAND, the largest city in New Zealand, public-transport fares have been cut in half. In London politicians leave passive-aggressive notes on civil servants’ desks telling them to turn up for work and implore people to start going back to the office. Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, has asked bank bosses to set an example by riding the subway. None of it seems to be working. The subway is only twothirds as busy as it was before covid-19. Auckland’s bus system was half as busy in April as it was three years earlier. Despite fears of “carmageddon”, people have not swapped public transport for the private kind. They are simply moving around less (see Britain section). Although travel is likely to recover a little further, a return to…