The Economist Continental Europe Edition November 20, 2021

Politics America’s president, Joe Biden, held talks by video link with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. It was the closest thing to a meeting between the two men since Mr Biden took office in January. Mr Xi told Mr Biden that he was ready to “take active steps” to improve relations between China and America. Mr Biden called for co-operation “where our interests intersect”, including on climate change. America’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the two leaders had agreed to “look to begin to carry forward discussions on strategic stability”. He appeared to mean that America and China would explore talks on nuclear-arms control. A court in Hong Kong sentenced Ma Chun-man to nearly six years in prison for violating the territory’s national-security law by chanting slogans calling for the territory’s…

“KEEP YOUR eye on one thing and one thing only: how much government is spending,” Milton Friedman once said. Today his eyes would be popping. Governments have spent $17trn on the pandemic, including loans and guarantees, for a combined total of 16% of global GDP. On current forecasts, government spending will be greater as a share of GDP in 2026 than it was in 2006 in every major advanced economy. America is about to put $1.8trn into expanding its welfare state; Europe is doling out a €750bn ($850bn) investment fund; and Japan is promising a “new capitalism”, with even more government largesse. In the coming decades the state’s economic footprint will expand yet further. Four-fifths of the world economy is now subject to a net-zero emissions target, a goal that in…

Politics America’s president, Joe Biden, held talks by video link with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. It was the closest thing to a meeting between the two men since Mr Biden took office in January. Mr Xi told Mr Biden that he was ready to “take active steps” to improve relations between China and America. Mr Biden called for co-operation “where our interests intersect”, including on climate change. America’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the two leaders had agreed to “look to begin to carry forward discussions on strategic stability”. He appeared to mean that America and China would explore talks on nuclear-arms control. A court in Hong Kong sentenced Ma Chun-man to nearly six years in prison for violating the territory’s national-security law by chanting slogans calling for…

“V ULTURES OUT” read one of the many placards young protesters waved at a recent rally in Dublin. The cause of their anger was spiralling rents in the Irish capital, pushed higher as the fastest growth in house prices in years has made renting more attractive. The sentiment is spreading. Private-equity firms, insurance companies, pension funds and other institutional investors that have snapped up residential property during the pandemic are becoming the butt of resentment in rich countries. As their share of the residential-property market has grown, so has the backlash. Some blame big landlords for soaring rents. Others accuse them of exploiting crisis for profit. Policymakers have been fast to respond (see Finance & economics section). The White House wants to restrict the types of properties that large investors are…

IN MANY WESTERN countries, politicians, soldiers and veterans gather every November to pay tribute to comrades killed fighting for their country. Among those commemorated this year were more than 3,500 troops from America and its allies who died in Afghanistan before the West’s humiliating retreat this summer. And among those paying tribute, far from the Cenotaph in London or the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, were dusty Western soldiers in small garrisons across a swathe of Africa. With the formalities over, they resumed their posts among almost 9,000 European and American troops on the front line of what is now the West’s biggest offensive against jihadists, in the Sahel. It is not going well (see Middle East & Africa section). How it will end depends in no small part on…

FOR MOST of this century Chile was a stable and predictable country, with steady economic growth and moderate politics. Outsiders saw it as a success story and a model for Latin America. But that stable Chile disappeared two years ago, in an explosion of massive and sometimes violent protests. Discontent had built up and politicians seemed unable to deal with slower growth and narrowing opportunities, especially for younger people. A plan to hold a convention to write a new constitution calmed the protests and seemed to offer a peaceful solution to the sort of grievances that have afflicted many countries in recent years. But Chile has yet to recover its balance, as a polarised presidential election on November 21st is likely to show. In a vote for the constitutional convention in…