Ventilation vs Virus; China’s population problems; are we teaching kids wrong? – and the best political video ever

Grüezi! I’m Adrian Monck and welcome to this World Economic Forum newsletter.

This week...the humble window could be COVID’s worst enemy. The cost of kids – the choices as people get richer. And unearthing a weird political video that somehow appeals to both sides of America’s political divide.

Newsletters are for sharing – so please share this one!

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1?? Ventilation vs Virus

Windows are a key weapon in the war on COVID–19.

Not easy keeping the window open in northern winters, but as my nan always recommended, keep your coat on indoors!

The GIF above is from a great piece of visual journalism by El Pais explaining how the virus spreads in unaired spaces – even when masks are worn.

Put simply, when inside:

• Wear a mask;
• Open a window;
• Don’t wait around.

Meanwhile, Kate Bingham from Britain’s Vaccine Taskforce spells out in The Lancet just how uncertain the road ahead looks.

And as European countries impose new lockdowns, a fascinating look at the data behind the decision-making.

? How to rebuild post-COVID? Move on from neoliberalism, says my boss.

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2?? China’s Baby Bust

They called kids born under China’s one child policy ‘little emperors’.

But when the policy went five years ago, birth rates kept dropping. Parents blame the expense of raising kids. As China’s grown richer, the original little emperors don’t want big families.

“We exhausted almost all our money and energy on our first child,” one mother told Chinese news outlet Sixth Tone. “How could we afford to have a second one?”

Another half-joked:

“In handbag terms, I lost a Hermès Birkin bag every year.”

• “Some experts believe the decline could push China into a ‘low-fertility trap’ — an economic chain reaction wherein a growing elderly population acts as a drag on growth and sends care costs spiralling.
• “‘According to our latest research, we believe China has already fallen into the low-fertility trap,’ says Wang Guangzhou, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. ‘A long-term low birth rate will cause rapid negative population growth, leading to huge challenges to the social and economic system.’”

Meanwhile, a Chinese writer reflects on the country’s rapid return to consumerism:

• “I thought people might have spent their time in quarantine contemplating the things that matter most in life. But apparently Chinese consumers had a different idea: they call it ‘revenge consumption’.
• In April, the Hermès flagship store at the Taikoo Hui mall in Guangzhou reopened, achieving a new sales record: 19 million RMB (US$2.8m) in one day. In August, the Louis Vuitton shop in Shanghai made 150 million RMB (US$22.3m), almost double the amount it usually takes in a month...
• Middle-class Chinese usually go abroad on holiday and to do their luxury shopping, but this year, thanks to COVID–19, the estimated $300 billion spent on overseas consumption is staying at home. This is good news for the government: boosting domestic demand is central to its latest economic strategy.”

? An ageing population faces rising ageism. How to help older adults thrive.

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3?? Clean Air Saves Lives

Pollution has raised the risk of death from COVID–19. One dirty old city is cleaning up its act.

According to estimates from scientists long term exposure to air pollution contributed to 27% of coronavirus deaths in China, 26% in Germany, 22% in Switzerland, 18% in France and the United States and just 1% in New Zealand.

? These masks won’t stop pollution, but they just might kill viruses.

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4??  Conspiracy Theories Kill More Than Brain Cells

They’re not just bad for us. They’re bad for society.

James Meek in the London Review of Books:

The danger of conspiracy theories is not that they promote action to tear down society but that they delegitimise, distract and divert: they divert large numbers of people from engaging in political action, leaving the field clear for the cynical, the greedy and the violently intolerant. They distract them from questioning authority about society’s real problems by promoting a gory soap opera as if it were real and the result of ‘research’.

? We need reform not distraction: the super-wealthy won big as COVID-19 spread.

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5??  Do we Need to Treat Disinformation Like Pollution?

One law professor thinks so.

Here’s David L. Sloss:

• “[T]he law should obligate social media companies to require customers to provide their real names and certain other identifying information when they open new accounts ... Social media users should have a legal right to use pseudonyms for communication on social media, but they should still be required to provide their real names at the account creation stage. These two requirements—the obligation to provide a real name to create an account and the right to use a pseudonym when operating that account—are entirely compatible with each other, and with First Amendment protections for anonymous speech...
• “The problem of disinformation on social media highlights one of the great ironies of the current information age. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” The protection for individual freedom that is a core liberal norm cannot exist without properly functioning democratic systems. Unrestricted free speech on social media threatens to undermine the integrity of our democratic system, which is the foundation for robust protection of individual freedom. Therefore, ironically, we must adopt seemingly illiberal policies—namely, restrictions on free speech—to protect and promote the liberal commitment to individual freedom.”

?.  Finland fights misinformation in the classroom.

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6?? Are We Teaching Our Kids the Wrong Stuff?

? 5 things to know about the future of jobs.

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7??  My Favourite Political Video Ever

Features Darren Criss and Joe Biden. Its tuneful whackiness has been shared by liberals and conservatives, so maybe comedy can heal the political divide.

(I haven’t bought a shotgun...) And in case you thought the United States’ political map was only ever coloured red or blue, here’s a quick look back over time, right up the current incumbency.

Good luck to your candidate, wherever you stand on the political divide.

? No shotguns were discharged in the studio on our podcast World vs Virus. It’s just Robin and the regulars. They also have a new podcast series out – The Great Reset. Take a listen!

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Hope you’ve liked this week’s content, 

Adrian

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With thanks to all those folks without whose encouragement and critical feedback this newsletter would never get written.