title: European Spring: Why Our Economies and Politics are in a Mess  and How to Put Them Right
author:  Philippe Legrain 
description: Philippe Legrain is an independent thinker and communicator who also has practical experience of policymaking at the highest level. From February 2011 to February 2014, he was independent economic adviser to the President of the European Commission and head of the team that provides the president with strategic policy advice. He is also the author of three critically acclaimed books  Open World: The Truth about Globalisation (2002); Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them (2007); and Aftershock: Reshaping the World Economy After the Crisis (2010). He tweets as @plegrain. For more details, see philippelegrain.com/about/
zlib_text: MARCH 7TH–13TH 2020
  Joe Biden’s remarkable comeback
  Why NATO should help Turkey
  The battle for African democracy
  Boris and the budget
  
  The Economist March 7th 2020
  3
  Contents continues overleaf
  1
  Contents
  The world this week
  7 A summary of political
  and business news
  Leaders
  9 The pandemic
  The right medicine for
  the world economy
  10 American politics
  Joe Biden redux
  10 The war in Syria
  An ally in need
  12 Britain’s budget
  Be bold, Boris
  14 African democracy
  How to beat the Big Men
  Letters
  16 On telecoms, Ireland,
  Singapore, America,
  bananas, Brazil, oil
  Brieﬁng
  19 Covid-19
  New world curriculum
  Britain
  23 Why the bond markets
  like Britain
  24 Coronavirus preppers
  25 Brexit negotiations
  25 Priti Patel’s bust-up with
  the bureaucracy
  26 Putting the wiggles back
  in rivers
  27 Selling experiences 
  28 Bagehot Rishi Sunak,
  man of the world
  Europe
  29 Turkey’s refugees head
  for Europe
  30 The virus and the euro
  area
  31 Has Sinn Fein changed?
  31 Slovakia’s upset election
  32 A citizens’ assembly in
  Fr