THE POLITICS of technology in America are becoming ever more febrile. Big tech companies have long been accused of abusing dominant market positions; four were grilled by a congressional committee last week. Social-media firms are beset by allegations of bias. And the administration of President Donald Trump regards China’s growing technological prowess as a threat to both America’s competitiveness and its national security.

In recent days the anti-Chinese theme has taken a new twist: Microsoft looks likely to buy the American assets of TikTok, a Chinese-made social-media app that teenagers around the world find addictive. Mr Trump, who has threatened to “close down” the app on September 15th unless it is bought by a “very American” company, has blessed the idea. In a further Trumpian turn he has also demanded that the Treasury should get “a very large percentage of the purchase price”, having been responsible for bringing the deal about.

THE POLITICS of technology in America are becoming ever more febrile. Big tech companies have long been accused of abusing dominant market positions; four were grilled by a congressional committee last week. Social-media firms are beset by allegations of bias. And the administration of President Donald Trump regards China’s growing technological prowess as a threat to both America’s competitiveness and its national security.

In recent days the anti-Chinese theme has taken a new twist: Microsoft looks likely to buy the American assets of TikTok, a Chinese-made social-media app that teenagers around the world find addictive. Mr Trump, who has threatened to “close down” the app on September 15th unless it is bought by a “very American” company, has blessed the idea. In a further Trumpian turn he has also demanded that the Treasury should get “a very large percentage of the purchase price”, having been responsible for bringing the deal about.

THE POLITICS of technology in America are becoming ever more febrile. Big tech companies have long been accused of abusing dominant market positions; four were grilled by a congressional committee last week. Social-media firms are beset by allegations of bias. And the administration of President Donald Trump regards China’s growing technological prowess as a threat to both America’s competitiveness and its national security.

In recent days the anti-Chinese theme has taken a new twist: Microsoft looks likely to buy the American assets of TikTok, a Chinese-made social-media app that teenagers around the world find addictive. Mr Trump, who has threatened to “close down” the app on September 15th unless it is bought by a “very American” company, has blessed the idea. In a further Trumpian turn he has also demanded that the Treasury should get “a very large percentage of the purchase price”, having been responsible for bringing the deal about.

THE POLITICS of technology in America are becoming ever more febrile. Big tech companies have long been accused of abusing dominant market positions; four were grilled by a congressional committee last week. Social-media firms are beset by allegations of bias. And the administration of President Donald Trump regards China’s growing technological prowess as a threat to both America’s competitiveness and its national security.

In recent days the anti-Chinese theme has taken a new twist: Microsoft looks likely to buy the American assets of TikTok, a Chinese-made social-media app that teenagers around the world find addictive. Mr Trump, who has threatened to “close down” the app on September 15th unless it is bought by a “very American” company, has blessed the idea. In a further Trumpian turn he has also demanded that the Treasury should get “a very large percentage of the purchase price”, having been responsible for bringing the deal about.

Sources: US Census Bureau; MIT Election and Data Science Lab; 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Study; US Bureau of Economic Analysis; American National Election Studies; 270towin.com; Gallup; FiveThirtyEight; YouGov

Forecast by The Economist with Andrew Gelman and Merlin Heidemanns, Columbia University

THE POLITICS of technology in America are becoming ever more febrile. Big tech companies have long been accused of abusing dominant market positions; four were grilled by a congressional committee last week. Social-media firms are beset by allegations of bias. And the administration of President Donald Trump regards China’s growing technological prowess as a threat to both America’s competitiveness and its national security.

In recent days the anti-Chinese theme has taken a new twist: Microsoft looks likely to buy the American assets of TikTok, a Chinese-made social-media app that teenagers around the world find addictive. Mr Trump, who has threatened to “close down” the app on September 15th unless it is bought by a “very American” company, has blessed the idea. In a further Trumpian turn he has also demanded that the Treasury should get “a very large percentage of the purchase price”, having been responsible for bringing the deal about.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP claims that an “anti-police crusade” orchestrated by the American left has led to a “shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders and heinous crimes of violence.” On July 22nd he announced he would send a surge of federal agents to police big cities. But the evidence that America is experiencing a serious crime wave is mixed at best. Although official national crime statistics may not arrive for another year, data from some two dozen big cities compiled by David Abrams of the University of Pennsylvania show that so far this year crime overall is actually down by around 10% compared with the same period in 2015-19 (see chart).

There are some important exceptions to this decline. Non-residential burglaries spiked in early June, coinciding with anti-racist protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd, when looting of retail stores was common. Domestic violence has also probably increased. Data are sparse because only a small fraction of...

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP claims that an “anti-police crusade” orchestrated by the American left has led to a “shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders and heinous crimes of violence.” On July 22nd he announced he would send a surge of federal agents to police big cities. But the evidence that America is experiencing a serious crime wave is mixed at best. Although official national crime statistics may not arrive for another year, data from some two dozen big cities compiled by David Abrams of the University of Pennsylvania show that so far this year crime overall is actually down by around 10% compared with the same period in 2015-19 (see chart).

There are some important exceptions to this decline. Non-residential burglaries spiked in early June, coinciding with anti-racist protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd, when looting of retail stores was common. Domestic violence has also probably increased. Data are sparse because only a small fraction of...

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP claims that an “anti-police crusade” orchestrated by the American left has led to a “shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders and heinous crimes of violence.” On July 22nd he announced he would send a surge of federal agents to police big cities. But the evidence that America is experiencing a serious crime wave is mixed at best. Although official national crime statistics may not arrive for another year, data from some two dozen big cities compiled by David Abrams of the University of Pennsylvania show that so far this year crime overall is actually down by around 10% compared with the same period in 2015-19 (see chart).

There are some important exceptions to this decline. Non-residential burglaries spiked in early June, coinciding with anti-racist protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd, when looting of retail stores was common. Domestic violence has also probably increased. Data are sparse because only a small fraction of...

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP claims that an “anti-police crusade” orchestrated by the American left has led to a “shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders and heinous crimes of violence.” On July 22nd he announced he would send a surge of federal agents to police big cities. But the evidence that America is experiencing a serious crime wave is mixed at best. Although official national crime statistics may not arrive for another year, data from some two dozen big cities compiled by David Abrams of the University of Pennsylvania show that so far this year crime overall is actually down by around 10% compared with the same period in 2015-19 (see chart).

There are some important exceptions to this decline. Non-residential burglaries spiked in early June, coinciding with anti-racist protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd, when looting of retail stores was common. Domestic violence has also probably increased. Data are sparse because only a small fraction of...

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP claims that an “anti-police crusade” orchestrated by the American left has led to a “shocking explosion of shootings, killings, murders and heinous crimes of violence.” On July 22nd he announced he would send a surge of federal agents to police big cities. But the evidence that America is experiencing a serious crime wave is mixed at best. Although official national crime statistics may not arrive for another year, data from some two dozen big cities compiled by David Abrams of the University of Pennsylvania show that so far this year crime overall is actually down by around 10% compared with the same period in 2015-19 (see chart).

There are some important exceptions to this decline. Non-residential burglaries spiked in early June, coinciding with anti-racist protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd, when looting of retail stores was common. Domestic violence has also probably increased. Data are sparse because only a small fraction of...

THE BIG MAC index was invented by The Economist in 1986 as a lighthearted guide to whether currencies are at their “correct” level. It is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity (PPP), the notion that in the long run exchange rates should move towards the rate that would equalise the prices of an identical basket of goods and services (in this case, a burger) in any two countries.

Sources: US Census Bureau; MIT Election and Data Science Lab; 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Study; US Bureau of Economic Analysis; American National Election Studies; 270towin.com; Gallup; FiveThirtyEight; YouGov

Forecast by The Economist with Andrew Gelman and Merlin Heidemanns, Columbia University

SINCE LAUNCHING a policy on “misleading information” in May, Twitter has clashed with President Donald Trump. When he described mail-in ballots as “substantially fraudulent”, the platform told users to “get the facts” and linked to articles that proved otherwise. After Mr Trump threatened looters with death—“when the looting starts, the shooting starts”—Twitter said his tweet broke its rules against “glorifying violence”. On July 28th the site took down a tweet by Donald Trump junior promoting a malaria drug for covid-19 that plenty of studies discredit.

The president says that “social media platforms totally silence conservatives’ voices.” However, a study by The Economist finds the opposite. Twitter’s feed used to show people the latest posts from accounts they followed, but in 2016 it launched an algorithm to serve “relevant” tweets to users, even if they were days old and from unfamiliar accounts. We compared the two systems, and found that the recommendation engine...

Whether it is a second wave or just the continuation of the first, one thing is certain: covid-19 in America is getting worse. On July 23rd the number of confirmed cases in the country surpassed 4m, with new infections increasing at an alarming rate of 70,000 a day. President Donald Trump, who has sought to downplay the severity of the pandemic, conceded on July 21st that things “will get worse before they get better”.

SINCE LAUNCHING a policy on “misleading information” in May, Twitter has clashed with President Donald Trump. When he described mail-in ballots as “substantially fraudulent”, the platform told users to “get the facts” and linked to articles that proved otherwise. After Mr Trump threatened looters with death—“when the looting starts, the shooting starts”—Twitter said his tweet broke its rules against “glorifying violence”. On July 28th the site took down a tweet by Donald Trump junior promoting a malaria drug for covid-19 that plenty of studies discredit.

The president says that “social media platforms totally silence conservatives’ voices.” However, a study by The Economist finds the opposite. Twitter’s feed used to show people the latest posts from accounts they followed, but in 2016 it launched an algorithm to serve “relevant” tweets to users, even if they were days old and from unfamiliar accounts. We compared the two systems, and found that the recommendation engine...

SINCE LAUNCHING a policy on “misleading information” in May, Twitter has clashed with President Donald Trump. When he described mail-in ballots as “substantially fraudulent”, the platform told users to “get the facts” and linked to articles that proved otherwise. After Mr Trump threatened looters with death—“when the looting starts, the shooting starts”—Twitter said his tweet broke its rules against “glorifying violence”. On July 28th the site took down a tweet by Donald Trump junior promoting a malaria drug for covid-19 that plenty of studies discredit.

The president says that “social media platforms totally silence conservatives’ voices.” However, a study by The Economist finds the opposite. Twitter’s feed used to show people the latest posts from accounts they followed, but in 2016 it launched an algorithm to serve “relevant” tweets to users, even if they were days old and from unfamiliar accounts. We compared the two systems, and found that the recommendation engine...

CORONAVIRUS-INDUCED lockdowns shuttered factories and halted daily commutes across much of the world in March and April. As a result, global electricity use is expected to drop by 5% this year, according to the Institute for Economic Affairs, a think-tank with its headquarters in London. City-dwellers have enjoyed cleaner air thanks to dramatically lower levels of air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide. The clearer, sunnier skies have also helped boost solar generation in many places to record highs.

Whether it is a second wave or just the continuation of the first, one thing is certain: covid-19 in America is getting worse. On July 23rd the number of confirmed cases in the country surpassed 4m, with new infections increasing at an alarming rate of 70,000 a day. President Donald Trump, who has sought to downplay the severity of the pandemic, conceded on July 21st that things “will get worse before they get better”.

AT THE beginning of spring much of Europe shut down to slow the spread of covid-19, which has infected nearly 3m people and taken the lives of about 200,000 in the continent’s 54 countries and territories, from the Atlantic to the Urals. The first wave of infections appears largely to have abated. Countries are returning to some semblance of normality—albeit with social-distancing measures in place. Now that governments are loosening restrictions on their citizens, the fear is that the virus could return.

CORONAVIRUS-INDUCED lockdowns shuttered factories and halted daily commutes across much of the world in March and April. As a result, global electricity use is expected to drop by 5% this year, according to the Institute for Economic Affairs, a think-tank with its headquarters in London. City-dwellers have enjoyed cleaner air thanks to dramatically lower levels of air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide. The clearer, sunnier skies have also helped boost solar generation in many places to record highs.

SINCE LAUNCHING a policy on “misleading information” in May, Twitter has clashed with President Donald Trump. When he described mail-in ballots as “substantially fraudulent”, the platform told users to “get the facts” and linked to articles that proved otherwise. After Mr Trump threatened looters with death—“when the looting starts, the shooting starts”—Twitter said his tweet broke its rules against “glorifying violence”. On July 28th the site took down a tweet by Donald Trump junior promoting a malaria drug for covid-19 that plenty of studies discredit.

The president says that “social media platforms totally silence conservatives’ voices.” However, a study by The Economist finds the opposite. Twitter’s feed used to show people the latest posts from accounts they followed, but in 2016 it launched an algorithm to serve “relevant” tweets to users, even if they were days old and from unfamiliar accounts. We compared the two systems, and found that the recommendation engine...

Whether it is a second wave or just the continuation of the first, one thing is certain: covid-19 in America is getting worse. On July 23rd the number of confirmed cases in the country surpassed 4m, with new infections increasing at an alarming rate of 70,000 a day. President Donald Trump, who has sought to downplay the severity of the pandemic, conceded on July 21st that things “will get worse before they get better”.

SINCE LAUNCHING a policy on “misleading information” in May, Twitter has clashed with President Donald Trump. When he described mail-in ballots as “substantially fraudulent”, the platform told users to “get the facts” and linked to articles that proved otherwise. After Mr Trump threatened looters with death—“when the looting starts, the shooting starts”—Twitter said his tweet broke its rules against “glorifying violence”. On July 28th the site took down a tweet by Donald Trump junior promoting a malaria drug for covid-19 that plenty of studies discredit.

The president says that “social media platforms totally silence conservatives’ voices.” However, a study by The Economist finds the opposite. Twitter’s feed used to show people the latest posts from accounts they followed, but in 2016 it launched an algorithm to serve “relevant” tweets to users, even if they were days old and from unfamiliar accounts. We compared the two systems, and found that the recommendation engine...