The Economist Magazine Cover For 12-7-2024

The Economist Read in browser December 7th 2024 How we chose this week’s image SUBSCRIBER ONLY Cover Story How we chose this week’s image Insert a clear and simple description of the image Zanny Minton Beddoes Editor-in-chief We had two covers this week. In Europe we examined the wreckage of French politics amid a government collapse. In America and Asia we reported on a boom in gambling. As the week drew on, it became increasingly clear that Michel Barnier would become the shortest-serving prime minister in the history of the Fifth Republic. Sure enough, on Wednesday evening, his government was sacked by the parliament. With no party or alliance close to a majority in the National Assembly, France now faces a series of short-lived minority governments that will struggle to accomplish anything. Amid the political implosion, 50 national leaders were due to assemble in Paris to witness France at its best. They would be celebrating the reopening of Notre Dame, Paris’s 12th-century Gothic cathedral, gutted by fire five years ago but now restored with astonishing speed and loving skill. Our first thoughts were to bring these contrasting events together. We started with a cathedral rising from the rubble, but that was too triumphant for a country that is mired in crisis. We tried France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, as a grimacing gargoyle. It was his terrible miscalculation to call a snap election six months ago that led to this impasse—which, the constitution says, cannot be broken by another poll until July at the earliest. However, the drama goes broader than Mr Macron, and we thought that the allusion to Notre Dame’s roof-top statuary might be obscure. This coq inattentif is an alternative. France’s underlying problem is that most voters are unwilling to face economic reality. This year the budget deficit is forecast to exceed 6% of GDP. Mr Barnier, at Mr Macron’s behest, was trying to fix that by bringing down the deficit by a percentage point or so. Yet even that was too much for the hard-right National Rally party and the left-wing alliance. They would rather chase power by fanning popular discontent. This Metro sign was pithier. For the final cover, our artist did an excellent job of setting it in a Haussmannesque boulevard. It is hard to see how France can resolve its problems. Until voters rediscover the merits of frugality, they will go on voting for the fantasies peddled by the extremes. President after president has failed to get the budget under control. An ageing population and growing threats to national security mean that the fiscal burden will grow. The country’s obstructive political theatrics are accelerating the drift to the extremes. As our editorial observed, in one way or another, much of Europe is caught in the same wretched trap. The surge in gambling in America is quite astonishing. This year Americans are on track to wager nearly $150bn on sports, having bet a paltry $7bn in 2018. Another $80bn is being bet in online casinos; in the few weeks when election gambling was legal before the presidential vote, hundreds of millions of dollars were placed on the outcome. Our cover was about what to make of it all. In part America’s boom reflects the fact that it is catching up with the rest of the world. For decades Uncle Sam confined gambling to casinos, which themselves were restricted to Las Vegas, tribal reservations or riverboats. This design illustrates the other reason for the boom, which is technology. The ability to bet using your smartphone, and from the stadium or the comfort of your own sofa, has boosted bookmakers and online casinos everywhere. The design is clever, but the smartphone at the bottom of the pack is hard to make out—and besides, these hands seem to belong to a prestidigitator rather than a punter. In this cover the bettor and the smartphone are much clearer. Many people see gambling as a vice that ensnares the poor. For them, taking a punt is an indicator of economic immiseration, and the loosening of prohibitions is a mistake that must be corrected as soon as possible. For us, freedom is not only measured by speech and political liberty, but also by the ability to spend your money as you wish. It is true that, for some, gambling is a ruinous addiction and that America has a habit of rushing into liberalisation before it has put enough guardrails in place. However, the lesson from other countries is not to ban gambling altogether, but to regulate it. That is how America treats other vices, like alcohol, which are responsible for far more catastrophic harm. We were keen to get across the idea that the betting boom is partly about sports. Sports-betting is a far cry from sitting at a machine, alone, feeding quarters into a slot. Surveys show that 40% of Americans say they have taken part in what is often a communal activity. The soccer players are not quite right, though. Although this boom is global, it is at its most exuberant in America. So we switched from soccer to American football and doubled the dice. Place your bets! Cover image • View large image (“France steps into the unknown”) • View large image (“America’s gambling frenzy”) Backing stories → France steps into deep trouble (Leader) → Emmanuel Macron loses another prime minister (Europe) → America’s gambling boom should be celebrated, not feared (Leader) → Gambling is growing like gangbusters in America (Briefing)