The Economist Cover For 6-18-2022

 

Cover Story How we chose this week’s image

This week we had two covers: one on the reinvention of globalisation and the other about Latin America and the warning it holds for the West. First, globalisation. The pandemic and war in Ukraine have triggered a once-in-a-generation reimagining of global capitalism. Everywhere you look, supply chains are being transformed, from the $9trn in inventories, stockpiled as insurance against shortages and inflation, to the fight for workers as global firms shift from China into Vietnam. This new model of globalisation is about security, not efficiency: it prioritises doing business with people you can rely on, in countries your government is friendly with.

These two ideas depict that icon of globalisation, the container ship, either breaking apart or doing a U-turn. But we worried that the first image was going a bit too far: this is not the end of globalisation, but a reconfiguration of it. Similarly, the U-turn was not quite right—and we worried that the bendy ship looked more like a worm, and might not be identifiable.

Global supply chains are central to the argument, but they are hard to show visually. Having a link in the chain being broken, as a container ship changes course, was a bit of a mixed metaphor. And highlighting the crucial role played by ships and planes as links in global supply chains is accurate, but fails to reflect the fact that change is under way.

The idea of reconfiguration is neatly captured by these images based on classic puzzles: a wooden block puzzle that must be assembled to make a sphere, and a Rubik’s cube. The wooden puzzle suggests that the world is being remade, but the outcome could be messy, which aligns well with our argument. The Rubik’s cube made of shipping containers signals a jumbling-up of global trade, and the difficulty of finding the right configuration. We decided to develop both these options further.

The wooden puzzle is shaping up nicely. Rotating some planes of the Rubik’s cube, and floating it in space, has made it look more dynamic. But we worried that readers might not recognise the fact that it is made of shipping containers, because containers are not cubes, but rectangular boxes. We felt the first idea worked better, and opted for that, with a different headline and a punchier typeface. The unfinished nature of the puzzle suggests that change is under way, the outcome is uncertain and there is still much to play for. This new configuration of globalisation could descend into protectionism, big government and worsening inflation. But if firms and politicians show restraint, it could change the world economy for the better, keeping the benefits of openness while improving resilience. In our Latin American edition this week we consider the region’s vicious circle of economic stagnation and popular frustration, and the warning this offers to the West. The kind of polarised choice facing voters in this weekend’s presidential run-off in Colombia has become worryingly familiar in Latin American elections. There no longer seem to be many takers for the moderation, compromise and gradual reform needed to become prosperous and peaceful. That matters not just to Latin America, but to the world.

A ballot box being crushed under an authoritarian boot, or rusting away, signals that democracy is in trouble. The boot image, however, could perhaps be taken to mean that authoritarians are being tripped up by the ballot box, and there is nothing about this cover that is specific to Latin America. The rusting ballot box shows the continent’s shape though.

A withered pot plant, with its leaves representing different countries in the region, neatly conveys the idea that democracy must be tended carefully if it is to survive and flourish. And just as a dried-out plant can be miraculously revived by the timely deployment of a watering can, the suggestion here is that it is not too late to turn things around. The dried-out leaf similarly suggests neglect and decay. But might it give the impression that the focus of our story is environmental decay, or the fate of the Amazon?

An unhappy face, with eyes made of scales tipping in favour of autocracy rather than democracy, is visually striking, but does not indicate that we are talking about Latin America in particular. The flags of the region, arranged in a downward spiral, are meant to signal decline, but from a distance they might look more like a tentacle, or the tendril of a vine. We decided to focus on the rusting ballot box and the dried-out leaf.

The ballot box looks good. And the leaf has been redrawn to emphasise that what was once green and vibrant is drying up. The headline makes it clear that this is not an environmental story but is about Latin American democracy. We decided to go with the leaf, on the basis that the ballot box might wrongly imply that the problem has to do with the rigging of elections. The inclusion of a weevil crawling towards the leaf adds to the sense of decay. Despite everything, Latin America remains largely democratic and should be a natural ally of the West. But countries in the region have suffered a decade of stagnation or slow growth, and their politicians, who are widely seen as corrupt and self-serving, have been unable to agree on the reforms needed to make Latin America’s economies more efficient. The consolidation of democracy used to be seen as a one-way street. But Latin America shows that democracies can easily decay—and that is a warning for democrats everywhere.

Cover image • View large image (“Reinventing globalisation”) • View large image (“How democracies decay”)

Zanny Minton Beddoes Editor-in-chief