Говори и пиши как The Eсonomist

Nowadays, a Republican candidate must believe not just some but all of the following things: that abortion should be illegal in all cases; that gay marriage must be banned even in states that want it; that the 12m illegal immigrants, even those who have lived in America for decades, must all be sent home; that the 46m people who lack health insurance have only themselves to blame; that global warming is a conspiracy; that any form of gun control is unconstitutional; that any form of tax increase must be vetoed, even if the increase is only the cancelling of an expensive and market-distorting perk; that Israel can do no wrong and the "so-called Palestinians", to use Mr Gingrich's term, can do no right; that the Envi­ronmental Protection Agency, the Department of Education and others whose names you do not have to remember should be abolished Both parties must survive the cannibalistic ritual known as the primaries.

Media is awash with hysterical reports.

It turns out that the only thing that alarms Europeans more than a swag­gering American president is one who seems weak.

Asia accounted for more than half of world output for 18 of the last 20 centuries. Its growing clout in the world economy is, therefore, a "restoration" not a revolution.

How did as shrewd a politician as Mr Obama find himself stalemated? If not checkmated, so early in his presidency?

He is a democrat through and through.

His various appearances before congressional committees resembled nothing so much as the clubbing of a baby seal.

Even Major League Baseball is considering relocating its 2011 All-Star Game, the first ever slated to be played in the state. To Arizona's conservative machos, this one hurts — especially since it recalls the National Football League's decision in 1991 to move the 1993 Super Bowl to punish Arizona for not making the birth­day of Martin Luther King a holiday.

For the Democrats, this is a great opportunity. For years, they have en­joyed a consistent advantage over Republicans on "mommy" issues, such as education and health care. But Republicans have trounced them on "daddy" issues, such as killing terrorists and defending the homeland. The Democrats have lost a lot of elections because they are easy to cari­cature as the party that thinks "there are no enemies, just friends whose grievances we haven't yet accommodated".

Republicans and Democrats differ sharply as to which mighty in­stitutions pose the greatest threat to the little guy. Democrats, by and large, think big corporations are the problem. Republicans think big government is.

But the protection offered by a cradle-to-grave welfare system hides a dark underside.

British government has been running, using nursery rhymes: "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. There was none as extreme weather due to climate change had caused a drought."

But as Messrs Dornbusch and Edwards pointed out, "at the end of every populist experiment real wages are lower than they were at the begin­ning".

Behind a fig leaf of constructive engagement.

Mr Steinberg, a professor of modern European history at the University of Pennsylvania, is fascinated by Bismarck's complex personality. He started writing about him because he wanted to understand how his hero led three wars and unified Germany without commanding a single soldier, without a big political par­ty backing him, without any experience in government before his nomination as minister-president of Prussia in 1862 and without great oratorical skills. Bismarck had near-hypnotic powers over William. He manipulated him with temper tantrums, tears, hys­terical outbursts and frequent threats of resignation. "It is hard to be king under Bismarck," sighed the sovereign.

What should really worry policymakers is the unknown unknowns.

£ £ Law, justice, rules

I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by six.

Last year America shut down a fake embassy in South Africa, complete with the Stars and Stripes and a photo of President Barack Obama, that had been operating in Ghana for a decade. It had been selling fake visas to America for $6,000 each.

The less people know about how laws and sausages are made, the better they sleep at night (Bismarck).

Arkansas has an unhappy history of multiple executions: in 1923 a man was taken from his coffin and put back in the electric chair after he was found still to be breathing.

Imagine a traffic-light regulation that says: "On green the driver may cross the road, unless, under the given circumstances, a reasonable per­son would consider this to be risky, inadequate or reckless. We now need a lawyer as a co-driver."

Does a bill that does nothing actually do something?