> Letters to the Editor
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President-elect Andrés Obrador of Mexico is likely to follow the path beaten by the former president of Uruguay José Mujica and adopt an open and transparent style of leadership, devoid of political grandstanding. He will undoubtedly prove a capable and reformminded administrator. Mexico stands on the threshold of becoming a fully developed mature market and society. It just needs one little extra push. ROBBY KROON (Guadalajara, Mexico) The government of Argentina keeps telling the population that the current cash crisis is the last one the country will ever suffer. The reforms now underway will fix all that is wrong with Argentina. Or so they say. The IMF has come to Argentina’s rescue once again with a bailout package. Who is fooling whom here? I wish President Macri were right, but fear he is not: Argentina will keep doing the same thing repeatedly: spending too much on a welfare state it cannot afford. Each time, the government expects a different outcome. As Einstein may have said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." FERNANDO ROMA (Buenos Aires, Argentina) What’s up with your coverage of Brexit; arguably the biggest thing to hit European headlines in about six decades ? Are you sitting on the fence? In about six months, the indomitable UK Ship of State will set sail on an epic voyage, buccaneering its way to the world’s riches, and leaving behind a sclerotic bloc of hasbeens lorded over by a few unelected faceless bureaucrats, most of them French at that. What’s not to like? Apart from pretty much everything, the moment of truth is about to arrive. It will show once and for all who’s been right. Please get with the programme. GEORGE PLISSET (Cambridge, UK)
With the passing away of Tom Wolfe we have lost one of the truly great chroniclers of late-20th century life. However, the author not only leaves us an exceptionally good oeuvre which will surely be enjoyed and dissected by future generations of critics, he also gave us New Journalism which gave publications such as Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Harper’s, and even The New Yorker a business model. The internet may have profoundly changed the way people read about news and societal trends, the long form that was Tom Wolfe’s hallmark will endure in print. Some readers just want more than just a 200-word summary of what is hot – and what is not. SHIRLEY MACIVER (Portland (ME), USA)
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Geneva: Brunswick monument