The Trump insight

For many of us, the sight and sound of President Trump riffing in press conferences is a taste we would rather not acquire. He is, though, distinctly more entertaining and thoughtful than Obama and Dubya ever were.

That said, on Twitter his communication style comes into its own. He is a master of the form.

In a tweet yesterday evening he demonstrated that, unlike all the European functionaries (Boris™ included), he has grasped the central management and administrative principle for dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic:

We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. At the end of the 15 day period we will make a decision as to which way we want to go!

@realDonaldTrump: 11:50pm Mar 22 2020

We have to go to Israel to find a further sane reaction to the epidemic – that is, business as usual but protect the vulnerable:

Naftali Bennett, Israeli Defence Minister: 'The most important thing you need to know about Coronovirus', 20 March 2020. Video: Ministry of Defence, Israel.

Israel has spent at least seventy years in a real, daily struggle over its existence in the face of permanent, serious threats. It cannot afford the luxury of being run by bumbling incompetents.

If you think the EU-UK top-down, mercantilist crisis management techniques will fade away in a few weeks, think again. It took more than a decade after the end of the Second World War before rationing was finally ended in Britain. Government controls are in their nature persistent, since few leaders have the courage to withdraw them once their initial justification has faded away.