So much for the techlash?

In the past 12 months the shares of America’s five biggest technology firms have been on an astonishing bull run, rising by 52%. The increase in their value, almost $2trn, exceeds the capitalisation of the entire German stockmarket. Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft are each worth more than $1trn each. So much for the consumer and regulatory “techlash” that was supposed to lay them low. But our cover leader argues that the threat to big tech firms has not gone away. The bull run reflects investors’ belief that the tech giants’ opportunities are far from exhausted; our special report points out that much of the economy is still to digitise. As upheaval disrupts the profitability of more non-tech firms and more workers’ livelihoods, the eventual backlash is likely to be bigger. Recession, when it strikes, will fuel new resentments, as the big tech firms—by far the biggest investors in corporate America—slash investment and squeeze suppliers.

Not even mighty tech firms are immune to the economic effects of the coronavirus epidemic. On February 17th Apple warned investors that it would miss its revenue guidance for the quarter. Although daily numbers of confirmed new infections in China are falling, restrictions on movement remain strict. The virus is hurting both Apple’s manufacturing and its sales: many migrant workers have not returned to their jobs with its Chinese contractors, and China is the second-biggest market for iPhones. In fact, Apple’s troubles in China go beyond covid-19. Its manufacturing base in China is exposed to the Sino-American conflict over trade and technology. Sales of iPhones in China have been falling. And in a country where the state desires control of information and data, Appls may struggle to make up the shortfall by selling services.

Some people think Frankfurt is a dull city. How can that be, when it boasts not merely one central bank, but two? Worryingly, the European Central Bank and the Bundesbank have fallen out. Before the euro was created, financial markets hung on the Buba’s every act. The ECB was created in its image and was at first heavily influenced by German economic doctrine. But since the euro area’s sovereign-debt crisis the Bundesbank’s influence has drained away and relations have soured. Its austere anti-inflationary philosophy has come into conflict with the ECB’s efforts to prop up growth by sending interest rates negative and buying bonds. German public opinion has turned against the ECB. (Germany’s sluggish growth—weaker than France’s—doesn’t help the national mood.) Our leaderargues that Christine Lagarde’s arrival at the ECB, and her promised review of monetary policy, provides an opportunity for a fresh start. The Bundesbank, after all, represents the zone’s biggest economy and remains a powerful intellectual and institutional force. Helpfully, the Bundesbank’s boss, Jens Weidmann, is already sounding less uncompromising.

Rodrigo Duterte was elected president of the Philippines in 2016 promising a war on drug dealers and other miscreants: “If they resist, kill them all.” He has been true to his word. The country’s human-rights commission estimates that 27,000 extra-judicial killings have taken place since he came to office. They have done nothing to dent Mr Duterte’s popularity; nor, among women, has his sexism; nor, in an overwhelmingly Catholic country, have his blasphemy or insults to the pope. Other aspects of his likely legacy (he is constitutionally bound to step down in 2022) are also troubling. Despite purporting to be an outsider, he has not brought the elite-uprooting change in Philippine politics that he promised. Indeed, his daughter is his successor as mayor of the southern city of Davao and potentially as president.

Justin Trudeau was due to visit Barbados this week, to ask Caribbean leaders to support Canada’s bid for a seat on the UN Security Council. Instead the Canadian prime minister was in Ottawa, for talks on how to halt protests against a gas pipeline. The pipe, which is under construction, will go through land traditionally belonging to the Wet’suwet’en, a First Nations people. Demonstrators promising to “shut down Canada” have blocked roads and railways, some far from the pipeline itself. Mr Trudeau is in a bind, having promised to promote reconciliation with indigenous people, protect the environment—and promote economic growth.