A Pandemic of Pessimism

摘要

President Jair Bolsonaro refused to completely shut down the economy, and the country's Covid-19 death toll grew to the second highest in the world. He also championed a generous stimulus package, with tremendous results: The share of Brazilians living in extreme poverty sunk to a level lower than it was before the pandemic. Bolsonaro's ability to keep the money flowing will be key to his popularity-and his 2022 reelection campaign. In the earliest stages of the pandemic, just 29% of French people were satisfied with President Emmanuel Macron's performance. He promised a "new course" and tacked to the right after his party suffered losses in elections in June. Nationalist Marine Le Pen seems to be Macron's main threat in 2022, but the mainstream parties that imploded when he created his centrist party in 2016 could stage a comeback.