Great wealth imposes great burdens – such as keeping your mouth shut in the age of social media. The US Olympic Committee deserves a gold medal for diplomatic effort in warning its athletes against snarky comment about Rio’s logistical inadequacies. Don’t tweet and post about too few buses, too little (or no) furniture in Olympic Village rooms, poor facilities, unfinished amenities, the athletes have been asked. Let the Americans not be seen as loud boors.

The Guardian says that this is at least partly because the US is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Right now, Brazil of course, is one of the least fortunate, buffeted by political and economic storms and reeling from a lack of leadership.