In the United States the hospital is seen as an emblem of public-spiritedness.

ECONOMIST: Gwen Mellon | The

Melissa Nobles, a political scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who specialises in apologology (our word), says that they can give official backing to a particular view of history, help contain political grievances peacefully and encourage public-spiritedness among alienated parts of the population.

ECONOMIST: Who should apologise to whom, for what and how?