Why big nations have been brought low by the coronavirus pandemic

India is now the epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic. It ranks just behind the US and Brazil in confirmed cases and is growing faster than either. The total rose 20 per cent in just the last week, despite the fact that India is testing less than most of its peers.

It’s looking increasingly likely that India will wind up being the country with the most cases in the world. This is not just a function of its massive population; China, too, has over 1 billion people. It is a reflection of the fact that big, diverse countries are at a