FOR ALL the partisan rancour in American politics, the Trump era has produced some surprising convergences between left and right. Republican isolationists and left-wing Democrats often share a scepticism of American military might. And economic populists on the left and right can agree on resisting reform of entitlements such as Social Security or supporting aggressive antitrust action. This dynamic has spread to the states too. Consider Missouri, where trial lawyers (traditionally big supporters of Democrats) recently worked with a hard-right group to stop a change to tort laws.

This saga began in June 2018 when Bayer, a German pharmaceutical and chemical firm, bought Monsanto, an American agrochemical giant. The $63bn sale, which included Monsanto’s liabilities, has gone down as one of the worst mergers ever. Bayer has already paid out more than $10bn in settlements for more than 110,000 claims that Roundup, a weedkiller, is carcinogenic. The company has set aside some $6bn to resolve outstanding claims. Today Bayer’s market capitalisation is less than half what it paid for Monsanto six years ago.