Archive for the ‘Economics’ Category
2011 [a year like no other] and its place in history
I have read two articles in the last week whose arguments have begun with Francis Fukuyama’s 1989 essay The End of History, which argued that as we reached the final demise of the U.S.S.R., “liberal democracy had triumphed and become the undisputed evolutionary end point toward which every national system was inexorably moving: fundamental political ferment was over [...]
December 27th, 2011If the Chinese middle class permits
The expanding Chinese middle class has more money to spend on tourism, like this family in Nanjing, June 2007. Bill Saporito’s October 31 Time article said it best: “Consider the cosmic irony: wobbly Western economies are depending on the Chinese Communist Party to save their capitalist bacon. Likewise, the Chinese government’s grand scheme to rebalance its economy [...]
November 14th, 2011Comedy relieves us again from news: “You food-chilling m**%$* f*#$%**”
My brother and I don’t have cable, but I subscribe to Netflix Instant, and he subscribes to Hulu Plus, so we get access to a truly massive amount of material for less than $20/month between the both of us, via the PS3. So, for the first time in about five years, I’ve been able to [...]
August 28th, 2011“I want to say, this machine isn’t just history.” The garment industry in history, and in our lives today
A denim factory in Kaiping, in southern China, where whole days are spent doing what I could barely do for two hours. Photo by Bert van Dijk. If you ever complain about the price of your jeans, I want you to find a sewing machine and try to hem a pair. Granted, the industrial size [...]
April 11th, 2011To combat a recession: retail tactics and the mall wake-up call
For most large retailers, the last thirty years has been about stretching as far across mid-land America as possible, opening stores in malls on the fringes of big cities and in mid-size towns and communities, homogenizing the landscapes and centralizing decisions so that in most of the country, men, women, teenagers, and children could enjoy [...]
October 2nd, 2010Aww, so the little white girl wants to make a difference? Or: The intimidating world of changing the world
Plenty of young people have dreams of changing the world, making a difference, having a purpose in the wider world. Realizing this goal seems more accessible the more the world shrinks, as if maybe through our interconnectedness and supposed knowledge of each other we can somehow bring about change, that we’ve learned enough to avoid [...]
June 1st, 2010