When media spotlight “existential crises” they often are referring to some resource whose supply is in peril for future generations. Usually this has some environmental element, such as species depletion or food supply, or any other angle of climate change. But in First World societies there’s a demographic “timebomb” as the baby boomers and successiveContinue reading “Soon to be Overrun With the Old”
Category Archives: Newsfeed
FTC Has Fetched a New Stick
The action in this latest Wall Street Journal story on the now-progressive Federal Trade Commission concerns veterinarians, but it is not a mere dog and pony show. It reflects a concerted push to rein in the nation’s private-equity firms, particularly those involved in mergers or “roll-ups” of businesses in the same type of enterprise. TheContinue reading “FTC Has Fetched a New Stick”
Sociology’s Un-economic Impulse
In the agitated state of modern societies, a rebellion against “neo-liberalism” heralds some preferred order, usually a form of ostensibly democratic socialism. Inherent in this movement is a rejection of economics, which is the study of allocating scarce resources. This is a startling proposition, coming off a generation or two in which economics has beenContinue reading “Sociology’s Un-economic Impulse”
Beijing’s Man in Jakarta
Hard as it may be for Westerners to think that today’s People’s Republic of China, with all of its glaring repressions and slavishness over Covid, could be still a draw for emerging nations…it is. As this latest op-ed in the New York Times from an Australian think tank argues, China is actually gaining ground inContinue reading “Beijing’s Man in Jakarta”
Show-Offs and Their Big Houses
What primarily intrigues me about people who willingly show themselves and their oversized properties off in places like the Wall Street Journal’s Mansion section is…why? I know we are in the age of oversharing, but these are obviously wealthy people, usually with children–just the sorts you’d expect to want privacy. Of course, if they seekContinue reading “Show-Offs and Their Big Houses”
Beijing and the Big Bomb
Polling suggests widespread gloom among younger Americans over climate change, while other surveys pick up foreboding in the older population at the renewed prospect of nuclear war. Vladimir Putin’s saber-rattling at the West as he rips up Ukraine has jogged memories from a Cold War era extending through the 1980s when the “Day After” wasContinue reading “Beijing and the Big Bomb”
Reminder of ‘Our’ Rogue on the Nile
Any roundup of the world’s noxious right-wing authoritarians usually includes stops in Brazil, Hungary, India and take your pick in Africa…Uganda, maybe? Arguably Vladimir Putin fits within the proto-fascist collection, notwithstanding his rhetoric about “de-Nazifying” Ukraine. But no gallery would be complete without General al-Sisi of Egypt, as this tale from the latest edition ofContinue reading “Reminder of ‘Our’ Rogue on the Nile”
College $$$ Backlash? Blackstone Isn’t Sold
Various harbingers appear of an end to the college-cost syndrome, whereby prospective students and their parents reassess the worth of plowing tens of thousands of dollars annually into a degree credential. And surely, on the margins, this revolt against the endless increases in tuition and other bills is evident. But then we see reminders, asContinue reading “College $$$ Backlash? Blackstone Isn’t Sold”
Americans Return to the Stores
Beware of “trend” stories, but this one from the Wall Street Journal suggests a believable pendulum swing back to brick-and-mortar shopping. Believable, because some buying is best done with tactile or other sensory judgments; because it is sometimes serendipitous, and because it can be part of a natural social experience when the stores are wellContinue reading “Americans Return to the Stores”
Xi Jinping Is in the Neighborhood
Much has been made of the Chinese Communist Party’s inroads into Africa, but less noticed is its increasing penetration of the Western Hemisphere, especially South America. This has proceeded apace for years, including during the Trump administration when regional policy hawks were supposedly on guard. This new report from the Council on Foreign Relations shedsContinue reading “Xi Jinping Is in the Neighborhood”
Tim W. Ferguson 