Tag: Finance & economics
Japan is obsessed with rice. And prices have gone ballistic
A little more than a century ago, in July 1918, the wives of fishermen in Toyama began to protest against the export of rice from their prefecture. The unrest, which was triggered by the staple grain’s surging price, then spread across Japan. Ultimately, the so-called rice riots were violently extinguished by 100,000 troops; an action…
Why today’s graduates are screwed
Pity the ambitious youngster. For decades the path to a nice life was clear: go to university, find a graduate job, then watch the money come in. Today’s hard-working youths, however, seem to have fewer options than before. Source link
Why today’s graduates are screwed
Pity the ambitious youngster. For decades the path to a nice life was clear: go to university, find a graduate job, then watch the money come in. Today’s hard-working youths, however, seem to have fewer options than before. Source link
Factory work is overrated. Here are the jobs of the future
Trumpian types are unanimous: America needs factories. The president describes how workers have “watched in anguish as foreign leaders have stolen our jobs, foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories and foreign scavengers have torn apart our once beautiful American dream”. Peter Navarro, his trade adviser, says that tariffs will “fill up all of the half-empty…
The rise of the loner consumer
In the pandemic years, people became used to staying inside. Outlays on services—everything from restaurant meals and foreign travel to elective medical care—collapsed. Demand for goods jumped, with a rush for computers and exercise bikes. Such patterns proved resilient even as life got back to normal. In 2023 we called people spending in this manner…