China: Retiring the dragon
The economy has a grimmer prospect for long-term growth than many would care to admit Da Vinci’s famous aphorism, “nothing ventured, nothing gained,” has its counterpart in the Chinese maxim, “best not to give up swallowing for fear of choking.” China followed its own advice in the 1970s, when enlightened despot Deng Xiaoping chose to introduce free markets and private property to the economy, rather than let it stagnate and drift as it had for a decade. The choice was a difficult one. Even if collectivism and people’s communes had failed to create the utopia envisioned by the nation’s founding father, Mao Zedong, the notion of importing even a modicum of capitalism was anathema to its Marxist leadership. And what if the liberation of commerce led to more demands – an end to censorship, elections, decentralization? Yet Deng, whose...
Read MoreFrom Arab Spring to Arab Fall: Bahrain
The Arab Spring has come to be defined by the violent and not-so violent revolutions of Libya, Tunisia and Egypt. That definition, while not incorrect, is incomplete. It defines the epicenters of the Arab Spring, and in doing so blurs the edges; edges like Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. I’m going to talk about Bahrain today, not only because it is arguably the most obscured of those three countries but also because I want to. I lived in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia for practically my entire life, and so Bahrain was always a 40-minute car ride away; a 40-minute car ride to a relatively “westernized” Arab country, or so I thought. Bahrain is small and I mean that literally, the entire country is about 3-4 times the size of Washington DC and it has a population to match:...
Read MoreUn-Buttoned Clothing: Funny and Charitable
Penn T-shirts just got better now that five undergrads are seeking to bring fair-trade practices to the college apparel industry. Founded by IAA member Yaowen Ma (’13) and four Wharton students, Un-Buttoned, the regional finalist of the 2011 Walmart Sustainability Business Plan, is now catering to Penn and surrounding areas with off-beat designs such as “Penn15: That’s What She Said” and “What Happens Under the Button Stays Under the Button.” It’s not your usual bookstore paraphernalia, for sure. It’s better. Working with fair-trade manufacturers, Un-Buttoned specializes in “unorthodox” T-shirts free of pesticides and include the use of materials such as organic cotton and recycled plastic, while discouraging unfair wages that lead to social catastrophes such as farmer suicides. One aspect you will probably find here and not with other online T-shirt companies is that shipment is brought to you...
Read MoreNatural Gas Discoveries Add Fuel to the Cypriot-Turkish Fire
The island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean has been the site of heated confrontations since the time of Alexander the Great.[1] After gaining its independence from the UK in 1960, the island was wracked with conflict between ethnically Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish minority, formerly spread out in various isolated communities, came together to settle on the North end of the island. In 1974, this community declared self-rule, and later, in 1983, independence. Since 1983, only Turkey has recognized this entity, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Separated by a UN buffer zone and UK-administered Dhekelia, the TRNC continues to be recognized only by Turkey, while the Greek area of the island was admitted into the EU in 2004.[2] The conflict between the Turkish and Greek populations of Cyprus, and by proxy between Turkey and EU-backed Cyprus,...
Read MoreIsrael Rising in Economic Ranks Despite Conflict
While social and political uprisings are stirring in Israel, the nation’s economy is bustling. In fact, Israel’s economy is projected to rank third in growth this year, with a predicted 4.8% increase. One may ask how a country the size of New Jersey, with only 7.5 million people, and under constant internal warfare can maintain such an upcoming economy. Good and well developed investments in industry, related to its constant security issues, have been the main factor that has led to economic success. The big question is, though, will this economic growth continue or will it shortly be coming to an end? For centuries, Palestine/current Israel was a prime location for trade. Europe and Asia met, but also Arabs convened from different regions of the Middle East. In the modern era, Israel is not a center of trade, but...
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