middle class

'Adam Smith, who described Britain as a nation of shopkeepers, had a keen sense of what could be expected of the middle class. The prudent man, he wrote, "does not go in quest of new enterprises and adventures, which might endanger, but could not well increase, the secure tranquility which he actually enjoys."'

(in The Economist)

não percebe a crise económica? o FMI faz um desenho

Mesmo depois da multiplicidade de explicações, provenientes de fontes tão distintas como PaulKrugman, o "The Economist", e Pedro Santana Lopes, parece que o Fundo Monetário Internacional (FMI) acha que ainda há explicações a tecer sobre a origem e proliferação da crise económica actual. Esta entidade decidiu, assim, fazer-nos um desenho:

Para explicações adicionais, podem ainda consultar as 192 páginas em que o FMI se estende sobre este e outros desenhos.

(Maria Patrão in Coeteris Paribus)

groceries

The Chinese: taking over the world, one potato at a time.

"Last year the Chinese spent a whopping 14% of GDP on groceries, so it is no big surprise that rapidly growing China became the world’s biggest grocery market, overtaking America in yet another category, according to IGD, a food and grocery research firm.

By 2015, IGD forecasts the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) will have pushed Japan out of the top five slots, leaving America as the only remaining rich country in the top five.By 2015, IGD forecasts the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) will have pushed Japan out of the top five slots, leaving America as the only remaining rich country in the top five."

(in The economist)