Month: October 2021

It’s been generally assumed that a large majority of layoffs in 2020 were caused by the economic strain brought on by covid-19 outbreak. However, new data suggests otherwise; big businesses experienced a very different 2020 from most of America. Despite larger companies rolling out layoffs at a higher rate than smaller companies, 45 of the 50 biggest companies in America turned a profit in 2020. While small businesses have lost an average of 12% income loss in 2020, the larger corporations included in this study showed that they had a 2% growth in profits last year. Even companies that previously Continue reading The surprisingly good status of America’s largest companies in 2021→

Colonization and its tools violently disrupt traditional food systems for many Native American communities. Data collected between 2000 and 2010 by the United States Department of Agriculture place the average food insecurity rate at 25 percent for Native Americans and Alaska Natives. To understand the availability of food and its household-level barriers, an explanation of the food price index in Native reservations is necessary. As part of a 12-month study, the First Nations Development Institute collected monthly prices on food products in 40 reservations with the help of several community members. This study designed a hypothetical basket of goods including Continue reading Food Price Index in Native American Reservations, Explained→

Americans love bananas. It is the most consumed fruit by a factor of 3. The banana trade is worth a staggering 25 billion USD a year (Banana Link, 2021)! In the words of probable Economics enthusiast, Gwen Stefani, “This $h^t is bananas…” (Stefani, n.d.) and due to the few times she has been around the track, her potassium laden words are weighted with an air of authority. The giant of the banana industry is the Chiquita Fruit Company. In 2014, this Cincinnati based fruit firm merged with Fyffes and now move 180 million units of bananas per annum (ABC News Continue reading Gwen Stefani teaches us that Bananas are Bananas -B-A-N-A-N-A-S-→

A rising middle class is the yardstick by which emerging economies are measured, and there is no more widely analyzed middle class than China’s. Since China opened in 1979 her economy has had the air of inevitability surrounding it. Analysts and economists trumpeted the arrival of the Chinese century and told the western world to prepare to be eclipsed in both economic and military might. It seemed that China had been unleashed and that its pan-pacific destiny was soon to be manifest. With such an unstoppable juggernaut what could possibly go wrong……Perhaps a phenomenon economists label the “Middle-Income Trap” (MIT). Continue reading Paper Tiger by the Tail→

In recent years, the exclusive consumption of products marketed as “sustainable” has become popular among certain members of Western society, particularly those occupying the middle class. These goods and services encompass diverse sectors including food (ex. organically grown spinach), household goods (ex. reusable linen totes), and even hygiene products (ex. bamboo toothbrush), communicating a narrative that to live a truly “sustainable” life is synonymous with the replacement of conventional products with “sustainable” counterparts. For this reason, consumers often equate their sustainable consumption choices with moral virtue. This consumption trend is motivated by real environmental issues like plastic pollution, global warming, Continue reading Equating Greenness to Goodness: The Illusion of Moral Virtue Drives Demand for Sustainable Alternatives→