Economics

Is there really a housing bubble in China?

Above and below the cloudy surreptitious dream of Wall Street’s market, the stars are brilliantly lit and the actual market thrives. It’s cool, dark, and tranquil here this Balinese morning. Well before the crack of dawn, the first pick-up truck stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables softly enters the parking lot of Ubud’s traditional market. [...]

The World’s Factory grew up with the globalization era in the Pearl River Delta of China’s Guangdong province, but what is its future?

Tingi-tingi culture is a way that small shops in the Philippines respond to the economic parameters of their community. Find out more about this cultural adaption.

A new Pew Research Center infographic shows how American and Chinese people view each other.

If you’re willing to pay more money for a high end, trendy brand computer, what else are you willing to pay more for? Orbitz says hotel rooms. According to a WSJ article, Orbitz says that Mac users pay roughly 30% more for hotel bookings than PC users, which averages out to be $20 to $30 [...]

Bombarding us with news of North Korea’s paranoid antics, U.S. media channels tend to downplay the consequences of such trifles as economic treaties. Yet while many Americans noticed nothing more than a favorable decrease in the prices of their phones and cars over the past few years, the controversial U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement ignited enough [...]

After 12+ years travel I cannot help but to notice a pattern that extends over the fertile world: meat, vegetables, fruits, and starches are THE cheapest foods that anybody can buy. It is a good thing that these are the foods that people need to maintain health. Outside of Mongolia, Iceland, or other countries with [...]

11 cultural traditions were just added to the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List. This is a collection of arts and other cultural traditions in danger of going extinct which UNESCO feels should be preserved because of the role, message, or meaning they have for the societies where they are practiced. Added to the list this year was Chinese shadow puppetry, Mexican mariachis, a particular type of poetic duel indigenous to Cyprus, Fado singing in Portugal, Jultagi Korean tight rope walking, Hezhen Yimakan Chinese story telling, Lenj Iranian fishing boat construction, Kaskek ceremonial Turkish stew, Japanese rice rituals, the Jaguar Shamans of Colombia, and Indonesian Saman Dance. Read about these endangered cultural practices and the changing contexts in which they struggle for existance.