1 Decline of the middle class (The New York Times) For the first time since the Great Depression, middle-class families have been losing ground for more than a decade. They, and the poor, have struggled particularly badly since the financial crisis led to a global recession in 2008. The idea that living standards inevitably improve from one generation to the next is under threat. Many of the bedrock assumptions of American culture — about work, progress, fairness and optimism — are being shaken. Arguably no question is more central to the country’s global standing than whether the economy will perform better in the future than it has in the recent past.
There are these broad outlines: Since median inflation-adjusted family income peaked in 2000 at $64,232, it has fallen roughly 6%. You won’t find another 12-year period with an income decline since the aftermath of the Depression. This unhappy phenomenon has two major sources. First, economic growth in this country has been relatively slow in recent years, which means the total bounty that the American economy produces, to be shared by all of its citizens, has not been growing very rapidly. Then of course came a deep recession that caused the economy to shrink.
In addition to the slow growth in overall size of the pie, the share that has been going to anyone but the richest Americans has been declining. The top-earning 1% of households now bring home about 20% of total income, up from less than 10% 40 years ago. The top-earning 1/10,000th of households — each earning at least $7.8 million a year, many of them working in finance — bring home almost 5% of income, up from 1% 40 years ago.
2 Why India is so bad for women (The Guardian) One evening two weeks ago, a young student left a bar and was set upon by a gang of at least 18 men in Guwahati, Assam. They dragged her into the road by her hair, tried to rip off her clothes and smiled at the cameras that filmed it all. For at least 20 minutes, no one called the police. They easily could have. Many of those present had phones: they were using them to film the scene as the men yanked up the girl's vest and tugged at her bra and groped her breasts as she begged for help from passing cars. We know this because a cameraman from the local TV channel was there too, capturing the attack for his viewers' enjoyment. The woman was abused for 45 minutes before the police arrived.
A preference for sons and fear of having to pay a dowry has resulted in 12 million girls being aborted over the past three decades, according to a 2011 study by the Lancet. Many women agree the response from the Guwahati authorities shows they are blind to the root cause: a society that does not truly respect women. Instead, a knee-jerk reaction was taken to force all bars to shut by 9.30pm. Club Mint, the bar outside which the young woman was molested, had its licence revoked. Parents were urged to keep a close eye on their daughters.
The fact that India has a female president – Pratibha Patil – and Sonia Gandhi in control of the ruling Congress party means very little, insists Monisha Behal, "chairperson" of the North East Network. "In the UK, you have had Margaret Thatcher – if you are being harassed by a hoodlum in the street there, do ask: 'How can this be when we have had a woman prime minister?'" she says. Every Indian woman the Guardian spoke to for this article agreed that harassment was part of their everyday lives.
3 Cisco cuts 1,300 jobs (San Francisco Chronicle) Cisco Systems said it's eliminating about 1,300 jobs, or 2% of the workforce, part of an effort to eliminate costs and streamline decision making. "We routinely review our business to determine where we need to align investment based on growth opportunities," the San Jose company said. The cuts follow last year's decision to eliminate about 6,500 jobs, or 9% of the full-time workforce, to help trim $1 billion in annual costs and step up profit growth.
4 Morgan Stanley revenues tumble (BBC) Morgan Stanley's revenues in the three months to the end of June fell sharply, dragged down by weak results from its investment banking division. Shares in the bank fell more than 3% in early trading as it reported a 24% fall in revenues to $6.95bn, with a 37% fall from investment banking. Profits of $563m compared with a $558m loss last year which was caused by a one-off $1.7bn charge.Chief executive James Gorman said investors remained cautious.
5 At times, trust is dust (Pinky Daniels in Khaleej Times) Who do we not trust anymore? Relatives, friends, bosses, colleagues, the supermarket cashier, the neighbour, our politicians, our own family? My work colleagues are always telling me things in confidence and add the caveat please don’t mention this to anyone. The bigger picture, however, is that we really don’t trust anyone anymore. The banks are beastly. You can’t go online without being afraid you’ll be hacked. Your credit cards need protection, because it’s scary having your ID compromised. Trust is dust, it’s flown away into the thinning ozone. Whoosh. Gone.
I read about the ghastly corruption rampant in India where I was born. Where my ayah was my best friend and people who saw me walking alone from the school bus to home kept an eye on me for my safety. Or London, where the cabbie returned a 20 pound note to me because I gave him too much money for the ride home from the airport. Or the New York cabbie who would not leave me at my drop off point because he said it was not safe and he’d wait till I’d finish my work and take me back to my hotel and wouldn’t keep the meter running.
We’re all in the trap. Money hungry, haunted by mortgages, worried about getting older and not knowing what’s in store. I say stop worrying and start trusting. Our creator first, He got us this far, and gave us the ability to deal with it all.
6 Moody's sees Germany outlook 'negative' (Straits Times) Moody's lowered its assessment of the German economy, taking a first step toward a full credit rating downgrade for Europe's largest and most pivotal market. The agency lowered the outlook for the German economy to 'negative' from 'stable' - along with a similar move for the Netherlands and Luxembourg - sending a stark warning that no economy is immune from the euro zone crisis. Moody's said that the three AAA-rated countries faced risks from the increased prospect of Greece leaving the euro zone and from the possible need to bail out Spain and Italy.
7 India gives Oprah thumbs down (The Wall Street Journal) Oprah Winfrey charmed her Indian audience when she came to the country earlier this year. But now the show she was working on has aired, the spell appears to have broken. The smell of incense (tick), the sari fitting (tick), the aspirations of slum dwellers (tick), and the glitz of Bollywood (tick). Let’s not forget arranged marriages and the fact that Indians, even rich ones, "still" eat with their hands (tick, tick). India as Westerners imagine it, one stereotype at a time.
This is how many in India responded to the two India-focused episodes of her primetime series "Oprah's Next Chapter," which aired over the weekend. In India, the people she interacted with ranged from a family of five living in a 10-foot-by-10-foot room in a Mumbai slum, to Bollywood aristocracy, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan.While her show mainly targets a mainstream American audience, many criticized Ms. Winfrey for choosing to project such a caricaturized image of India to the world. "The avg American thinking of India as a place with snake charmers and elephants as main mode of transport, I can understand. But Oprah???" said user Nandita Iyer on Twitter. "Honestly, this Oprah winfrey has made such a royal fool of herself with this," she added.
There are these broad outlines: Since median inflation-adjusted family income peaked in 2000 at $64,232, it has fallen roughly 6%. You won’t find another 12-year period with an income decline since the aftermath of the Depression. This unhappy phenomenon has two major sources. First, economic growth in this country has been relatively slow in recent years, which means the total bounty that the American economy produces, to be shared by all of its citizens, has not been growing very rapidly. Then of course came a deep recession that caused the economy to shrink.
In addition to the slow growth in overall size of the pie, the share that has been going to anyone but the richest Americans has been declining. The top-earning 1% of households now bring home about 20% of total income, up from less than 10% 40 years ago. The top-earning 1/10,000th of households — each earning at least $7.8 million a year, many of them working in finance — bring home almost 5% of income, up from 1% 40 years ago.
2 Why India is so bad for women (The Guardian) One evening two weeks ago, a young student left a bar and was set upon by a gang of at least 18 men in Guwahati, Assam. They dragged her into the road by her hair, tried to rip off her clothes and smiled at the cameras that filmed it all. For at least 20 minutes, no one called the police. They easily could have. Many of those present had phones: they were using them to film the scene as the men yanked up the girl's vest and tugged at her bra and groped her breasts as she begged for help from passing cars. We know this because a cameraman from the local TV channel was there too, capturing the attack for his viewers' enjoyment. The woman was abused for 45 minutes before the police arrived.
A preference for sons and fear of having to pay a dowry has resulted in 12 million girls being aborted over the past three decades, according to a 2011 study by the Lancet. Many women agree the response from the Guwahati authorities shows they are blind to the root cause: a society that does not truly respect women. Instead, a knee-jerk reaction was taken to force all bars to shut by 9.30pm. Club Mint, the bar outside which the young woman was molested, had its licence revoked. Parents were urged to keep a close eye on their daughters.
The fact that India has a female president – Pratibha Patil – and Sonia Gandhi in control of the ruling Congress party means very little, insists Monisha Behal, "chairperson" of the North East Network. "In the UK, you have had Margaret Thatcher – if you are being harassed by a hoodlum in the street there, do ask: 'How can this be when we have had a woman prime minister?'" she says. Every Indian woman the Guardian spoke to for this article agreed that harassment was part of their everyday lives.
3 Cisco cuts 1,300 jobs (San Francisco Chronicle) Cisco Systems said it's eliminating about 1,300 jobs, or 2% of the workforce, part of an effort to eliminate costs and streamline decision making. "We routinely review our business to determine where we need to align investment based on growth opportunities," the San Jose company said. The cuts follow last year's decision to eliminate about 6,500 jobs, or 9% of the full-time workforce, to help trim $1 billion in annual costs and step up profit growth.
4 Morgan Stanley revenues tumble (BBC) Morgan Stanley's revenues in the three months to the end of June fell sharply, dragged down by weak results from its investment banking division. Shares in the bank fell more than 3% in early trading as it reported a 24% fall in revenues to $6.95bn, with a 37% fall from investment banking. Profits of $563m compared with a $558m loss last year which was caused by a one-off $1.7bn charge.Chief executive James Gorman said investors remained cautious.
5 At times, trust is dust (Pinky Daniels in Khaleej Times) Who do we not trust anymore? Relatives, friends, bosses, colleagues, the supermarket cashier, the neighbour, our politicians, our own family? My work colleagues are always telling me things in confidence and add the caveat please don’t mention this to anyone. The bigger picture, however, is that we really don’t trust anyone anymore. The banks are beastly. You can’t go online without being afraid you’ll be hacked. Your credit cards need protection, because it’s scary having your ID compromised. Trust is dust, it’s flown away into the thinning ozone. Whoosh. Gone.
I read about the ghastly corruption rampant in India where I was born. Where my ayah was my best friend and people who saw me walking alone from the school bus to home kept an eye on me for my safety. Or London, where the cabbie returned a 20 pound note to me because I gave him too much money for the ride home from the airport. Or the New York cabbie who would not leave me at my drop off point because he said it was not safe and he’d wait till I’d finish my work and take me back to my hotel and wouldn’t keep the meter running.
We’re all in the trap. Money hungry, haunted by mortgages, worried about getting older and not knowing what’s in store. I say stop worrying and start trusting. Our creator first, He got us this far, and gave us the ability to deal with it all.
6 Moody's sees Germany outlook 'negative' (Straits Times) Moody's lowered its assessment of the German economy, taking a first step toward a full credit rating downgrade for Europe's largest and most pivotal market. The agency lowered the outlook for the German economy to 'negative' from 'stable' - along with a similar move for the Netherlands and Luxembourg - sending a stark warning that no economy is immune from the euro zone crisis. Moody's said that the three AAA-rated countries faced risks from the increased prospect of Greece leaving the euro zone and from the possible need to bail out Spain and Italy.
7 India gives Oprah thumbs down (The Wall Street Journal) Oprah Winfrey charmed her Indian audience when she came to the country earlier this year. But now the show she was working on has aired, the spell appears to have broken. The smell of incense (tick), the sari fitting (tick), the aspirations of slum dwellers (tick), and the glitz of Bollywood (tick). Let’s not forget arranged marriages and the fact that Indians, even rich ones, "still" eat with their hands (tick, tick). India as Westerners imagine it, one stereotype at a time.
This is how many in India responded to the two India-focused episodes of her primetime series "Oprah's Next Chapter," which aired over the weekend. In India, the people she interacted with ranged from a family of five living in a 10-foot-by-10-foot room in a Mumbai slum, to Bollywood aristocracy, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan.While her show mainly targets a mainstream American audience, many criticized Ms. Winfrey for choosing to project such a caricaturized image of India to the world. "The avg American thinking of India as a place with snake charmers and elephants as main mode of transport, I can understand. But Oprah???" said user Nandita Iyer on Twitter. "Honestly, this Oprah winfrey has made such a royal fool of herself with this," she added.
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