Nero played his fiddle, Obama shot baskets and Trump twittered while their empires burned. What makes empire decay and what makes empires expand has everything to do with their relations between rulers and the ruled. Several factors are decisive. These include: (1) rent, land and housing, (2) the direction of living standards, (3) the rise…
A new billionaire was created every two days last year and now, according to Oxfam, just 42 individuals own as much wealth as the world’s poorest 3.7 billion people. Call it the ‘Year of the Billionaire.’ In 2017, a new billionaire was created every two days and while 82 percent of all wealth created went…
It would be easy to say, “to hell with India.” It is easy to say, “to hell with India.” To hell with the whole squalid scene of humanity crawling through its own sludge. From Theni, across the southern belt with its searing heat, with its endless advertisements for cement across to Madurai and beyond. Yes,…
The shocking new report that U.S. life expectancy declined last year is not only a disturbing indicator of Americans’ troubled physical health — our expected lifespan now ranks only 31st in the world — but of our troubled political health as well. Social scientists and a few number-crunching journalists have uncovered surprising geographic correlations between…
A common myth around the world is that, India is developing country at a very rapid pace and going to be a powerhouse in Asia soon. Some even argue we should learn from them and some argue independence should have never happened and we would have been a better off with India rather than independent….
