» Posted by Martin Weil on April 30, 2008

Police in southern China have discovered a factory manufacturing Free Tibet flags, media reports say. The factory in Guangdong had been completing overseas orders for the flag of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Reported by Neatorama

» Posted by Martin Weil on April 21, 2008

Some folks celebrate their last home mortgage payment by setting fire to their loan agreement. Lately, some people behind on their mortgages are simply setting fire to their homes.

From this article in the LA Times (registration required)

» Posted by Martin Weil on April 21, 2008

In a surprisingly populist tone, this weekend's edition of the Wall Street Journal examines the income gap between rich and poor in the US. The article (subscription required) finds vast disparities in the economy of the last 6 years, with literally all of the economic gains accruing to the top 10% of the wealth spectrum. The graph below tells the whole story in one picture.

» Posted by Martin Weil on April 15, 2008

One possibility - Give it away.

Modest Needs exists "To prevent otherwise financially self-sufficient individuals and families from entering the cycle of poverty, when this might be avoided with a small amount of well-timed financial assistance."

» Posted by Martin Weil on April 02, 2008

In pictures

Seattle artist Chris Jordan's photo essay offers a remarkable visual portrait of our modern consumption. The image above is comprised of 1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags, the number used in the US every hour.

» Posted by Martin Weil on April 01, 2008

(Since it is the political season)

Princeton political scientist Larry Bartels' soon-to-be-released new book, analyzes the difference that the President's party affiliation makes to the distribution of income during the four years of the president's term.

When a Republican president is in power, people at the top of the income distribution experience much larger real income gains than those at the bottom... when a Democrat is in power: those who benefit the most are the lower income groups....Strikingly, compared to Republicans, Democratic presidents generate higher income gains for all income groups.

So writes Harvard economics professor Dani Rodrik