FICRY

Just as record numbers of aimless liberal arts majors are getting duped into applying to expensive journalism schools (a year at Columbia will put you back a cool 60k, which is about 60k more than the average j-school graduate’s salary these days), the world of journalism is crumbling. This is not news to anyone, [...]

Can the recession save children’s lives? According to economist Michael Greenstone, a decrease in global production due to the current crisis has spared the lives of “…between 257 and 451 British, between 1.104 and 1,933 American, and probably between 58,088 and 101,655 Chinese babies” through the reduction of global emissions (Economist June 2009 issue).  He [...]

“The party is over,” says Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capita, who warned publicly in 2006 of the sub-prime housing crisis. “We bought too many cars, and now we’re broke.” Writing for Reuters journalist Nick Carey argues that the consequences of the automakers failures are likely to last for years. Already, the crisis has [...]

Tens of thousands of civilian contractors have aided U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Civilian contractors perform such indispensable tasks as “delivering fuel to frontline troops, guarding U.S. diplomats and translating for soldiers during dangerous raids.” In the process, many of these contractors have suffered devastating and physical and psychological injuries. However, ProPublica reports [...]

In the closeted world of satin and sequins that is Parisian haute couture, there is uncertainty about the future. Even Christian Lacroix, the incarnation of frivolity and joie de vivre in high fashion, showed his final collection, but only thanks to the benevolence of embroiderers, feather suppliers and shoe makers working for free.
The house that [...]

Writing for the Washington Post Foreign Service, Blaine Harden reports that for Kim Jong Il’s birthday, North Korean insurance managers delivered “$20 million in cash into two heavy-duty bags and sent them, via Beijing.” The cash was given to Korean insurance managers by their international counterparts. The money is reimbursements for fraudulent claims.
This incident highlights [...]

Production drove the boom. Now that it’s Bust will workers demand their fair share? Reporting from China, Caijin Online correspondent Andy Xie, claims that the financial sector overestimated its worth by more than 100%, and that in light of this realization, the global financial sector will shrink to half its size. This will cause a [...]

In a recent article for the Atlantic, Erik Thompson asks his readers: “Are we in a recession or a mancession?’” In the last two years 80% of all laid off workers have been men and male unemployment in almost every age demographic is at its post-war high. How can we account for this disparity? The [...]

Investments in unconventional markets are relatively immune to Wall Streets whims, but despite the potential for growth and profit, small-scale lending institutions have been victims of FICRY’s sweeping, invisible hand.
In December of 2007, “socially responsible” investments constituted 10% of all professionally managed assets. In good economic times institutions as well as individuals looked [...]

Time’s coverage of the faltering newspaper industry is easy for them to do. They aren’t facing buyouts and closed newsstands like newspapers have been for the past decade. But in the past two years, the conversation has picked up significantly, and more panicked: How do we keep our newspapers alive?
There are already misconceptions that newspapers [...]