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, [...]

In the last year politicians have increasingly pushed for legislation that would limit off-shore banking. Even UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, among others has called for curbs on tax havens despite the fact that a great number of the countries that offer such tax incentives, including the Channel Islands, are British dependencies.  Their rhetoric is [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Anyone who’s been to the Former Eastern Bloc knows that it’s cheap, but few care enough to ask why.  The New York Time’s Berlin Bureau Chief, Nicholas Kulish, describes a destitute picture of the daily life in East German city of Hoyerswerda, after touring with a former resident. Hoyerswerda was once a model for healthy [...]

In the past, America’s teenagers and students have occupied a unique place in the job market. They have served as our nation’s babysitters and camp counselors; they’ve flipped our burgers and delivered our morning papers.
Today’s financial crisis, however, has put the teenage demographic in a bit of a bind. As unemployment escalates, many laid-off adults [...]

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 [...]

Undergraduates of journalism across the country are finding themselves at a crossroad: Jump head-first into a withering field or attend graduate school. For pro-blogger-turned-student Hunter Walker, he chose the latter. At a nearly $48,000 price tag to attend journalism school at Columbia University (top-notch, by the way), Walker found himself questioning his motive. Is this [...]

Cashing in as Usual: ‘Abkassieren wie immer,’ By Nikolaus Piper, translated from German to English by Daniel Howell, featured contributor and resident translator for FICRY.com.

The peak of the financial crisis may have been overcome, but the rage at bankers continues to grow. No wonder: the jugglers on the trading floors of New York, London, and [...]

John Taylor, leading conservative economist, maintains that the White House is engaging in risky business by investing in long-term debt. He claims that the risk posed by Obama’s policies have the potential to damage to the economy far beyond the scope of the recent financial crisis.
Taylor asserts that the Obama administration is hypocritically chastising the [...]