(image via ultrabrown.com)

Taking on the free trade bogeyman

Nothing, after all, will bring back labour-intensive manufacturing to the US. But to be effective, action would entail higher taxes. With the US in the grip of an economic downturn, such policies are unlikely to be vote-winners. That is why we can expect Mr Obama and Hillary Clinton to continue their attacks. As long as they remain rhetorical, they are cost free. At some point, though, America will need to have the debate its politicians have avoided.

Khosla’s Conspiracy

Like other green venture “capitalists,” Mr. Khosla now claims that corn ethanol is merely a springboard for the cellulosic varieties, which don’t draw on food stocks. Of course, his investments in such fuels also come with their own handsome subsidies. As long as he’s on the federal dole, perhaps Mr. Khosla should take a vow of embarrassed silence.

We should celebrate rising divorce rates

Rising divorce rates (in India) tell us one thing for sure: that more and more women are finding the means, and the independence, to walk out of bad marriages and live life on their own terms. If we judge ourselves as a society on the state of our women – and surely that must be a parameter – then this is good news. We do not need to credit either feminism or Western culture for this – the emancipation of women in real terms, across the world, has been enabled by technology, and can be explained most easily with economics.

The smartest unknown Indian Entrepreneur

“We hire young professionals whom others disregard,” Vembu says. “We don’t look at colleges, degrees or grades. Not everyone in India comes from a socio-economic background to get the opportunity to go to a top-ranking engineering school, but many are really smart regardless.

India/Brazil have most eco-friendly consumers, US least

The findings show that consumers in Brazil and India tie for the highest Greendex score for environmentally sustainable consumption at 60 points each. They are followed by consumers in China (56.1), Mexico (54.3), Hungary (53.2) and Russia (52.4). Among consumers in wealthy countries, those in Great Britain, Germany and Australia each have a Greendex score of 50.2, those in Spain register a score of 50.0 and Japanese respondents, 49.1. U.S. consumers have the lowest Greendex score at 44.9. The other lowest-scoring consumers are Canadians with 48.5 and the French with 48.7.