Technology & Innovation — January 10, 2011

Dambisa Moyo on Globalization

Budding public intellectual and critic of foreign aid, Dambisa Moyo says the promises of globalization have not been realized. The Independent interviews the economist.

bigthinkeditor

Globalization may not have been as beneficial to the average Westerner as promised. And I would say housing is probably one of the main reasons we are seeing this. Real wages didn’t actually rise. Instead the people who hold labour actually got more access to debt and that debt was essentially diverted towards housing. So look at the portfolio of wealth in the United States—30 per cent plus of American’s income over wealth is tied up in housing, so they have not participated in this huge benefit from globalisation. The only Westerners that have benefited from this globalisation are the ones that hold capital, not the holders of labor.

Bald man in casual attire sitting on a stool with a strategic diagram background in yellow.

Leadership

Adam Grant on how to identify and develop high-potential leaders

The ability to toggle between abstract and concrete thinking is a key differentiator of high-potential leaders.

A split image with a close-up of a blue eye on the left, and a classical painting of a woman resting her head on her arm on a sofa on the right.

Business

For true success we need to be more philosophical about “good” and “bad” failure

Bob Dylan gave us the paradoxical gem "there's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all" — he had a point.

Starts With A Bang

The idea that matter is mostly empty space is mostly wrong

Practically all of the matter we see and interact with is made of atoms, which are mostly empty space. Then why is reality so... solid?

Strange Maps

America’s news deserts are growing

Most counties in the U.S. have only one local newspaper, often one that publishes weekly instead of daily.

Two people walking past a dark brick wall with numerous security cameras pointing in various directions.

The Present

Are smart cities a wise idea?

When Google runs a smart city, who owns the data?

Up Next

Culture & Religion

The Late David Foster Wallace

David Foster Wallace studies is on its way to becoming a robust scholarly enterprise; the late author will likely become America's next canonized writer, says Jennifer Howard.