“Can the West regain its optimism? If the answer is no – and most of the portents are skewing the wrong way – liberal democracy will follow. If the next few years resemble the last, it is questionable whether Western… — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“Democracy’s brand was also damaged by America’s reaction to the Al Qaeda attacks in 2001. George W. Bush’s response to 9/11 dealt a twin blow to Western democracy’s allure. The first came in the form of the Patriot Act, which… — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“Davos has become the emblem of a global elite that has lost its ability to listen.” — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“By any numerical measure, humanity is becoming rapidly less poor. But between half and two-thirds of people in the West have been treading water… — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“Cowen detects conformism even in the liveliest Silicon Valley companies. Most of its denizens wear some variation on the casual hipster uniform and all… — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“It would also require a conscious effort to look at the world from unfamiliar standpoints and admit that the West has no monopoly on… — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“Almost half of Americans would be unable to pay a $400 medical emergency bill without going into debt.67” — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“In the US, the more liberal a city’s politics, the higher the rate of inequality.45” — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“With chisels and pickaxes we made our tiny contributions to this orgy of historic vandalism.” — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“the Toil Index – the number of working hours it takes a median worker to pay the median rent in one of America’s big… — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“Today’s equivalent is probably ‘get an engineering degree’, but it will not necessarily be as lucrative. A third of Americans who graduated in STEM… — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“Shortly afterwards Addis Ababa launched a crackdown on its opponents that resulted in hundreds of deaths. If America’s president was in two minds about… — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“Émile Durkheim, the father of modern sociology, said that when societies hit a civilisational break the suicide rate soars.” — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
“In 1970 only about one in seven American families lived in neighbourhoods that were unambiguously ‘affluent’ or ‘poor’.40 By 2007 that number had risen… — Edward Luce Copy Share Image
