The whys and wherefores of ‘conspiracy theory politics’ explained. Why grain is blocked in Ukraine and the global consequences. Globalisation is more under transformation than in retreat. Sentiments fuelling the great resignation have reached some board rooms. Why sleeping well is vital but need not be complicated to achieve.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Thomas Edsall, Why Conspiracy Theories Flourish in Trump’s America
(The New York Times, 22 June 2022)
The focus is on the US, but conspiracy theories are flourishing everywhere – and so is “conspiracy theory politics” (particularly in the US), threatening democracies. This op-ed does a great job at digging into the recent academic literature that research conspiracies. Some insights: “perceiving oneself to be ‘losing’ (culturally, politically, economically, etc.) is likely one of the reasons people are susceptible to belief in conspiracy theories.” “Conspiracy beliefs are correlated with alienation from the political system and anomie – a feeling of personal unrest and lack of understanding of the social world.” Read on – a great explainer (behind a paywall but gifted – reads in 7-9 min).
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Jen Kirby, Why grain can’t get out of Ukraine
(Vox, 20 June 2022)
This article about the quasi-impossibility of exporting agricultural commodities from Ukraine (one of the world’s ‘breadbaskets’) leads to the conclusion that global food price inflation will endure. As Ukraine’s season’s harvest begins, roughly 20 million tons sit in storage because Russia’s war is choking off the country from the global economy and impeding the critical supply of its grains to the world’s markets. The only viable way to get Ukrainian grain out is by ending the Black Sea blockade, but Russia won’t allow this. Alternatives are immensely complicated (free access – reads in 5-7 min).
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Andrés Velasco, Fact-Checking the Deglobalization Narrative
(Project Syndicate, 22 June 2022)
Globalization is not dying but retreating (slightly) and morphing into something different, subject to three big changes: (1) a reconfiguration of global supply chains with “resilience”, “near-shoring” and “friend-shoring the new buzzwords, (2) the gradual but unmistakable shift from trade in goods to trade in services; (3) political: today’s policymakers rightly want to shape the paths that globalization follows. If governments get it right, argues the former Chilean policymaker and current Dean of the School of Public Policy at LSE, a more subdued, but also more sustainable and longer-lasting kind of globalization will emerge. He says that in an open and growing world economy, adherents of deglobalization theories will find it easier to change jobs and re-skill (may be behind a paywall, hence our longish comment – reads in 6-7 min).
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Jennifer Kingson, Even your boss wants to quit
(Axios, 21 June 2022)
Is the ‘Great Resignation’ slipping into the corner office? This article, based on a poll conducted by Deloitte in four Anglo-Saxon countries, thinks so. 70% of C-level executives seem to be seriously thinking about resigning for a job that better supports their well-being. And for good measure (in the same survey), 57% of employees said they were fed up enough to quit too. The data about whether the great resignation phenomenon is real or not is disputed, but as this piece makes clear, “C-suite executives feel as frazzled and depressed as the workers who report to them” (metered paywall – reads in 4-5min).
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Chris James, How to sleep well again
(Psyche, 15 June 2022)
The science of sleep is progressing fast and is by now well established. The consultant clinical psychologist and sleep specialist explains in simple terms why insomnia is awful, but highly treatable. He argues that we need to look beyond pills and potions and suggests some effective methods to sleep well (metered paywall – reads in 5-7 or 15min+ depending on the different sub-chapters).
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