海角大神

2021
July
14
Wednesday

Monitor Daily Podcast

July 14, 2021
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Laurent Belsie
Senior Economics Writer

It鈥檚 an old ploy for inflationary times. When costs go up, don鈥檛 boost the price, shrink the package. It happened back in the 1970s when inflation seemed out of control. And it鈥檚 happening again.聽

础苍听 details how boxes of Cocoa Puffs and Cheerios are getting lighter 鈥 18.1 ounces, down from 19.3 ounces 鈥 but the price is staying the same. When a colleague posted the story on an internal chat space, Monitor staffers had their own stories of 鈥渟hrinkflation鈥 over the years: Triscuits, orange juice, and Pepperidge Farm cookies. It鈥檚 not just food of course. Prices are rising across the board.

American consumers are starting to notice. Inflation in June surged 5.4% from a year earlier, the biggest rise in 13 years. Takeout food and energy prices, which jump around a lot, and so-called core inflation rose at a rate not seen in 30 years.

Inflation is becoming a top-of-mind public concern, . That raises what may be an important question of balance in the world鈥檚 largest economy. Federal Reserve policymakers have thought a bit more inflation is tolerable now because the economy spent a dozen years undershooting their . But public worries can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If people lose confidence in monetary stability, they will act in a way that reinforces inflation.

The 1970s are talking to us. From a cereal box.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Essay

Matias Delacroix/AP
Homes stand densely packed in the Jalousie neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 13, 2021. Haitian President Jovenel Mo茂se was assassinated July 7.

Have billions in aid left Haiti worse off? Some who know the country say when top-down assistance has been replaced with cooperation plumbing Haitians鈥 resilience and ingenuity, conditions have improved.

Spain and France, two European neighbors, have both tried to tackle gender-based violence to varying degrees of success. The results show that there鈥檚 no one-size-fits-all strategy to confronting the issue.

As millennials play financial catch-up 鈥 a struggle that we explored yesterday聽鈥撀爐he newest generation of young workers also faces economic instability. Here鈥檚 how Gen Z is upending traditional paths to security and paving new roads to justice.

Listen

Photo: Ann Hermes, photo illustration: Jacob Turcotte

For this performer, when all else fails? Reinvent yourself.

Christine Hudman Pardy had achieved the artist鈥檚 dream: a聽passion-filled career and聽financial stability. But when the pandemic hit and she lost it all, she turned inward to face her external circumstances. Episode 2 of our podcast 鈥淪tronger.鈥

The Artist

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Film

Focus Features/AP
The documentary 鈥淩oadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain鈥 explores the life of the late chef and traveler.

Anthony Bourdain helped others see the world as he did. What motivated him? A new film sheds light on the late chef, who brought the public on all manner of adventures with his popular books and TV shows.聽


The Monitor's View

Reuters
Slavi Trifonov, a TV host, is leader of the "There Is Such a People" party that won the most votes in Bulgaria's July 11, 2021, election.

A poll of 40,000 people in the European Union last month found a third say corruption has gotten worse over the previous year. That does not speak well for EU attempts over decades to instill honest governance in its 27 member states. Oddly enough, the bloc can now take heart from its poorest and most corrupt member, Bulgaria.

Over the past year, starting with mass protests last July, Bulgarians have voted in two elections to not only oust a longtime prime minister perceived as corrupt but also to choose an anti-corruption party as the largest vote-getter and the expected leader of a new government.

鈥淭his is a sign that聽corruption聽... can no longer be tolerated,鈥 Vessela Tcherneva of the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank told a Bulgarian television station.

Before his victory in last Sunday鈥檚 election, Slavi Trifonov, leader of the winning party 鈥淭here Is Such a People,鈥 said that civil society over the past year has expressed 鈥渋n an unequivocal way its intolerance of brutal聽corruption聽at all levels of government.鈥

Mr. Trifonov, a popular talk-show host who has satirized corrupt leaders, promised total transparency in government. 鈥淚t is time that everything happens right in front of your eyes, in parliament,鈥 he wrote on Facebook. In coming days, he will try to form a ruling coalition in the 240-member chamber.

Bulgaria鈥檚 momentum against corruption gained speed in April after an election ousted Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. A caretaker government took over and quickly exposed favoritism in public procurement under Mr. Borisov. Then in June, the United States imposed sanctions on two Bulgarian oligarchs, a senior security official, and 64 companies. The U.S. described its move as 鈥渢he single largest action targeting聽corruption聽to date鈥 under the Magnitsky Act, a law that punishes foreign government officials implicated in聽corruption聽or human rights abuses.

But as Mr. Trifonov pointed out, 鈥淚t is not the U.S. sanctions that will change our country, but the awakened civil society.鈥 For the rest of Europe, that鈥檚 a useful reminder of where honest governance begins.

Bulgarians may have lagged in the EU fight against corruption, political scientist Andrei Raichev told Deutsche Welle, 鈥渂ut now they are fomenting the change.鈥 The rest of Europe can take note.


A 海角大神 Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥 in its various forms 鈥 is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥 whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

Have you ever thought about salvation as more than simply being protected or saved from harm, but as living in a fuller, more meaningful, God-inspired way?


A message of love

Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
A member of an exiled Cuban community attends a march in North Bergen, New Jersey, held in response to reports of protests in Cuba against the deteriorating economy, July 13, 2021.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte and Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

Thanks for joining us today. And we鈥檒l see you again tomorrow, with a story on how Russians view Marvel鈥檚 latest blockbuster 鈥 which deals with former Soviet superheroes trying to reckon with their past.

More issues

2021
July
14
Wednesday

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