{
    "results": [
        {
            "id": 86035,
            "title": "Here’s why McDonald’s needs to slim down its menu",
            "permalink": "http:\/\/qz.com\/86035\/heres-why-mcdonalds-needs-to-slim-down-its-menu\/",
            "date": {
                "published": "2013-05-18 11:00:45",
                "updated": "2013-05-17 22:07:21"
            },
            "postType": "image",
            "summary": "Over the past two months, McDonald’s has axed beloved items from its menu like the\u00a0Angus Third Pounder\u00a0and its fruit and walnut salads. And there may be more to come, according to a Bloomberg report, that says some McDonald’s franchisees got an email in October that identified other items for possible culling. A McDonald’s spokeswomen, Danya […]",
            "content": "\u003Cp\u003EOver the past two months, McDonald’s has axed beloved items from its menu like the\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-2286905\/McDonalds-rid-classy-menu-items-including-Chicken-Selects-Fruit--Walnut-Salad.html\"\u003EAngus Third Pounder\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0and its fruit and walnut salads. And there may be more to come, according to a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-05-17\/mcdonald-s-seen-overhauling-u-s-menu-from-145-choices.html\"\u003EBloomberg report\u003C\/a\u003E, that says some McDonald’s franchisees got an email in October that identified other items for possible culling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA McDonald’s spokeswomen, Danya Proud, declined to comment or confirm whether the report was true. “We have been adding and removing menu items from our menu for years. It\u2019s part of doing business and nothing new,” she told Quartz.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the world’s largest restaurant chain might want to rethink its revolving door menu of fast food inventions that are retired almost as soon as they are introduced. (This list includes the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/life-style\/eats\/sold-jug-mcjordan-bbq-sauce-bought-9-995-article-1.1184547\"\u003EMcJordan\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0burger, created in Michael Jordan’s heyday,\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/bringbackonionnuggets.tumblr.com\/\"\u003Eonion nuggets\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Zav57FjHXJA\"\u003EMcPizza\u003C\/a\u003E, and\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.inthe90s.com\/food\/mcsaladshakers0.shtml\"\u003Esalad served in cups\u003C\/a\u003E.)\u00a0Last October, McDonald’s global same-store sales fell for the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2012-11-08\/mcdonald-s-monthly-sales-fall-first-time-in-9-year.html\"\u003Efirst time in nine years\u003C\/a\u003E, largely because of slowdown at its American locations. That trend continued this year as the chain’s US sales \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/seekingalpha.com\/article\/1361171-mcdonald-s-struggles-in-the-first-quarter\"\u003Edeclined 1.2%\u003C\/a\u003E during the first quarter. As is McDonald’s strategy, it has responded by offering\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/new-menu-items-at-mcdonalds-2013-4\"\u003Enew menu items\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut there’s reason to believe that less is becoming more in the world of fast food. In a survey done by the Nation’s Restaurant News and WD Partners, respondents ranked menu variety as the\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.wdpartners.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/research\/WD_NRN_ConsumerPicks12.pdf\"\u003Esixth most important trait\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0(pdf), out of 10 at limited-service restaurants, after food quality, cleanliness, and service.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMcDonald’s soon-to-be-defunct Angus burger was seen as the chain’s answer to semi-service, but slightly more premium burger chains like Five Guys, which has been capturing US diners downgrading from full-service restaurants since the financial crisis. A better approach for McDonald’s may have been emulating Five Guys\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.fiveguys.com\/menu.aspx\"\u003Eminimalist\u00a0menu\u003C\/a\u003E instead.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/five-guys-menu-simple.png?w=649&h=485\" width=\"649\" height=\"485\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/five-guys-menu-simple.png?w=649&h=485\" alt=\"\" title=\"The Five Guys menu also includes over a dozen burger toppings.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EThe Five Guys menu also includes over a dozen burger toppings.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003Efiveguys.com\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOther chains doing well with simplified menus include the burrito chain Chipotle, which offers five main food items. In-N-Out Burger offers \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/badmouth.net\/in-n-outs-secret-menu\/\"\u003Ejust four\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0main course items, not including customized options on its so-called \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/aht.seriouseats.com\/archives\/2011\/03\/the-in-n-out-survival-guide-we-ate-every-single-item-on-the-secret-menu.html\"\u003Esecret menu\u003C\/a\u003E. In contrast, McDonald’s sells a total of\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-05-17\/mcdonald-s-seen-overhauling-u-s-menu-from-145-choices.html\"\u003E145 items\u003C\/a\u003E, according\u00a0to\u00a0Datassential, which researches menus. That selection includes\u00a0over a dozen desserts, more than 10 types of salads, and almost 60 burgers, sandwiches and wraps, according to the\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.mcdonalds.com\/us\/en\/full_menu_explorer.html\"\u003EUS McDonald’s website\u003C\/a\u003E.\u00a0Spoilt for choice might not always be what the customer wants.\u003C\/p\u003E",
            "featuredImage": {
                "id": 86171,
                "alt": "",
                "caption": "Too much to choose from?",
                "credit": "AP Photo \/ David Duprey",
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                "tags": [
                    {
                        "name": "Chipotle",
                        "slug": "chipotle"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "fast food",
                        "slug": "fast-food"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Five Guys",
                        "slug": "five-guys"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "food",
                        "slug": "food"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "In-N-Out Burger",
                        "slug": "in-n-out-burger"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "McDonald's",
                        "slug": "mcdonalds"
                    }
                ]
            },
            "byline": {
                "authors": [
                    {
                        "name": "Lily Kuo",
                        "username": "lilkuo",
                        "url": "http:\/\/qz.com\/author\/lilkuo\/",
                        "twitter": "lilkuo"
                    }
                ]
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        },
        {
            "id": 83181,
            "title": "Chinese citizens are hijacking Xi Jinping’s latest propaganda tool",
            "permalink": "http:\/\/qz.com\/83181\/chinese-citizens-are-hijacking-xi-jinpings-latest-propaganda-tool\/",
            "date": {
                "published": "2013-05-18 17:31:17",
                "updated": "2013-05-18 20:12:49"
            },
            "postType": "image",
            "summary": "If the last sixty odd years\u00a0of Chinese history were told through Chinese Communist Party slogans, this year would mark a turning point in who controls the narrative. Elusive expressions like Jiang Zemin’s “three represents” (which refers to the three pillars of the party\u2014military, culture and public interest) and Mao Zedong’s “destruction of the four olds” […]",
            "content": "\u003Cp\u003EIf the last sixty odd years\u00a0of Chinese history were told through \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/80258\/whats-with-all-the-weird-chinese-communist-party-slogans\/\"\u003EChinese Communist Party slogans\u003C\/a\u003E, this year would mark a turning point in who controls the narrative.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EElusive expressions like Jiang Zemin’s “three represents” (which refers to the three pillars of the party\u2014military, culture and public interest) and Mao Zedong’s “destruction of the four olds” (which connotes the destruction of pre-communist Chinese values) catalogue important transitions in China and form part of each leader’s legacy.\u00a0The latest of these slogans is “Chinese Dream,” coined by China’s newest leader Xi Jinping.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESimple and emotive, the term is oddly\u2014if perhaps deliberately\u2014similar to a term used by another global superpower\u2014the “American Dream.” The expression is intended to provoke pride and popular support.\u00a0But propagating the Chinese Dream hasn’t worked out quite the way Xi had hoped. Instead, Chinese citizens have hijacked the phrase and turned it into a symbol of China’s civic problems, not its civic ideals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cb\u003EThe Chinese Dream was supposed to mold Chinese citizens into “useful members of society”\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn recent years, the term Chinese Dream has cropped up in Chinese scholarly articles and books, as well as in\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/10\/03\/opinion\/friedman-china-needs-its-own-dream.html\"\u003Ea notable New York Times editorial\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0by Thomas Friedman. But it wasn’t until Xi used the term in a speech in November of last year that it truly caught fire. Two weeks after he was nominated as head of the CCP, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/news.xinhuanet.com\/english\/china\/2012-12\/23\/c_132058740.htm\"\u003EXi said\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0in a speech in Beijing, “Nowadays, everyone is talking about the China Dream…In my view realizing the great renewal of the Chinese nation is the Chinese nation’s greatest dream in modern history.”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChinese bloggers and commentators pounced on the expression and began \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/international\/archive\/2012\/12\/chasing-the-chinese-dream\/266236\/\"\u003Edebating\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0its meaning in live forums. In March, with the term wafting through society, Xi used the word “dream” at least 23 times in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/chinaelectionsblog.net\/?p=21282\"\u003Ehis speech\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0to accept the post of president. Xi spoke of the need to “build a strong, democratic, civilized, and harmonious modern socialist country and to attain the Chinese Dream of the great renaissance of the Chinese nation.”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince then, Xi has wedged the term Chinese Dream into discussions with business leaders in Hainan and state visits abroad. Officials have taken the propaganda campaign even further: In April, the official voice of the party, the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2013\/04\/translation-chinese-dream-campaign-in-beijing\/\"\u003EPeople’s Daily\u003C\/a\u003E, published detailed instructions for propagating the term: Schools should hold essay competitions; scientists and philosophers should research the topic; senior officials should be educated, and Chinese writers and painters are to make “\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2013\/04\/translation-chinese-dream-campaign-in-beijing\/\"\u003Eartistic masterworks\u003C\/a\u003E” on the Chinese Dream.\u00a0All of this should instill the idea, the article says, that\u00a0”the Chinese Dream is the dream of the Chinese nation, and is also the dream of every Chinese person.”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/my-chinese-dream-cctv.png?w=1024&h=650\" width=\"1024\" height=\"650\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/my-chinese-dream-cctv.png?w=1024&h=650\" alt=\"\" title=\"Chinese state television devotes a site to well known Chinese citizens explaining what their “Chinese dreams.” Yao Ming (top right) says his is to improve the physical education in the country.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EChinese state television devotes a site to well known Chinese citizens explaining what their “Chinese dreams.” Yao Ming (top right) says his is to improve the physical education in the country.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003ECCTV\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn Xi’s estimation, the Chinese Dream isn’t meant to be a collection of individuals’ hopes and aspirations. Instead, the dreams of Chinese citizens are to be shaped to fit the government’s vision, rather than the other way around.\u00a0To that end, the Chinese government has tasked “educators” with uniting “the Chinese dream [with] the dreams of youth and students, to grow up and become useful members of society,” according to\u00a0the People’s Daily.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cb\u003EThe Chinese Dream has become a vessel for reformist aspirations\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnlike past slogans like “three represents” and Hu Jintao’s “\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Scientific_development_concept\"\u003Escientific development\u003C\/a\u003E,” which many Chinese citizens dismissed as lifeless party rhetoric, the Chinese Dream has taken off. The phrase is now part of a popular talent show, the\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/what-is-the-chinese-dream-enter-the-competition\/\"\u003EVoice of the Chinese Dream\u003C\/a\u003E. Chinese bloggers\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/s.weibo.com\/weibo\/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E6%A2%A6&Refer=STopic_box\"\u003Ereference the term\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0(registration in Chinese required) in discussing all things reform-minded, from revitalizing Chinese society to innovation in business.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChinese petitioners (people who trek to Beijing to complain about local governments), journalists and ordinary citizens are also using the Chinese Dream to advocate for personal rights, an end to censorship and stronger rule of law. Asked to name their Chinese Dreams, Chinese citizens rattle off civic aspirations like ending pollution and gaining\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/asiasociety.org\/blog\/asia\/video-evan-osnos-high-bar-new-chinese-dream\"\u003Econfidence in the civil court\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0system.\u00a0In Guangxi province,\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/ajw.asahi.com\/article\/views\/column\/AJ201305040017\"\u003Eone woman said\u003C\/a\u003E, “Everyone’s dream is different…It’s not something to be defined by the government.”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe Chinese newspaper Southern Weekend used the term to advocate for stricter adherence to China’s constitution in a January article entitled, “The Chinese Dream: A dream of constitutionalism.” The piece was later\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/wap.nytimes.com\/blogs\/latitude\/2013\/05\/03\/whats-xi-jinpings-chinese-dream\/?from=opinion.global\"\u003Ecensored\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0and modified to\u00a0”The Chinese Dream is nearer to us than ever before.” Journalists at the paper\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/41058\/chinese-journalists-stand-up-to-state-censorship-and-the-people-back-them\/\"\u003Edemonstrated for days\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0against the change.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EIn March, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/83181\/chinese-citizens-are-hijacking-xi-jinpings-latest-propaganda-tool\/\"\u003Ethis series of photos\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0of petitioners with signs detailing their Chinese Dreams circulated the microblog Sina Weibo:\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/my-chinese-dream-is-group-photo.png?w=766&h=565\" width=\"766\" height=\"565\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/my-chinese-dream-is-group-photo.png?w=766&h=565\" alt=\"\" title=\"One woman (front, center) holds a sign that says: “My Chinese Dream is justice and fairness.” Another woman’s sign says: “My Chinese Dream is that Xi Jinping protects my personal safety and reproductive rights.”\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EOne woman (front, center) holds a sign that says: “My Chinese Dream is justice and fairness.” Another woman’s sign says: “My Chinese Dream is that Xi Jinping protects my personal safety and reproductive rights.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003ETea Leaf Nation\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/my-chinese-dream-is-a-just-society.png?w=546&h=700\" width=\"546\" height=\"700\" class=\"size-medium_10\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/my-chinese-dream-is-a-just-society.png?w=546&h=700\" alt=\"\" title=\"“My Chinese Dream is justice and fairness and for my son’s life to be given back.”\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003E“My Chinese Dream is justice and fairness and for my son’s life to be given back.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003ETea Leaf Nation\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/my-chinese-dream-is-rights-for-petitioners.png?w=764&h=573\" width=\"764\" height=\"573\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/my-chinese-dream-is-rights-for-petitioners.png?w=764&h=573\" alt=\"\" title=\"“My Chinese Dream is rights for petitioners.”\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003E“My Chinese Dream is rights for petitioners.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003ETea Leaf Nation\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/my-chinese-dream-is-to-find-my-family.png?w=548&h=672\" width=\"548\" height=\"672\" class=\"size-medium_10\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/my-chinese-dream-is-to-find-my-family.png?w=548&h=672\" alt=\"\" title=\"A petitioner likely complaining about his home being seized says: “My Chinese Dream is to have my home returned.”\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EA petitioner likely complaining about his home being seized says: “My Chinese Dream is to have my home returned.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003ETea Leaf Nation\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003ELast month, when regulators ordered publishers not to print a book on political life by the reformist Chinese scholar Yu Jianrong,\u00a0a group of bloggers leveraged the term to criticize government censorship. \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.weibo.com\/yushenghai\"\u003EOne wrote\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0(registration required)\u00a0on Weibo, “The government is not smothering just one book, but smothering our “Chinese Dream.” Another, using a euphemism\u00a0for being detained by police, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.weibo.com\/yujianrong\"\u003Esaid\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0(registration required), “I want to treat [the official responsible] to a cup of coffee…where we can also discuss\u00a0Secretary Xi\u2019s\u00a0Chinese Dream,” according to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2013\/05\/netizen-voices-dont-smother-our-chinese-dream\/\"\u003EChina Digital Times\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Ca style=\"font-size:13px;\" href=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2013\/05\/netizen-voices-dont-smother-our-chinese-dream\/\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Chinese party and military have their own version of the Chinese Dream\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDisparate definitions of the Chinese Dream reflect the country’s\u00a0factious political system. For some Chinese party and military officials, the Chinese Dream symbolizes China’s aspirations to rise to the top of the global international order. In 2010, senior colonel Liu Mingfu published a book titled\u00a0\u003Ci\u003E“\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.thechinabeat.org\/?p=1814\"\u003EChinese Dream\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E” in which he argues China should revive its militaristic spirit to rally public support.\u00a0Shortly after Xi’s November speech, the publishers introduced a new edition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E Xi has never discussed the Chinese Dream in the context of global supremacy. (In Moscow, he told students the Chinese Dream would be for the benefit of “\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/ajw.asahi.com\/article\/views\/column\/AJ201305040017\"\u003Eall countries\u003C\/a\u003E.”) But his vagueness leaves the term open for military exploitation, and Xi himself has\u00a0used the term to discuss military prowess.\u00a0In December,\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/12\/15\/world\/asia\/chinas-xi-jinping-acts-to-bolster-military.html?_r=0\"\u003EXi said\u003C\/a\u003E, “This Dream can be said to be the Dream of a strong nation; and for the military, it is the Dream of a strong military.”\u00a0Xi has also said that the Soviet Union’s fall resulted from\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.economist.com\/news\/leaders\/21577070-vision-chinas-new-president-should-serve-his-people-not-nationalist-state-xi-jinping\"\u003Eweak ideological discipline\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe party appears to be fighting back against public\u00a0interpretations of the Dream. According to the South China Morning Post, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/article\/1234453\/dont-teach-freedom-press-or-communist-party-mistakes-chinese-academics\"\u003Eauthorities sent a directive\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0(paywall) recently to some university professors to avoid class discussions of the “\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2013\/05\/press-freedom-other-topics-off-limits-for-academics\/\"\u003ESeven Don’t Mentions\u003C\/a\u003E.” Chinese journalist \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/asia_pacific\/china-clamps-down-on-discourse-ideology-in-face-of-pressure-for-change\/2013\/05\/14\/c3b00c26-bc7c-11e2-b537-ab47f0325f7c_story_1.html\"\u003EGao Yu says\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0the “Don’t Mentions” likely reference seven trouble areas for the party, which were identified in a nonpublic meeting earlier this year: constitutionalism, democracy,\u00a0civil society, neoliberalism and Western media bias.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere is much speculation about whether Xi\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.upi.com\/Top_News\/World-News\/2013\/03\/14\/Xi-Jinping-becomes-China-president\/UPI-82731363239692\/\"\u003Ewill bring reform\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0to China. But his vision of the Chinese Dream suggests he is more interested in\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/afe.easia.columbia.edu\/special\/china_1900_mao_war.htm\"\u003EMao-style control\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0over the public.\u00a0The question is how far disappointed citizens are willing to go in demanding their own version of the Chinese Dream.\u003C\/p\u003E",
            "featuredImage": {
                "id": 86231,
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                "caption": "This isn't really working for me, Xi.",
                "credit": "AP Photo \/ Ng Han Guan",
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                        "slug": "chinas-transition"
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                "tags": [
                    {
                        "name": "censorship",
                        "slug": "censorship"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "chinese communist party",
                        "slug": "chinese-communist-party"
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                    {
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                    {
                        "name": "Lily Kuo",
                        "username": "lilkuo",
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        {
            "id": 81661,
            "title": "Most data isn’t “big,” and businesses are wasting money pretending it is",
            "permalink": "http:\/\/qz.com\/81661\/most-data-isnt-big-and-businesses-are-wasting-money-pretending-it-is\/",
            "date": {
                "published": "2013-05-06 17:47:03",
                "updated": "2013-05-06 18:58:37"
            },
            "postType": "image",
            "summary": "Big data! If you don’t have it, you better get yourself some. Your competition has it, after all. Bottom line: If your data is little, your rivals are going to kick sand in your face and steal your girlfriend. There are many problems with the assumptions behind the “big data” narrative (above, in a reductive […]",
            "content": "\u003Cp\u003EBig data! If you don’t have it, you better \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/theyec\/2013\/04\/29\/3-steps-to-incorporate-big-data-into-your-small-business\/?utm_campaign=techtwittersf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social\"\u003Eget yourself some\u003C\/a\u003E. Your \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/live.wsj.com\/video\/embrace-big-data-before-your-competitors-do\/B3C22E0D-A755-4251-9856-A845F3A42BAC.html#!B3C22E0D-A755-4251-9856-A845F3A42BAC\"\u003Ecompetition has it\u003C\/a\u003E, after all. Bottom line: If your data is little, your rivals are going to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.iveybusinessjournal.com\/topics\/strategy\/why-big-data-is-the-new-competitive-advantage#.UYFKAit4YcA\"\u003Ekick sand in your face and steal your girlfriend\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere are many problems with the assumptions behind the “big data” narrative (above, in a reductive form) being pushed, primarily, by consultants and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.businessweek.com\/articles\/2013-05-01\/ibm-brings-big-data-to-business-school\"\u003EIT firms\u003C\/a\u003E that want to sell businesses the next big thing. Fortunately, honest practitioners of big data\u2014aka data scientists\u2014are by nature highly skeptical, and they’ve provided us with a litany of reasons to be weary of many of the claims made for this field. Here they are:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EEven web giants like Facebook and Yahoo generally aren’t dealing with big data, and the application of Google-style tools is inappropriate.\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFacebook and Yahoo run their own giant, in-house “clusters”\u2014collections of powerful servers\u2014for crunching data. The necessity of these clusters is one of the hallmarks of big data. After all, data isn’t all that “big” if you could chew through it on your PC at home. The necessity of breaking problems into many small parts, and processing each on a large array of computers, characterizes classic big data problems like Google’s need to compute the rank of every single web page on the planet.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut it appears that for both Facebook and Yahoo, those same clusters are unnecessary for many of the tasks which they’re handed. In the case of Facebook, most of the jobs engineers ask their clusters to perform are in the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cs.berkeley.edu\/~istoica\/classes\/cs294\/11\/papers\/pacman-draft.pdf\"\u003E“megabyte to gigabyte” range\u003C\/a\u003E (pdf), which means they could easily be handled on a single computer\u2014even a laptop.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe story is similar at Yahoo, where it appears the median task size handed to Yahoo’s cluster \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/research.microsoft.com\/apps\/pubs\/default.aspx?id=179615\"\u003Eis 12.5 gigabytes\u003C\/a\u003E. (pdf) That’s bigger than what the average desktop PC could handle, but it’s no problem for a single powerful server.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAll of this is outlined in a paper from Microsoft Research, aptly titled “\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/research.microsoft.com\/apps\/pubs\/default.aspx?id=179615\"\u003ENobody ever got fired for buying a cluster\u003C\/a\u003E,” which points out that a lot of the problems solved by engineers at even the most data-hungry firms don’t need to be run on clusters. And why is that an issue? Because there are vast classes of problems for which clusters are a relatively inefficient\u2014or even \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.analyticbridge.com\/profiles\/blogs\/what-mapreduce-can-t-do\"\u003Etotally inappropriate\u003C\/a\u003E\u2014solution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EBig data has become a synonym for “data analysis,” which is confusing and counter-productive.\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnalyzing data is as old as tabulating a record of all the Pharaoh’s bags in the royal granary, but now that you can’t say data without putting “big” in front of it, the\u2014very necessary\u2014practice of data analysis has been swept up in a larger and less helpful fad. Here, for example, is a post exhorting readers to\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/theyec\/2013\/04\/29\/3-steps-to-incorporate-big-data-into-your-small-business\/?utm_campaign=techtwittersf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social\"\u003E“Incorporate Big Data Into Your Small Business\u003C\/a\u003E” that is about a quantity of data that probably wouldn’t strain Google Docs, much less Excel on a single laptop.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhich is to say, most businesses are in fact dealing with what Rufus Pollock, of the Open Knowledge Foundation, calls\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blog.okfn.org\/2013\/04\/26\/what-do-we-mean-by-small-data\/\"\u003Esmall data\u003C\/a\u003E. It’s very important stuff\u2014a “revolution,”\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blog.okfn.org\/2013\/04\/22\/forget-big-data-small-data-is-the-real-revolution\/\"\u003Eaccording to Pollock\u003C\/a\u003E. But it has little connection to the big kind.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ESupersizing your data is going to cost you and may yield very little.\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIs more data always better? Hardly. In fact, if you’re looking for correlations\u2014is thing X connected to thing Y, in a way that will give me information I can act on?\u2014gathering more data could actually hurt you.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E“The information you can extract from any big data asymptotically diminishes as your data volume increases,” \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2012\/11\/25\/the-big-data-fallacy-data-%E2%89%A0-information-%E2%89%A0-insights\/\"\u003Ewrote Michael Wu\u003C\/a\u003E, the “principal scientist of data analytics” at social media analysis firm Lithium. For those of you who don’t normally think in data, what that means is that past a certain point, your return on adding more data diminishes to the point that you’re only wasting time gathering more.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne reason: The “bigger” your data, the more false positives will turn up in it, when you’re looking for correlations.\u00a0As data scientist Vincent Granville wrote in “\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.analyticbridge.com\/profiles\/blogs\/the-curse-of-big-data\"\u003EThe curse of big data\u003C\/a\u003E,” it’s not hard, even with a data set that includes just 1,000 items, to get into a situation in which “we are dealing with many, many millions of correlations.” And that means, “out of all these correlations, a few will be extremely high just by chance: if you use such a correlation for predictive modeling, you will lose.”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis problem crops up all the time in one of the original applications of big data\u2014genetics. The endless “fishing expeditions” conducted by scientists who are content to sequence whole genomes and go diving into them looking for correlations can turn up \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.genomesunzipped.org\/2010\/07\/how-to-read-a-genome-wide-association-study.php\"\u003Eall sorts of unhelpful results\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EIn some cases, big data is as likely to confuse as it is to enlighten.\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen companies start using big data, they are wading into the deep end of a number of tough disciplines\u2014statistics, data quality, and everything else that comprises “data science.” Just as in the kind of science that is published every day\u2014and as often, ignored, revised, or never verified\u2014the pitfalls are many.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBiases in how data are collected, a lack of context, gaps in what’s gathered, artifacts of how data are processed and the overall cognitive biases that lead even the best researchers to see patterns where there are none mean that “we may be getting drawn into particular kinds of algorithmic illusions,” \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/sloanreview.mit.edu\/article\/competitive-advantage-with-data-maybe-maybe-not\/\"\u003Esaid MIT Media Lab visiting scholar Kate Crawford\u003C\/a\u003E.\u00a0In other words, even if you have big data, it’s not something that Joe in the IT department can tackle\u2014it may require someone with a PhD, or the equivalent amount of experience. And when they’re done, their answer to your problem might be that you don’t need “big data” at all.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ESo what’s better\u2014big data or small?\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDoes your business need data? Of course. But buying into something as faddish as the supposed importance of the size of one’s data is the kind of thing \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/dilbert.com\/strips\/comic\/2012-07-29\/\"\u003Eonly pointy-haired Dilbert bosses would do\u003C\/a\u003E. The same issues that have plagued science since its inception\u2014data quality, overall goals and the importance of context and intuition\u2014are inherent in the way that businesses use data to make decisions. Remember: Gregor Mendel uncovered the secrets of genetic inheritance with just enough data to fill a notebook. The important thing is gathering the \u003Ci\u003Eright\u003C\/i\u003E data, not gathering some arbitrary quantity of it.\u003C\/p\u003E",
            "featuredImage": {
                "id": 81744,
                "alt": "",
                "caption": "Now that's big data. (Rijkmuseum in Amsterdam)",
                "credit": "AP\/Peter Dejong",
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            "popularPostsRank": 3,
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                "obsession": [
                    {
                        "name": "The Cloud",
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                "tags": [
                    {
                        "name": "Big Data",
                        "slug": "big-data"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "data",
                        "slug": "data"
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                    {
                        "name": "facebook",
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                    {
                        "name": "Google",
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                "authors": [
                    {
                        "name": "Christopher Mims",
                        "username": "cmimsqz",
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        {
            "id": 85661,
            "title": "The world’s tallest building will be in the middle of an empty field in China",
            "permalink": "http:\/\/qz.com\/85661\/the-worlds-tallest-building-will-be-in-the-middle-of-an-empty-field-in-china\/",
            "date": {
                "published": "2013-05-17 08:11:50",
                "updated": "2013-05-17 16:53:02"
            },
            "postType": "article",
            "summary": "A Chinese firm best known for building air conditioning units is constructing a vertical city.\u00a0Broad Sustainable Construction (BSB) said this week that next month it will finally break ground\u00a0on its the tower that will not only be the world’s tallest but could, according to BSB, become a model for how China deals with mass urbanization. […]",
            "content": "\u003Cp\u003EA Chinese firm best known for building air conditioning units is constructing a vertical city.\u00a0Broad Sustainable Construction (BSB) said this week that next month it will finally \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.treehugger.com\/modular-design\/one-building-one-city-worlds-tallest-prefab-breaking-ground-june.html\"\u003Ebreak ground\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0on its the tower that will not only be the world’s tallest but could, according to BSB, become a model for how China deals with \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2013\/03\/31\/us-china-urbanisation-idUSBRE92U00520130331\"\u003Emass urbanization\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe\u00a0838-meter-tall (2,749 feet)\u00a0tower more commonly known as “Sky City” will be about 10 meters taller than the world’s highest skyscraper at present,\u00a0Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. Moreover, it will be stationed in the southern provincial capital of Changsha of about 7 million people\u2014tiny compared to cities like Beijing or Shanghai.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/changsha-china-field.png?w=591&h=327\" width=\"591\" height=\"327\" class=\"size-medium_10\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/changsha-china-field.png?w=591&h=327\" alt=\"\" title=\"The site for Sky City in Changsha, China.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EThe site for Sky City in Changsha, China.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EBroad Group\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBSB likes to market the project as the “next step in urbanization.” It will house about 30,000 people in a 202-floor building that will also include offices, a hotel, a school, and a hospital\u2014not to mention 92 elevators, a six-mile-ramp between floors, and 17 helipads.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut whether BSB will actually pull off the project is up for some debate. Chairman Zhang Yue made waves in 2011 when the company \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rwvmru5JmXk\"\u003Ebuilt a 30-story building in 15 days,\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0using prefabricated steel and concrete building material.\u00a0Yue has planned to use a similar approach with Sky City and bragged the company would complete construction \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlanticwire.com\/global\/2012\/11\/how-build-worlds-tallest-skyscraper-90-days\/59278\/\"\u003Ewithin 90 days\u003C\/a\u003E. The company has had to delay its plans once already, reportedly because local authorities \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/simonmontlake\/2013\/02\/28\/china-to-erect-tallest-skyscraper-in-90-days-not-so-fast\/\"\u003Eheld back permits\u003C\/a\u003E because of concerns about safety, environmental impact, and congestion. On \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.broad.com\/down.php?id=447\"\u003Eits website\u003C\/a\u003E, BSB now says construction will take seven months.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/sky-city-tower-china.png?w=591&h=333\" width=\"591\" height=\"333\" class=\"size-medium_10\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/sky-city-tower-china.png?w=591&h=333\" alt=\"\" title=\"A visualization of “Sky City”.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EA visualization of “Sky City”.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EBroad Group\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/sky-city-helipad.png?w=709&h=403\" width=\"709\" height=\"403\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/sky-city-helipad.png?w=709&h=403\" alt=\"\" title=\"Sky City is slated to have 17 helipads, gardens, and courtyards for sports.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003ESky City is slated to have 17 helipads, gardens, and courtyards for sports.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EBroad Group\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/side-view-of-sky-city.png?w=704&h=401\" width=\"704\" height=\"401\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/side-view-of-sky-city.png?w=704&h=401\" alt=\"\" title=\"BSB says the building will be able to withstand an earthquake of magnitude 9.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EBSB says the building will be able to withstand an earthquake of magnitude 9.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EBroad Group\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/sky-city-from-top.png?w=707&h=398\" width=\"707\" height=\"398\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/sky-city-from-top.png?w=707&h=398\" alt=\"\" title=\"Aerial visualization of Sky City.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EAerial visualization of Sky City.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EBroad Group\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/sky-city-at-dusk.png?w=706&h=433\" width=\"706\" height=\"433\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/sky-city-at-dusk.png?w=706&h=433\" alt=\"\" title=\"BSB also says the building will eliminate 99% of PM 2.5, particulate matter in the air that is a marker of pollution.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EBSB also says the building will eliminate 99% of PM 2.5, particulate matter in the air that is a marker of pollution.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EBroad Group\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/sky-city-at-night.png?w=704&h=486\" width=\"704\" height=\"486\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/sky-city-at-night.png?w=704&h=486\" alt=\"\" title=\"A visualization of Sky City at night.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EA visualization of Sky City at night.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EBroad Group\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E",
            "topPostsRank": 21,
            "popularPostsRank": 4,
            "taxonomies": {
                "obsession": [
                    {
                        "name": "China's Transition",
                        "slug": "chinas-transition"
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                ],
                "tags": [
                    {
                        "name": "Broad Sustainable Construction",
                        "slug": "broad-sustainable-construction"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "burj khalifa",
                        "slug": "burj-khalifa"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Changsha China",
                        "slug": "changsha-china"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "dubai",
                        "slug": "dubai-2"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Sky City",
                        "slug": "sky-city"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "urbanization",
                        "slug": "urbanization"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "World's tallest building",
                        "slug": "worlds-tallest-building"
                    }
                ]
            },
            "byline": {
                "authors": [
                    {
                        "name": "Lily Kuo",
                        "username": "lilkuo",
                        "url": "http:\/\/qz.com\/author\/lilkuo\/",
                        "twitter": "lilkuo"
                    }
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "id": 86120,
            "title": "It’s official: Unhappy employees = corruption and fraud",
            "permalink": "http:\/\/qz.com\/86120\/its-official-unhappy-employees-corruption-and-fraud\/",
            "date": {
                "published": "2013-05-18 17:51:29",
                "updated": "2013-05-18 17:53:37"
            },
            "postType": "image",
            "summary": "Squeeze your employees, and you’ll pay the price. Seems obvious\u2014but\u00a0Ernst & Young\u00a0has actual evidence.\u00a0For its annual fraud report the firm surveyed 3,000 company board members, managers and their teams in 36 countries across the world, and found\u00a0that employees feeling the double pinch of increased demands and fewer financial perks are alarmingly likely to respond by […]",
            "content": "\u003Cp\u003ESqueeze your employees, and you’ll pay the price. Seems obvious\u2014but\u00a0Ernst & Young\u00a0has actual evidence.\u00a0For its \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ey.com\/Publication\/vwLUAssets\/Navigating_todays_complex_business_risks\/$FILE\/Navigating_todays_complex_business_risks.pdf\"\u003Eannual fraud report\u003C\/a\u003E the firm surveyed 3,000 company board members, managers and their teams in 36 countries across the world, and found\u00a0that employees feeling the double pinch of increased demands and fewer financial perks are alarmingly likely to respond by doing anything from fudging the numbers to bribing officials and clients.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPractically everyone, it seems, is feeling the pressure to grow their businesses and meet their targets in a tough economic climate, but at the same time, “the vast majority”\u00a0of people reported that they\u2019re not getting the bonuses, raises and other perks that they used to.\u00a0Oddly enough, this is true not just in the sputtering engines of Western capitalism but also in hyper-competitive rapid-growth markets “where the battle for talent remains fierce.”\u00a0In India, for instance, 43% of respondents were witnessing what E&Y delicately describes as “downward pressure on pay and remuneration.”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E“Greater pressure to deliver growth and downward pressure on reward can be a risky combination,” E&Y concludes. “Both pressures can, in some cases, drive actions that could damage the business, such as fraud, bribery and corruption.”\u00a0Compounding that problem, E&Y said, is the fact that the twin focuses on growth and cutting costs\u2014especially at the expense of employees\u2014”can weaken the systems and teams in place to prevent and detect these actions.”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnfortunately the report contains no specific data that might give the hard-driving manager a pointer as to just how much more sweat he can squeeze out of his employees before they start to cook the books. But it says that the pressure to perform can lead to various kinds of dubious conduct.\u00a0For instance, employees feeling a financial pinch may either bend the rules themselves or turn a blind eye when others do so. E&Y\u00a0notes that “an alarming number appear to be comfortable with or\u00a0aware of unethical conduct.”\u00a0In other cases, especially in rapid-growth markets, employees are willing “to make cash payments or offer personal gifts or entertainment to win or retain business.”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut company bosses would do well to note one thing: E&Y found that the higher up managers are\u2014and presumably the more they are paid and get regular raises and bonuses\u2014the bigger the “perceptions gaps” between them and other employees about how the company is dealing with corruption. Senior staff are considerably more likely to think the company has clear policies, training and sanctions for corruption than their subordinates do\u2014which might mean they’re a little too trusting that such safeguards will catch things before they get out of hand.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image alignnone\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/screen-shot-2013-05-17-at-6-20-34-pm.png?w=909&h=733\" width=\"909\" height=\"733\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/screen-shot-2013-05-17-at-6-20-34-pm.png?w=909&h=733\" alt=\"\" title=\"The more senior you are, the more out of touch.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EThe more senior you are, the more out of touch.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EErnst & Young\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration:underline;\"\u003E\u00a0\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E",
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                "kicker": [
                    {
                        "name": "Uncalculated risk",
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                "tags": [
                    {
                        "name": "Africa",
                        "slug": "africa"
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                    {
                        "name": "Business",
                        "slug": "business"
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                    {
                        "name": "Ernst & Young",
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                "authors": [
                    {
                        "name": "Josh Meyer",
                        "username": "jmeyerqz",
                        "url": "http:\/\/qz.com\/author\/jmeyerqz\/",
                        "twitter": "JoshMeyerDC"
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        {
            "id": 61247,
            "title": "The City of London’s future as a global financial center is safe…for now",
            "permalink": "http:\/\/qz.com\/61247\/the-city-of-londons-future-as-a-global-financial-center-is-safe-for-now\/",
            "date": {
                "published": "2013-05-17 05:00:16",
                "updated": "2013-05-17 14:44:14"
            },
            "postType": "image",
            "summary": "It’s a refrain that seems to get recycled every few years: London’s storied financial center, “the City”, is under existential threat from onerous new regulations or competition from emerging financial capitals. But could the dire warnings prove true this time? Five years after the financial crisis, Britain’s financial system is still suffering. The reputation of […]",
            "content": "\u003Cp\u003EIt’s a refrain that seems to get recycled every few years: London’s storied financial center, “the City”, is under existential threat from onerous new regulations or competition from emerging financial capitals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut could the dire warnings prove true this time? Five years after the financial crisis, Britain’s financial system is still suffering. The reputation of British banks is at a low after RBS, UBS and Barclays were caught\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.economist.com\/news\/finance-and-economics\/21575814-federal-judge-throws-out-much-not-all-rate-setting-case-law\"\u003Emanipulating inter-bank lending rates\u003C\/a\u003E.\u00a0Taxpayers remain\u00a0angry over \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/id\/49839043\"\u003E\u00a366 billion\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0($107 billion) in bank bailout funds for which the country is still paying. Jobs in the City \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-05-06\/london-banker-job-vacancies-rose-19-recruiter-says.html\"\u003Ehave dwindled\u003C\/a\u003E and the value of commercial real estate there has fallen. The UK has\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/76368\/fitch-downgrades-uk-which-can-no-longer-claim-prized-aaa-rating\/\"\u003Elost its triple-A credit rating\u003C\/a\u003E for the first time since the 1970s. New surveys of the world’s financial centers show cities like Frankfurt, Paris and Zurich \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ft.com\/cms\/s\/0\/4772c47c-9310-11e2-b3be-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2SduD583F\"\u003Egaining on London\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0in competitiveness and appeal. And all the while, conservative UK politicians keep calling for an \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/uk.reuters.com\/article\/2013\/05\/07\/uk-britain-europe-idUKBRE94607T20130507\"\u003Eexit from the European Union\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0no matter the cost to British financial institutions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday, London is home\u00a0to the world’s largest center for foreign exchange trading, more lending between global banks, and more\u00a0international financial firms than anywhere else in the world, including New York City, according to TheCityUK, a lobbying group. The country’s overall financial services industry, much of which is concentrated in London, accounts for\u003Cstrong\u003E\u00a0\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ukti.gov.uk\/investintheuk\/sectoropportunities\/financialprofessionalservices.html\"\u003E10% of the United Kingdom’s GDP\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E.\u003Cem\u003E\u00a0\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003EFormerly just an area of a little over 1 square mile, settled by the Romans, the City now encompasses a stretch of land along the north bank of the Thames River; the former docklands of east London, or Canary Wharf; and Mayfair in west London, where boutique hedge funds take up shop in\u00a0centuries-old row houses.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image alignnone\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/03\/city-of-london-map2.png?w=1024&h=530\" width=\"1024\" height=\"530\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/03\/city-of-london-map2.png?w=1024&h=530\" alt=\"city of london map\" title=\"London in around 1300, showing the walls of what became known as “the City.”\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003ELondon in around 1300, showing the walls of what became known as “the City.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EWikimedia Commons\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut in response to the scandals that have tarnished the City’s image,\u00a0the EU and Britain are finalizing\u00a0harsh regulations on the sector. That, plus a dwindling regard for the role of global finance in the UK, will drive business away to financial centers like Singapore, Hong Kong or possibly New York, as well other European cities. Or so the argument goes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ELondon’s been through worse before\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Confederation of British Industry predicts that\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-01-21\/u-k-finance-industry-to-cut-43-000-jobs-cbi-survey-says.html\"\u003E43,000 financial sector jobs\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0in the UK will be cut before the summer. The Centre for Economic and Business Research forecasts that employment in the City will fall to 236,000 in 2014, the\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cebr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/City-Jobs-Press-Release-October-2012.pdf\"\u003Elowest level since 1993\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0(pdf)\u00a0and down from a peak of 354,134 in 2007.\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cityoflondon.gov.uk\/business\/economic-research-and-information\/research-publications\/Documents\/research-2013\/Taking-Stock-OnlineFinal.pdf\"\u003EResidential property\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0in central London is more expensive than commercial property, according to a March report by Ramidus Consulting. London’s newest skyscraper, a 72-story spiky glass tower in London’s south bank called\u00a0the Shard, has no commercial occupants\u00a0yet (though a spokesman tells Quartz the company behind the building expects to sign tenant agreements soon). Expectations seem to have subtly shifted. Almost two thirds of 450 British investment bankers surveyed last year by the head-hunter agency Astbury Marsden said Hong Kong, Shanghai or Singapore would be the\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2012\/08\/26\/financialcentres-survey-idUSL6E8JO65720120826\"\u003Etop global\u00a0finance\u00a0center in 10 years\u003C\/a\u003E.\u00a0British banks \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/finance\/newsbysector\/banksandfinance\/9280629\/HSBC-postpones-plans-to-leave-UK-indefinitely.html\"\u003EHSBC\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB10001424127887324077704578357601607594368.html\"\u003EStandard Chartered\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0(paywall) have both\u00a0threatened to relocate their headquarters from London, though both subsequently backtracked.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/london-1967-web.jpg?w=1024&h=576\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/london-1967-web.jpg?w=1024&h=576\" alt=\"\" title=\"Messengers leaving the Bank of England in London in 1967.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EMessengers leaving the Bank of England in London in 1967.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EGetty Images \/ Sydney O'Meara\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBut London’s financial services industry has survived larger crises.\u003C\/strong\u003E The destruction of the British economy after World War II and the rise of America as an industrial power didn’t kill it. (In fact, strict US regulations pushed international finance to London, where it flourished in the 1960s and 1970s). When the UK chose not to join the euro in 1999, debate raged over whether\u00a0London would lose its place to euro zone financial centers like Frankfurt. Instead, the City became the continent’s main offshore market for euro-denominated transactions, with\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.thecityuk.com\/research\/our-work\/articles-2\/london-increases-its-lead-in-foreign-exchange-trading-as-global-turnover-drops-by-5\/\"\u003Emore\u00a0than twice as many euros\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0traded\u00a0as in all of the euro-area states combined.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E“We are having the exact same debate again,” says\u00a0Mats Persson, head of the London-based think tank Open Europe, “Is this going to be the point when those warnings come true? There clearly is a tipping point; the question is, ‘What is that tipping point?’”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EThe new regulations aren’t as scary as they seem\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESkeptics of the City’s future say the tipping point is recent EU regulations, like a cap on bonuses for bankers, a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-20700946\"\u003Ebanking union\u003C\/a\u003E of the largest euro zone banks that could marginalize the UK, and a tax on financial transactions to be levied in 11 EU countries. More pressure could come if the EU mandates that clearinghouses conducting “\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB10000872396390443916104578022090468435254.html\"\u003Esizable amounts\u003C\/a\u003E“\u00a0of eur0-denominated trade have to be on the continent. (More than half of all derivatives traded in London are euro-denominated.)\u00a0”We have to keep the City of London out of the clutches of the EU,” chief executive officer of the City of London firms Tullett Prebon and Fundsmith,\u00a0Terry Smith said at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.brugesgroup.com\/eu\/the-eu-the-british-economy-and-the-city-of-london.htm?xp=speeches\"\u003Ea panel\u003C\/a\u003E at the Bruges Group, a\u00a0think tank in London, in February.\u00a0Some 50 proposed EU\u00a0regulations would impact the City, according to Open Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/big-bang-london-web.jpg?w=1024&h=576\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/big-bang-london-web.jpg?w=1024&h=576\" alt=\"\" title=\"An office in the City of London on the day of government deregulation of financial markets on October 27, 1986, sometimes called the “big bang”.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EAn office in the City of London on the day of government deregulation of financial markets on October 27, 1986, sometimes called the “big bang”.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EGetty Images \/ Georges DeKeerle\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBut it is far from certain how these regulations, many of which must still be negotiated among EU members, will affect the City.\u003C\/strong\u003E “It doesn’t all go one way,” says Charles Goodhart, director of a financial regulation research program\u00a0at the London School of Economics.\u00a0”There are elements in what the euro zone is doing that will benefit London… and there are elements that will pose a threat.”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor instance, the\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/54012\/europes-robin-hood-tax-will-claw-back-revenue-from-finance-institutions-that-arent-even-in-europe\/\"\u003Eset of taxes\u003C\/a\u003E on financial transactions, known as the Tobin tax, could end up putting a small charge on trades done between the UK and any of the\u00a011 EU states, even though Britain is not part of the scheme. But ultimately it should drive more business to the UK, Goodhart says. Moreover, the tax, which levies 0.1% on shares and bonds and 0.01% on derivatives trades, is \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-15148590\"\u003Emuch less than the\u00a00.5% tax\u003C\/a\u003E, or stamp duty,\u00a0that the UK already levies on any UK stock traded in the world.\u00a0And that stamp duty hasn’t\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blogs.reuters.com\/felix-salmon\/2013\/01\/30\/europes-robust-financial-transactions-tax\/\"\u003Epushed international companies away\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0from listing shares in London.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA European banking union isn’t unequivocally bad for the City either. Some fear that the European Central Bank (ECB), by setting liquidity and capital requirements for the biggest banks in the euro area, will favor those institutions at the cost of the UK’s. But the union, negotiated late last year, includes safeguards\u00a0to prevent Britain from being be marginalized should the currency union consolidate into a political one\u2014a kind of United States of Europe within the EU.\u00a0Aside from a pledge that the ECB will not discriminate against any EU state, the European Banking Authority is expected to introduce a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/europa.eu\/rapid\/press-release_MEMO-13-251_en.htm\"\u003Evoting system\u003C\/a\u003E such that if a majority of EU member states outside of the banking union oppose a banking rule, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-20709381\"\u003Ethey can block it\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd as for the European cap on bonuses, it isn’t likely to drive talent away from the City, Persson says. The caps can be evaded through\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ft.com\/intl\/cms\/s\/0\/c46f75cc-8bf6-11e2-b001-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2PbdQSWDw\"\u003Ehigher fixed salaries\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0(paywall) and other loopholes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWhat’s more worrying is Britain-Europe relations\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe biggest risk to the City right now is perhaps not these new regulations, but the deteriorating relationship between the UK and EU.\u00a0Before the financial crisis, British officials could reasonably argue that the City, which served as an entry point to the EU for foreign financial firms, was an asset to the EU, says Philip Whyte, a research fellow at the Centre for European Research in London.\u00a0When Britain wasn’t able to negotiate a more lenient European bonus cap, many surmised that its influence had waned.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the bonus cap debate also reflects a structural shift in British influence in the EU.\u00a0”The most interesting development is the growth of the power of the European Parliament,” Goodhart says. The directly elected parliament has been increasingly flexing its new legislative powers since the Lisbon Treaty gave the body, as well as other EU institutions, more power when it came\u00a0into effect in 2009 and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-03-07\/eu-parliament-goes-too-far-with-banker-bonus-cap.html\"\u003Esupported the bonus cap\u003C\/a\u003E, against British protests. “The City has much less clout with the Parliament than with the relevant directories in the [European] Commission.\u00a0I think it puts the City of London at some greater risk,” Goodhart\u00a0says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/city-of-london-web.jpg?w=1024&h=576\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/city-of-london-web.jpg?w=1024&h=576\" alt=\"\" title=\"City of London in 2007 before the financial crisis.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003ECity of London in 2007 before the financial crisis.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EGetty Images \/ Jason Hawkes\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the same time as Britain has been losing influence in Brussels, support has been growing in Britain for leaving the EU altogether.\u00a0One popular argument is that Britain is\u00a0”\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/politics\/9636417\/Britain-shackled-to-corpse-of-EU-says-Douglas-Carswell.html\"\u003Eshackled to a corpse\u003C\/a\u003E“\u2014the struggling euro zone. Another is that British sovereignty and democracy are being compromised. “It’s a combination of mistrust and the idea that British democracy is weakened…that \u00a0EU institutions interfere too much, are unaccountable, and only look after themselves,” Whyte says. Extreme statements, comparing European influence to the rise of fascism in the 1930 or communism after World War II\u2014as one panelist warned at the Bruges event\u2014are becoming increasingly common.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat a British exit from Europe would mean for the City isn’t clear, but the uncertainty could encourage banks to set up elsewhere. “Large international and European companies see Britain divorced from the EU as a much less attractive place,”\u00a0wrote\u00a0Michael Sherwood\u00a0and\u00a0Richard Gnodde, co-CEOs of Goldman Sachs International in\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.goldmansachs.com\/media-relations\/in-the-news\/current\/op-ed-richard-gnodde-michael-sherwood-14feb2013.html\"\u003Ean op-ed\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0in February. The authors said the impact of the UK leaving the EU would be gradual but decisive. “It would begin with a decline in investment and hiring as London suffers relative to cities such as Frankfurt and Paris.”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/london-bridge-london.jpg?w=1024&h=620\" width=\"1024\" height=\"620\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/london-bridge-london.jpg?w=1024&h=620\" alt=\"\" title=\"Commuters heading for the City cross the London Bridge.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003ECommuters heading for the City cross the London Bridge.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EGetty Images \/ Peter Macdiarmid\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EBut the city is also less popular in Britain than it used to be\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E“Before 2008, the City was the golden goose that the government openly defended… Now that’s been blown out of the water,” Whyte says. With British chancellor George Osborne promising to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/50377\/britain-electrifies-regulations-on-its-banks\/\"\u003Eforcibly break apart \u003C\/a\u003Ebanks that don’t “ring-fence” their retail from riskier investment operations, British regulators seem willing to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/50377\/britain-electrifies-regulations-on-its-banks\/\"\u003Ego even further\u003C\/a\u003E than their counterparts on the continent or in America.\u00a0The Financial Services Authority, which previously operated by publishing guidelines and regulating with a light touch, has \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.fsa.gov.uk\/about\/what\/reg_reform\"\u003Esplit into two bodies\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0in an effort to\u00a0”reset” the British banking system by being \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/dealbook.nytimes.com\/2013\/03\/11\/responding-to-financial-crisis-britain-overhauls-its-regulators\/\"\u003Emore aggressive\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMeanwhile, some politicians argue that the British economy needs to become less dependent on finance and to renew formerly important industries like manufacturing. And in the long term, British immigration policy limiting foreign students and other immigrants could curtail talent and connections to emerging markets, John O’Sullivan of the Economist \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.economist.com\/blogs\/schumpeter\/2013\/01\/city-2013\"\u003Eobserved in January\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0[\u003Cstrong\u003Evideo, 05:55]\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image aligncenter\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/protests-city-of-london.jpg?w=1024&h=682\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/protests-city-of-london.jpg?w=1024&h=682\" alt=\"\" title=\"Bank bailout anger in 2008.\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003EBank bailout anger in 2008.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003EAP Photo \/ Lefteris Pitarakis\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EIt’s too early to discount the City\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEvents elsewhere in the world will also determine the City’s fortunes. Banking systems, especially in Asia, are becoming more complex and important\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/66044\/european-banks-are-losing-clout-in-emerging-markets-as-local-banks-gain-ground\/\"\u003Eas\u00a0European banks deleverage\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0in emerging markets, which could pose competition to London. On the other hand, Hong Kong’s future as a financial center for money flowing through China depends on the still uncertain direction of financial-market reform in China, which is under new leadership. And regulations in US financial reform this year could prompt\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/34418\/new-regulations-in-2013-could-lead-global-banks-to-retreat-to-their-home-markets\/\"\u003Eforeign banks to retreat from the US\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0or face stiff capital requirements and liquidity provisions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E“I think [London's] status as a global financial center remains very strong. There are potential threats, but they are simply potential at the moment,” Goodhart says.\u00a0Many traits that made London a center for international finance\u2014the dominance of English as the global language of business, London’s overlap between Western and Asian working days, and the city’s existing cluster of law firms, accountants, and financial-services groups\u2014\u00a0won’t be changing soon.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe City is also about more than just finance. London is the third largest insurance market in the world. “There is always global competition but\u2026 London is very important and I don’t see that changing,” says Graeme Trudgill\u00a0of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFinancial capitals like London have, in the words of economic historian Youssef Cassis, “remarkable longevity.” In fact, since the 17th century, the world has basically seen only three major centers: Amsterdam, London and New York. Their rise and fall happens at a glacial pace, Cassis writes in his book\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.economist.com\/node\/168334\"\u003ECapitals of Capital\u003C\/a\u003E, and seem to lag behind larger changes\u00a0in the global economy. We are still at the beginning of the rise of emerging markets in Asia and elsewhere. The demise of the City of London, should it happen, likely won’t be any time soon.\u003C\/p\u003E",
            "featuredImage": {
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                "credit": "Getty Images \/ Michael Regan",
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            "topPostsRank": 24,
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            "taxonomies": {
                "tags": [
                    {
                        "name": "banking",
                        "slug": "banking"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "derivatives",
                        "slug": "derivatives"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "emerging financial capitals",
                        "slug": "emerging-financial-capitals"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Emerging financial centers",
                        "slug": "emerging-financial-centers"
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                    {
                        "name": "euro",
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                    {
                        "name": "European banking union",
                        "slug": "european-banking-union"
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                        "name": "European Bonus Cap",
                        "slug": "european-bonus-cap"
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                    {
                        "name": "European Parliament",
                        "slug": "european-parliament"
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                    {
                        "name": "Finance",
                        "slug": "finance"
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                    {
                        "name": "Financial Transactions Tax",
                        "slug": "financial-transactions-tax"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Foreign Exchange",
                        "slug": "foreign-exchange"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "global banking",
                        "slug": "global-banking"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "global financial center",
                        "slug": "global-financial-center"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "HSBC",
                        "slug": "hsbc"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "international finance",
                        "slug": "international-finance"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "LIBOR",
                        "slug": "libor"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Passporting",
                        "slug": "passporting"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "RBS",
                        "slug": "rbs"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Standard Chartered",
                        "slug": "standard-chartered"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "The City",
                        "slug": "the-city"
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                    {
                        "name": "tobin tax",
                        "slug": "tobin-tax"
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            "byline": {
                "authors": [
                    {
                        "name": "Lily Kuo",
                        "username": "lilkuo",
                        "url": "http:\/\/qz.com\/author\/lilkuo\/",
                        "twitter": "lilkuo"
                    }
                ]
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        },
        {
            "id": 85847,
            "title": "The BRIC countries are becoming the world’s new global navy",
            "permalink": "http:\/\/qz.com\/85847\/the-bric-countries-are-becoming-the-worlds-new-global-navy\/",
            "date": {
                "published": "2013-05-17 13:29:32",
                "updated": "2013-05-17 14:26:46"
            },
            "postType": "image",
            "summary": "Offshore from Syria, Russia\u2019s navy is conducting probably its largest naval deployment outside its own waters since the Soviet breakup. The Chinese navy is in another potential confrontation today with Japan in the East China Sea, and raising questions about where it is headed next. But the BRIC nations as a whole\u2014a force in the […]",
            "content": "\u003Cp\u003EOffshore from Syria, Russia\u2019s navy is conducting probably its largest \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/on.wsj.com\/149hviQ\"\u003Enaval deployment\u003C\/a\u003E outside its own waters since the Soviet breakup. The Chinese navy is in another \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ndtv.com\/article\/world\/china-ships-have-entered-disputed-islands-waters-off-the-senkaku-islands-japan-368074\"\u003Epotential confrontation today\u003C\/a\u003E with Japan in the East China Sea, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/thediplomat.com\/2013\/05\/17\/deleterious-neglect-will-the-u-s-navy-surrender-maritime-asia\/?utm_source=The%20Diplomat%20List&utm_campaign=b9f10a5720-Diplomat%20Brief%202012%20vol19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_359f367095-b9f10a5720-280258301\"\u003Eraising questions\u003C\/a\u003E about where it is headed next.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the BRIC nations as a whole\u2014a force in the global economic conversation since the acronym was \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/60899\/qa-with-jim-bric-oneill-grillos-good-chinas-fine-europes-fading\/\"\u003Ecoined by Goldman Sachs\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0to refer to the high-growth economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China\u2014are becoming an increasing naval presence on the high seas. One reason is simple nature\u2014when nations become wealthier, they tend to build up their fighting capabilities. But another is natural resources\u2014all four nations either want to buy or sell oil and natural gas, and they are venturing further and further to do so.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA paradox is that while the shift challenges US primacy on the high seas, the US itself\u2014because of its oil and gas boom\u2014is driving part of the BRIC naval expansion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause it is providing for more and more of its own energy requirements, the US is importing much less African and Middle East crude, and the chief new buyers replacing it are BRIC nations\u2014the US is about to be displaced by India as the largest buyer of Nigerian crude oil, for example. \u201cIt is only a matter of time before we see Indian ships in the South Atlantic [to patrol the coast of West Africa],\u201d Brahma Chellaney, of the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ft.com\/intl\/cms\/s\/0\/99adc366-b99b-11e2-bc57-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2T8oSqQvw\"\u003Etold the Financial Times\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESuch a shift\u2014an expansion of Indian forces from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic\u2014would be huge. But so is the entirety of the BRIC naval activity. Russia has been a maritime power since Peter the Great, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zheng_He\"\u003EZheng He\u003C\/a\u003E made China a major 15\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E century naval power. But Russia all-but stopped venturing outside former Soviet waters in 1992, and China has not fielded a major navy in the six centuries since Zheng He. Brazil and India have largely stuck to their own shores.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeijing\u2019s and Moscow\u2019s naval assertiveness, particularly in Syria and the South and East China seas, attracts most of the attention. But India is building a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/indrus.in\/articles\/2012\/03\/21\/high_sea_indian_elephant_versus_chinese_dragon_15211.html\"\u003Esecond aircraft carrier\u003C\/a\u003E, and may have three by 2020, along with four nuclear-powered submarines and various other modern ships. In 2012, India \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.defencenow.com\/news\/729\/after-china-indian-warships-to-be-deployed-in-horn-of-africa-red-sea-and-western-mediterranean.html\"\u003Edispatched warships\u003C\/a\u003E to the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and the western Mediterranean. And in 2008 and 2010, India and Brazil conducted \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/indiannavy.nic.in\/node\/1449\"\u003Ejoint naval operations\u003C\/a\u003E with South Africa on the Indian Ocean side of Africa.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn November 2012, some 10,000 Brazilian sailors and soldiers conducted an exercise called \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.sldinfo.com\/update-on-the-brazilian-military\/\"\u003E\u201cOperation Atlantico 3,\u201d\u003C\/a\u003E meant to demonstrate the country\u2019s ability to defend its offshore oilfields.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA greater BRIC role on global trade routes is not a negative development for the US, says Ely Ratner of the Center for a New American Security in Washington, DC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere’s no reason the American taxpayer should be subsidizing the freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean when emerging powers like China and India are both increasingly capable of providing this service and are the primary beneficiaries of open sea lanes between Africa, the Middle East and Asia,\u201d Ratner told me in an email exchange. \u201cThese trends will only become more prominent as the United States becomes even less reliant on direct access to Middle Eastern oil.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E",
            "featuredImage": {
                "id": 85848,
                "alt": "Aboard the Indian Navy vessel Virat.",
                "caption": "Aboard the Indian Navy ship Viraat.",
                "credit": "AP Photo\/Rajanish Kakade",
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                "obsession": [
                    {
                        "name": "Energy Shocks",
                        "slug": "energy-shocks"
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                ],
                "tags": [
                    {
                        "name": "BRICs",
                        "slug": "brics"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "energy",
                        "slug": "energy"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "military",
                        "slug": "military"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "navy",
                        "slug": "navy"
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                    {
                        "name": "oil boom",
                        "slug": "oil-boom"
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                        "name": "the sea",
                        "slug": "the-sea"
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            "byline": {
                "authors": [
                    {
                        "name": "Steve LeVine",
                        "username": "levinesteve",
                        "url": "http:\/\/qz.com\/author\/levinesteve\/"
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        },
        {
            "id": 86152,
            "title": "Women in Greece aren’t giving up on childbirth\u2014they’re just waiting till 40",
            "permalink": "http:\/\/qz.com\/86152\/women-in-greece-arent-giving-up-on-childbirth-theyre-just-waiting-till-40\/",
            "date": {
                "published": "2013-05-18 13:27:55",
                "updated": "2013-05-18 03:14:43"
            },
            "postType": "image",
            "summary": "It’s been a while now since I wrote\u00a0this\u00a0article on how Greece’s fertility bust and our unenlightened response to it helped build our mountain of debt in the ’80s and set us on course for the sovereign debt crisis of 2009. I’ve been thinking a lot about this issue of fertility lately, and I don’t like […]",
            "content": "\u003Cp\u003EIt’s been a while now since I wrote\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lolgreece.blogspot.co.uk\/2013\/01\/u-can-haz-lost-decade.html\"\u003Ethis\u00a0article on how Greece’s fertility bust \u003C\/a\u003Eand our unenlightened response to it helped build our mountain of debt in the ’80s and set us on course for the sovereign debt crisis of 2009. I’ve been thinking a lot about this issue of fertility lately, and I don’t like the economics of it. Especially the combination of debt rising exponentially and a population no longer on the increase.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is how I came across the near-mystery of the Greek fertility rate. You’d never guess it, but Greece’s fertility actually rate grew as we entered the recession in 2008 and continued to rise until 2011, when the last data were collected, and it remained higher than at any point during the ’90s. You can see the data for yourselves\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu\/nui\/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-052176_QID_62F83EBA_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;INDIC_DE,L,Z,0;INDICATORS,C,Z,1;&zSelection=DS-052176INDIC_DE,TOTFERRT;DS-052176INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;&rankName1=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName2=INDIC-DE_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName4=GEO_1_2_0_1&pprRK=FIRST&pprSO=PROTOCOL&ppcRK=FIRST&ppcSO=ASC&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E. Fertility rose to levels unseen since 1987\u2014an apparent reversal of a decades-long slowdown in fertility also experienced by most other European countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-86157\" alt=\"Fertility Rates in Greece1\" src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/fertility-rates-in-greece1.jpg?w=1024&h=623\" width=\"1024\" height=\"623\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut look more closely (or perhaps, zoom out a little) and you’ll find that the reversal really started in 2000, and is reflected\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu\/nui\/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-052176_QID_53DC1DEB_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;INDIC_DE,L,Z,0;INDICATORS,C,Z,1;&zSelection=DS-052176INDIC_DE,TOTFERRT;DS-052176INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;&rankName1=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName2=INDIC-DE_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName4=GEO_1_2_0_1&pprRK=FIRST&pprSO=PROTOCOL&ppcRK=FIRST&ppcSO=ASC&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23\"\u003Eelsewhere\u00a0\u003C\/a\u003Ein Europe. Eurostat explains it\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu\/statistics_explained\/index.php\/Fertility_statistics\"\u003Ethus\u003C\/a\u003E:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe slight increase in the total fertility rate observed in recent years may, in part, be attributed to a catching-up process following a general pattern of postponing the decision to have children. When women give birth later in life, the total fertility rate tends to decrease at first, before a subsequent recovery.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-86158\" alt=\"Fertility rates in Greece\" src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/fertility-rates-in-greece.jpg?w=1024&h=686\" width=\"1024\" height=\"686\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn particular, zooming in on women’s\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu\/nui\/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-051888_QID_47FA8EF4_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;AGE,L,Y,0;AGEDEF,L,Z,0;GEO,L,Z,1;INDICATORS,C,Z,2;&zSelection=DS-051888AGEDEF,COMPLET;DS-051888GEO,EL;DS-051888INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;&rankName1=AGEDEF_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=GEO_1_2_1_1&rankName4=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName5=AGE_1_2_0_1&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23\"\u003Efertility rates by age group\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0in Greece, it becomes obvious that what really happened since the naughties was that the persistent fall in fertility among women in their 20s paused briefly, while fertility rates among women in their 30s and 40s continued to rise. Both of these groups are now roughly as fertile as they were in the 1960s, thought for different reasons. Essentially, the long trend of Greek (and other European) women delaying their first births is slowly grinding to a halt, and we’re seeing the demographic equivalent of a dead cat bounce. The effects of the crisis, however, are also observable. Every age group has seen a dip in fertility since 2010, and they are likely to continue to do so.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne thing that’s interesting in studying demographics is to see how fertility rose and fell\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu\/nui\/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-115349_QID_1F0B2487_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;AGE,L,Z,0;INDICATORS,C,Z,1;&zSelection=DS-115349AGE,TOTAL;DS-115349INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;&rankName1=AGE_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName3=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName4=GEO_1_2_0_1&pprRK=FIRST&pprSO=PROTOCOL&ppcRK=FIRST&ppcSO=ASC&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23\"\u003Ein different regions\u003C\/a\u003E. Greece’s true demographic black hole is Western Macedonia, which managed to lose fertility even in the boom-times, and was among the worst-hit regions during the crisis. Unemployment there is the highest in Greece, at\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.statistics.gr\/portal\/page\/portal\/ESYE\/BUCKET\/A0101\/PressReleases\/A0101_SJO01_DT_QQ_04_2012_01_F_EN.pdf\"\u003Ejust over 30%\u003C\/a\u003E, and most worryingly it is a border region,\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.infoescola.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mapa-da-grecia.jpg\"\u003E situated\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0between Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. As more of our national politics turns to exploiting nationalism, this region is going to become a testing ground for all manner of extremist tactics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn the other hand, Attica, Crete and the South Aegean did fairly well in terms of fertility, and unsurprisingly the islands in question had the\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.statistics.gr\/portal\/page\/portal\/ESYE\/BUCKET\/A0101\/PressReleases\/A0101_SJO01_DT_QQ_04_2012_01_F_EN.pdf\"\u003Elowest unemployment rates\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0in all of Greece as of late 2011, which would explain some of their fertility performance (Attica of course boasts a mega-city, which tends to distort trends).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStand by then, for the next chapter: the inevitable discussion about the link between unemployment and fertility.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EA version of this originally appeared on Emmanuel Schizas\u2019s\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lolgreece.blogspot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eblog\u003C\/a\u003E. It\u003C\/em\u003E\u00a0\u003Cem\u003Ehas been republished with permission. We welcome your comments at\u00a0\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\"mailto:ideas@qz.com\"\u003Eideas@qz.com\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E",
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        {
            "id": 67991,
            "title": "You didn’t make the Harlem Shake go viral\u2014corporations did",
            "permalink": "http:\/\/qz.com\/67991\/you-didnt-make-the-harlem-shake-go-viral-corporations-did\/",
            "date": {
                "published": "2013-03-28 17:30:15",
                "updated": "2013-04-17 15:42:57"
            },
            "postType": "video",
            "summary": "Google\u2019s trend charts of the phrase \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d are seismic. Almost no one looked for the words until Feb. 7, then searches surged faster than any term Google ever had, except for \u201cWhitney Houston\u201d after her death. A few weeks later, they fell close to zero. Experts said the \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d phenomenon was emergent behavior […]",
            "content": "\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'\u003E\u003Ciframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='640' height='390' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8nSiyP4IMO8?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' frameborder='0'\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGoogle\u2019s trend charts of the phrase \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d are seismic. Almost no one looked for the words until Feb. 7, then searches surged \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/trends\/explore%23q=harlem%2520shake%252C%2520gangnam%2520style&date=7%252F2012%25209m&cmpt=q\"\u003Efaster\u003C\/a\u003E than any term Google ever had, except for \u201c\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/zeitgeist\/2012\/%23the-world\"\u003EWhitney Houston\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d after her death. A few weeks later, they fell close to zero.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68024\" alt=\"search-frequency-of-harlem-shake_chart\" src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/03\/search-frequency-of-harlem-shake_chart.png?w=1024&h=576\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/gilad-lotan\/the-harlem-shake_b_2804799.html\"\u003EExperts\u003C\/a\u003E said the \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d phenomenon was emergent behavior from the hive mind of the internet\u2014accidental, ad hoc, uncoordinated: a \u201cmeme\u201d that \u201cwent viral.\u201d But this is untrue. The real story of the \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d shows how much popular culture has changed and how much it has stayed the same.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe word \u201cmeme\u201d comes from evolutionary biologist \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=0ICKantUfvoC&lpg=PP1&dq=selfish%2520gene&pg=PA193%23v=onepage&q=meme&f=false\"\u003ERichard Dawkins\u003C\/a\u003E. Bits of information, memes, propagate from brain to brain through imitation, are subject to selection and can be regarded as living structures, he says, \u201cnot just metaphorically but technically,\u201d because new information changes our brains. They are often made deliberately\u2014think catchphrases, slogans, melodies\u2014and makers may try to propagate them as fast and far as possible, or make them go viral. The myth of the \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d is that its viral spread was spontaneous, not directed by financial interests\u2014a pop culture, popular uprising. Here\u2019s how the meme and the myth began.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 style=\"margin:0 auto;max-width:600px;\"\u003EJan. 30\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'\u003E\u003Ciframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='640' height='390' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GeO3yCpLt0Q?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' frameborder='0'\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn Jan. 30, a Japanese-American college student named George Miller, posted a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GeO3yCpLt0Q\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ethree-and-a-half minute compilation of comedy\u003C\/a\u003E on YouTube. Miller has been posting videos \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hB_LvjoAF2Q\"\u003Esince 2008\u003C\/a\u003E and had developed an absurd comic style and an audience of tens of thousands. Miller\u2019s movie began with 19 seconds of \u201c\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bHW7JkHWtf4\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EPink Guy\u003C\/a\u003E,\u201d (a character where he is mime in a pink body suit who dances and pratfalls) and three friends dancing in Miller\u2019s bedroom to an obscure piece of electronic dance music: \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d by a little-known DJ called Harry Rodrigues, or \u201cBaauer.\u201d Miller\u2019s audience loved the dance. Within hours, one fan had posted \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xbfcZ_O4Uc8\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ea video\u003C\/a\u003E that looped the 19-second sequence for three and a half minutes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 style=\"margin:0 auto;max-width:600px;\"\u003EFeb. 2\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'\u003E\u003Ciframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='640' height='390' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/384IUU43bfQ?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' frameborder='0'\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMusical imitations are part of YouTube culture. The dance for Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s \u201c\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4m1EFMoRFvY\"\u003ESingle Ladies\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d was an imitation of a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kjm8Wr22i3k\"\u003Evideo\u003C\/a\u003E the singer saw on YouTube. It then became a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RJlPEHL85Ig\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Esubject of imitation itself\u003C\/a\u003E. On Saturday, Feb. 2, five teenage \u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration:underline;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.couriermail.com.au\/news\/queensland\/five-bored-teens-queenslands-viral-dance-the-harlem-shake-generates-collectively-20-million-hits-on-youtube-worldwide\/story-e6freoof-1226576409237\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Elongboarders from Caloundr\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.couriermail.com.au\/news\/queensland\/five-bored-teens-queenslands-viral-dance-the-harlem-shake-generates-collectively-20-million-hits-on-youtube-worldwide\/story-e6freoof-1226576409237\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ea\u003C\/a\u003E, Australia, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=384IUU43bfQ\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eimitated\u003C\/a\u003E Miller\u2019s dance to \u201cHarlem Shake.\u201d \u00a0In response to requests from fans, Miller also posted all 36 seconds of the dance footage he had shot originally. In Orlando, Florida, longboarders Anan Lagana and Jackson Foltz saw the Australian video and, with the help of three friends, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=W52rnrwG9p0\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eimitated it with no knowledge of Miller\u2019s\u003C\/a\u003E original. Miller\u2019s meme was replicating, but not fast or far. At this point, the Harlem Shake videos only had few thousands views.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 style=\"margin:0 auto;max-width:600px;\"\u003EFeb. 3\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe next day, Sunday, Feb. 3, America came to its annual standstill for the Super Bowl. Shortly after Beyonc\u00e9 sang \u201cSingle Ladies\u201d as part of her half-time show, there was \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/nfl\/playoffs\/2012\/story\/_\/id\/8911864\/2013-super-bowl-power-outage-stops-game-super-bowl-xlvii\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ea 22-minute power outage\u003C\/a\u003E in the Mercedes Benz Superdome in Louisiana. A few advertising agencies reacted quickly via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube: Walgreens pointed out \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/Walgreens\/status\/298245632550899713\"\u003Eit sells candles\u003C\/a\u003E; Oreos reminded people they could still \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Oreo\/status\/298246571718483968\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Edunk their cookies in the dark\u003C\/a\u003E; and Tide said it could not get your \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/tide\/status\/298247327771144192\"\u003Eblackout but it could get your stains out\u003C\/a\u003E. The next day, Forbes declared it the \u201c\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/jenniferrooney\/2013\/02\/03\/how-advertisers-made-the-super-bowl-power-outage-work-for-them\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ESuper Bowl of real-time marketing\u003C\/a\u003E.\u201d The talk of the nation was not \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/49855\/super-bowl-commercial-is-4-million-big-advertisers-make-that-much-in-the-time-youll-watch-the-football-game\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eexpensive Super Bowl ads\u003C\/a\u003E but the brands that took advantage of the power outage. The vice president of global media and consumer engagement at Mondel\u0113z International (parent company of Oreos),\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/boninbough\/2013\/02\/04\/superbowl-marketing-at-the-speed-of-light-or-lack-thereof-oreo-dunkinthedark\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EB. Bonin Bough, boasted\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0that his tweet\u00a0\u201cnot only shows the power of real-time engagement, but also the sheer importance of understanding the overall media ecosystem.\u201d Advertisers and their agencies started the week determined not to miss the next big social media opportunity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough Wednesday Feb. 6, the five \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d videos (three featuring Miller, two featuring the Australian and American longboarders imitating him) received several hundred thousand views. It was what happened next that made it viral. It had nothing to do with community and everything to do with commerce.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 style=\"margin:0 auto;max-width:600px;\"\u003EFeb. 7-8\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'\u003E\u003Ciframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='640' height='390' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0IJoKuTlvuM?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' frameborder='0'\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA new imitation of \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d appeared. It came not from YouTube users, but from \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.makerstudios.com\/\"\u003EMaker Studios\u003C\/a\u003E, a Los Angeles company that specializes in making money from YouTube and is \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.timewarner.com\/our-company\/tw-investments\/\"\u003Epartly owned by Time Warner\u003C\/a\u003E. Maker Studios employee Vernon Shaw noticed the longboarders\u2019 \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d videos on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/\"\u003EReddit\u003C\/a\u003E, a major tributary of information on the internet. Shaw thought the videos looked \u201cpre-viral\u201d and saw an opportunity to exploit them to promote Maker. On Thursday, Feb. 7, Maker employee Rawn Erickson uploaded an imitation of the Florida video with Maker Studios staff dancing in the Maker Studios office. Maker promoted the video across its many YouTube channels as well as on Twitter.\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"#_msocom_1\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the same time, an influential electronic dance music blogger called \u201cEDM Snob\u201d made one of the first Twitter references to the \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d along with a link to the Florida video:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote class='twitter-tweet'\u003E\u003Cp\u003Ehahahahahahaha @\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/baauer\"\u003Ebaauer\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=W52rnrwG9p0\"\u003E youtube.com\/watch?v=W52rnr\u2026\u003C\/a\u003E— \u003Cbr \/\u003E  (@EDMsnob) \u003Ca href='http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/EDMsnob\/status\/299203173082624000' data-datetime='2013-02-06T17:09:30+00:00'\u003EFebruary 06, 2013\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERodrigues and his record label \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.maddecent.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EMad Decent\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0immediately started promoting the video. Rodrigues, using his stage name \u201cBaauer,\u201d record label owner \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Diplo\"\u003EThomas Wesley Pentz\u003C\/a\u003E, and Chicago deejays Josh Young and Curt Cameruci, signed to Mad Decent all posted tweets and messages to send traffic to the Australian video on YouTube. Six Twitter accounts\u2014\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EDMSnob\"\u003EEDM Snob\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/baauer\"\u003EBaauer\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/diplo\"\u003EDiplo\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/maddecent\"\u003EMad Decent\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/majorlazer\"\u003EMajor Lazer\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/flosstradamus\"\u003EFlosstradamus\u003C\/a\u003E\u2014were \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blog.socialflow.com\/post\/7120246021\/harlem-shake-anatomy-of-a-viral-meme?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=harlem-shake-anatomy-of-a-viral-meme\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ethe cause of views\u003C\/a\u003E of\u00a0 \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d on Thursday, Feb. 7 and Friday, Feb. 8. EDM Snob was selling himself. The other five were selling the record.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68041\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2013-03-27 at 6.53.01 PM\" src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/03\/screen-shot-2013-03-27-at-6-53-01-pm.png?w=1024&h=678\" width=\"1024\" height=\"678\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYouTube rewards this kind of behavior. People who post videos make up to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.squidoo.com\/how-much-youtube-partners-make\"\u003E$6 per thousand views\u003C\/a\u003E in return for letting YouTube show ads on their videos. When a new video is uploaded, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/t\/contentid\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EYouTube automatically checks\u003C\/a\u003E for matches to copyrighted material. Copyright holders can block videos or share advertising revenue. Maker got paid every time someone watched its video. Mad Decent got paid every time someone viewed any video featuring Baauer\u2019s song.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 style=\"margin:0 auto;max-width:600px;\"\u003EFeb. 10\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe advertisers and agencies who spent the week after the Super Bowl looking for the next big thing in social media spent the weekend after the Super Bowl believing they had found it: because of the tweets by Maker and Mad Decent, they started copying the Florida longboarders, doing a two steps removed imitation of George Miller dancing to \u201cHarlem Shake,\u201d believing it to be a pure product of the YouTube community. On Sunday, Feb. 10, while \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.grammy.com\/news\/and-the-grammy-went-to-gotye\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EWouter \u201cGotye\u201d De Backer was acceptin\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.grammy.com\/news\/and-the-grammy-went-to-gotye\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eg\u003C\/a\u003E the \u201cRecord of the Year\u201d Grammy for “Somebody That I Used to Know\u201d (a record that was popularized by YouTube imitation videos), these companies started posting and promoting their own \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d videos. They included \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5wZRiu1ly-8\"\u003ECollege Humor\u003C\/a\u003E, a website owned by \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.iac.com\/\"\u003EIAC\u003C\/a\u003E, a publicly traded company that also owns Newsweek; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/59273750\"\u003EVimeo\u003C\/a\u003E, a YouTube rival also owned by IAC; and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_5OfTPGnzqQ\"\u003EBuzzFeed\u003C\/a\u003E, a viral content website that promoted its video with a story subtitled \u201c\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/ryanhatesthis\/have-you-done-a-harlem-shake-video-yet\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EIf you haven’t done one yet, you better get on it right away!\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/02\/11\/harlem-shake_n_2665102.html\"\u003EThe Huffington Post\u003C\/a\u003E also syndicated a story from BroBible, \u201c\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.brobible.com\/music\/article\/introducing-the-harlem-shake-meme\"\u003EThe Harlem Shake: A \u201800s Classic, Having Another Moment\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d). \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/youtube-trends.blogspot.com\/2013\/02\/the-harlem-shake-has-exploded.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EThousands of \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d videos\u003C\/a\u003E were uploaded during the week of Feb. 11, many of them from businesses with something to sell.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is abnormal. \u201cSingle Ladies,\u201d \u201cSomebody That I Used To Know,\u201d Carly Rae Jepson\u2019s \u201cCall Me Maybe,\u201d and Psy\u2019s \u201cGangnam Style\u201d were made by professionals and first imitated by professionals\u2014\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.metatube.com\/en\/videos\/62044\/SNL-Beyonce-Single-ladies-with-Justin-Timberlake\/\"\u003ESaturday Night Live\u003C\/a\u003E in the case of \u201cSingle Ladies,\u201d indie Canadian band\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=d9NF2edxy-M\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EWalk Off The Earth\u003C\/a\u003E in the case of \u201cSomebody That I Used To Know,\u201d and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AsBsBU3vn6M\"\u003EJustin Bieber\u003C\/a\u003E in the case of \u201cCall Me Maybe\u201d\u2014then later by fans and amateurs. \u201cHarlem Shake,\u201d was a meme made by an amateur, George Miller, but its rapid replication was driven by media and marketing professionals, led and orchestrated by three companies: Maker Studios, Mad Decent, and IAC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 style=\"margin:0 auto;max-width:600px;\"\u003EFeb. 13\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'\u003E\u003Ciframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='640' height='390' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ASOJ81vGHUY?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' frameborder='0'\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn Feb. 13\u2014after \u003Cem\u003EToday Show\u003C\/em\u003E host \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.today.com\/video\/today\/50794224%2350794224\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EAl Roker danced to \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d\u003C\/a\u003E in a cupid costume and 82-year old economist Alice Rivlin, former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, danced to \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d in a stars and stripes top hat to promote deficit reduction\u2014David Wagner, writing in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlanticwire.com\/entertainment\/2013\/02\/harlem-shake-meme-dead\/62098\/\"\u003EThe Atlantic,\u003C\/a\u003E declared the \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d dead.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 style=\"margin:0 auto;max-width:600px;\"\u003EMarch 19\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'\u003E\u003Ciframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='640' height='390' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ebjwFVxbY_I?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' frameborder='0'\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn March 19, a new video was posted. A bespectacled boy danced alone in a crowded high-school cafeteria for 15 seconds, then yelled \u201cEveryone! Do the Harlem Shake!\u201d The cafeteria fell silent. A few people cursed. The boy crept away.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 style=\"margin:0 auto;max-width:600px;\"\u003EWhat has changed?\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGoogle\u2019s YouTube, not Apple\u2019s iTunes, is now the dominant force in music. Nearly \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2012\/01\/23\/youtube-video-views_n_1223070.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E2 billion music videos\u003C\/a\u003E are \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.dmwmedia.com\/news\/2011\/08\/17\/music-videos-dominate-youtube-viewership-2\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eviewed on YouTube every day\u003C\/a\u003E. When Baauer\u2019s \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.billboard.com\/articles\/news\/1549399\/hot-100-news-billboard-and-nielsen-add-youtube-video-streaming-to-platforms\"\u003Eentered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 1\u003C\/a\u003E on Feb. 20, only the 21st song in Billboard\u2019s 58-year history to do so, and the first by a previously unknown artist, it was because of YouTube.\u00a0This highlights a broader point: Google has amassed unprecedented power as a medium. It is massive, global and central. In addition, its claims about viewership are not audited. Television, radio and newspaper audiences are measured by independent entities like Nielsen and the Alliance for Audited Media. Advertisers can be reasonably certain how many people are seeing their messages. Google\u2019s and YouTube\u2019s audience claims are not measured independently. Everyone initially involved in driving traffic to the \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d had the same incentive: to increase the number of views. Unlike other media, there were no checks and balances except YouTube\u2019s own \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oIkhgagvrjI\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Esecret view verification system\u003C\/a\u003E. Google regards clicks and views as a \u201ccurrency,\u201d and take pains to get the numbers right, but unlike most other mass media, its figures are not verified by anyone who does not profit from higher numbers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe brain-to-brain propagation of Dawkins\u2019 memes can now happen worldwide within seconds. We have a new real-time, global culture that is not only technological but also social. Experiences like imitating the YouTube videos for \u201cSingle Ladies,\u201d \u201cSomebody That I Used To Know\u201d and \u201cCall Me Maybe\u201d create instant traditions, or \u201cmeta-memes,\u201d that prime us to become ultra-efficient human information routers. Memes become themes become meta-memes become norms. A few years ago, few people would have posted a video of themselves singing or dancing on YouTube. Today, for many, doing so is not only second nature\u2014it’s urgent. In our real-time culture, meme speed matters. Primacy is more important than privacy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2 style=\"margin:0 auto;max-width:600px;\"\u003EWhat has stayed the same?\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWho wins? The \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d originated with a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.dnainfo.com\/new-york\/20130225\/central-harlem\/harlem-shake-originator-recalled-by-family-friends-as-life-of-party\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Edrunken man named Albert Boyce\u003C\/a\u003E dancing at Harlem\u2019s Rucker Park basketball court in 1981. It was sobered up by children in the bleachers and became a popular dance in the hip-hop community. When \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.dnainfo.com\/new-york\/20130225\/central-harlem\/harlem-shake-originator-recalled-by-family-friends-as-life-of-party\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EBoyce died in 2006\u003C\/a\u003E, the dance had found its way into some rap songs and videos. In 2012, Harry \u201cBaauer\u201d Rodrigues sampled\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=va-AY7jOh04\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eone\u00a0of these songs\u003C\/a\u003E, Plastic Little’s “Miller Time,”\u00a0and dropped it onto a piece of electronic dance music made in a style called \u201c\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.edmsauce.com\/trap-triphop\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Etrap\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d that is only somewhat related to hip hop. The \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harlem_Shake_(song)%23Release_history\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Esong was a commercial failure\u003C\/a\u003E until student George Miller included it in his YouTube video. As the \u201cHarlem Shake\u201d moved from the Rucker to Al Roker, Alice Rivlin and beyond, money moved too: to Google, where more searches and more views mean more dollars, and its large investors like Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Blackrock, and J.P. Morgan Chase; to Warner Bros, which owns global distribution rights for the recording; and to Time Warner, with its part ownership of Maker Studios.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERelatively little went to Philadelphia, where Thomas Wesley Pentz, the minor Svengali who signed Harry Rodrigues, collects royalties from Warner Bros., every time a recording is purchased, and from Google, every time the song sells an ad. Harry Rodrigues will benefit, although not as much as many may assume, and he will have to share what he gets with the people whose work he sampled. Boyce, the no-collar black man on the corner who gave world culture a twist, gets a little credit and no reward. George Miller, the originator of the whole thing, gets nothing. On Feb. 20, he tweeted at Rodrigues:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote class='twitter-tweet'\u003E\u003Cp\u003Ehey @\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/baauer\"\u003Ebaauer\u003C\/a\u003E lets have pizza sometime— \u003Cbr \/\u003EFilthy Frank (@FilthyFrank) \u003Ca href='http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/FilthyFrank\/status\/314540504790487040' data-datetime='2013-03-21T00:54:34+00:00'\u003EMarch 21, 2013\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe didn\u2019t even get a reply. The technology may have changed, but the money still flows the same way: to creators of contracts not creators of content.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EYou can follow Kevin on Twitter at \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Ashton\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E@Kevin_Ashton\u003C\/a\u003E. We welcome your comments at \u003Ca href=\"mailto:ideas@qz.com\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eideas@qz.com\u003C\/a\u003E.\u00a0\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ENow read this:\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/74937\/\"\u003EHow to become internet famous for $68\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E",
            "popularPostsRank": 9,
            "taxonomies": {
                "kicker": [
                    {
                        "name": "The Harlem Make",
                        "slug": "the-harlem-make"
                    }
                ],
                "tags": [
                    {
                        "name": "beyonce",
                        "slug": "beyonce"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "gangnam style",
                        "slug": "gangnam-style"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Google",
                        "slug": "google"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "google trends",
                        "slug": "google-trends"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Harlem Shake",
                        "slug": "harlem-shake"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Ideas",
                        "slug": "ideas"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Internet",
                        "slug": "internet"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "marketing",
                        "slug": "marketing"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "memes",
                        "slug": "memes"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "pop culture",
                        "slug": "pop-culture"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "psy",
                        "slug": "psy"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "viral",
                        "slug": "viral"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "YouTube",
                        "slug": "youtube"
                    }
                ]
            },
            "byline": {
                "contributors": 1,
                "authors": [
                    {
                        "contributor": true,
                        "name": "Kevin Ashton",
                        "bio": "Kevin Ashton helped conceive of the \u201cInternet of Things" as an engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 14 years ago. In 2010, he sold his energy tech company to consumer electronics firm Belkin, where he is now a general manager.",
                        "image_url": "http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/03\/kevin-ashton.jpg?w=240"
                    }
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "id": 86137,
            "title": "A visual explanation of the factory safety plan in Bangladesh",
            "permalink": "http:\/\/qz.com\/86137\/a-visual-explanation-of-the-factory-safety-plan-in-bangladesh\/",
            "date": {
                "published": "2013-05-18 12:02:00",
                "updated": "2013-05-18 12:03:47"
            },
            "postType": "article",
            "summary": "Bangladesh’s best hope for a reformed garment sector hinges on retailers paying the price for safety. Nearly 40 retail companies that order from garment factories in the country have signed a six-page agreement to do precisely that. Last month, more than 1,000 workers died when a building housing several garment manufacturers collapsed. The Accord on […]",
            "content": "\u003Cp\u003EBangladesh’s best hope for a reformed garment sector hinges on retailers paying the price for safety.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENearly \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.globalpost.com\/dispatch\/news\/regions\/asia-pacific\/bangladesh\/130516\/these-are-the-companies-support-the-bangladesh-\"\u003E40 retail companies that order from garment factories in the country\u003C\/a\u003E have signed a six-page agreement to do precisely that. Last month, more than 1,000 workers died when a building housing several garment manufacturers collapsed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.workersrights.org\/linkeddocs\/Accord%20on%20Fire%20and%20Building%20Safety%20in%20Bangladesh%205.12.2013.pdf\"\u003EAccord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0(pdf) lays out a new factory inspection program and calls for companies that sign to underwrite any renovations needed to bring their suppliers up to established safety standards. Here is a visual explanation of the accord:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"qz-inline-image alignfull\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/bangladesh-factory-safety-accord2.png?w=1024&h=2661\" width=\"1024\" height=\"2661\" class=\"size-full\" data-retina=\"http:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/bangladesh-factory-safety-accord2.png?w=1024&h=2661\" alt=\"Bangladesh factory safety agreement\" title=\"\u200b\"\/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"caption\"\u003E\u200b\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"credit\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E",
            "topPostsRank": 3,
            "popularPostsRank": 10,
            "taxonomies": {
                "tags": [
                    {
                        "name": "Bangladesh",
                        "slug": "bangladesh"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "corporate responsibility",
                        "slug": "corporate-responsibility"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "explainers",
                        "slug": "explainers"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "factory collapse",
                        "slug": "factory-collapse"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "garment industry",
                        "slug": "garment-industry"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "H&M",
                        "slug": "hm"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Inditex",
                        "slug": "inditex"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "QuartzThings",
                        "slug": "quartzthings"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Rana Plaza",
                        "slug": "rana-plaza"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "Retailers",
                        "slug": "retailers"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "safety accord",
                        "slug": "safety-accord"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "unions",
                        "slug": "unions"
                    },
                    {
                        "name": "unsafe working conditions",
                        "slug": "unsafe-working-conditions"
                    }
                ]
            },
            "byline": {
                "authors": [
                    {
                        "name": "Ritchie King",
                        "username": "rkingqz",
                        "url": "http:\/\/qz.com\/author\/rkingqz\/",
                        "twitter": "RitchieSKing"
                    }
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "id": 85214,
            "title": "Black-hat bitcoin’s days are numbered",
            "permalink": "http:\/\/qz.com\/85214\/black-hat-bitcoins-days-are-numbered\/",
            "date": {
                "published": "2013-05-17 15:18:31",
                "updated": "2013-05-17 16:06:55"
            },
            "postType": "image",
            "summary": "On Tuesday (May 14), the US government seized accounts\u00a0that Japan-based Mt. Gox, the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, held at its US bank, Wells Fargo, and with Dwolla, an online payments company. The government said Mt Gox violated money laundering rules. (Mt Gox\u00a0says it is investigating.) For the fast-evolving bitcoin ecosystem, this marks a new phase […]",
            "content": "\u003Cp\u003EOn Tuesday (May 14), the US government \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/betabeat.com\/2013\/05\/department-of-homeland-security-shuts-down-dwolla-payments-to-and-from-mt-gox\/\"\u003Eseized accounts\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0that Japan-based Mt. Gox, the world’s largest bitcoin exchange, held at its US bank, Wells Fargo, and with Dwolla, an online payments company. The government said Mt Gox violated money laundering rules. (Mt Gox\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/mtgox.com\/press_release_20130515.html\"\u003Esays it is investigating\u003C\/a\u003E.) For the fast-evolving bitcoin ecosystem, this marks a new phase of development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIt looks like Mt. Gox got caught red-handed.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn March, the US Treasury Department issued new rules. Companies that exchange traditional currency for bitcoins now\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/fincen.gov\/statutes_regs\/guidance\/html\/FIN-2013-G001.html\"\u003Eneed to register\u003C\/a\u003E with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which is charged with preventing money laundering. But Mt. Gox’s US subsidiary, Mutum Silligum (in Latin, roughly: “Silent Seal”) didn’t register, or tell Wells Fargo that it was a money transmitter. A confidential informant who used Mt. Gox to buy and sell bitcoins provided the government with the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.scribd.com\/doc\/141683565\/Mt-Gox-Dwolla-Warrant-5-14-13\"\u003Eevidence it used\u003C\/a\u003E to seize the accounts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIt’s not an attack on bitcoin.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003ESome have \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.americanbanker.com\/bankthink\/fincen-regulations-choking-bitcoin-entrepreneurs-1058606-1.html\"\u003Echaracterized bitcoin’s treatment by the government\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0as “stomping out currency competition.” But that’s\u00a0roughly the same as saying that the investigation of\u00a0\u003Ca title=\"Why weren\u2019t HSBC\u2019s money-laundering penalties bigger?\" href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/36509\/why-werent-hsbcs-money-laundering-penalties-bigger\/\"\u003EHSBC for laundering drug money\u003C\/a\u003E is an attack on the dollar. The \u00a0government regulates businesses that send money so that criminals can’t launder their gains through the financial system, and so consumers don’t get ripped off in scams.\u00a0Dwolla, which Mt. Gox used to transfer money between Mutum Silligum and its customers, is registered with FinCEN.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBut it will hurt exchanges that aren’t ready for the big leagues.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Treasury’s rules raise the cost of doing business. Companies that trade bitcoin for other currencies\u00a0will need to keep records about their customers’ identities, and report transactions over $10,000\u2014and keep an eye out for any transactions that are “structured” to get around that cap. That means trouble for small-time outfits, and any that rely on illicit funds. It’s also an advantage for venture-fund backed tech companies getting into the space, who have more capital for the up-front costs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd it gets harder: The patchwork of money transmission laws in the US will likely mean dealing with regulators separately in every state, a complicated and expensive proposition.\u00a0While many exchanges have joined forces with institutions that already have state money transmission licences, legal experts and bitcoin insiders say that\u00a0state regulators have begun planning to enforce the rules directly on bitcoin exchanges. The laws that Mt. Gox is running into are no different to the ones that\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/62265\/why-square-and-seven-other-finance-start-ups-got-run-out-of-illinois\/\"\u003ESquare and PayPal\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0had to adapt to as they became increasingly popular methods of sending money between states and countries.\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe bitcoin business landscape is changing.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECoinLab, a venture-backed exchange, had already put \u00a0pressure on Mt. Gox with\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/81167\/bitcoin-75-million-coinlab-lawsuit-against-mt-gox-could-destroy-currency-exchange\/\"\u003Ea $75 million lawsuit\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0over a proposed partnership gone sour. That collaboration was designed to help Mt. Gox comply with US rules. CoinLab and another venture-backed US exchange, Coinbase, are\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kashmirhill\/2013\/05\/15\/the-feds-are-cracking-down-on-mt-gox-not-on-bitcoin\/\"\u003Eboth registered as money transmitters\u003C\/a\u003E\u00a0with FinCEN. That puts them a step ahead of Mt. Gox, which would need to settle the government’s case and begin complying with regulations to stay in business in the US. But any bitcoin exchange needs to go through the arduous process of getting state money transmission licenses in each US state where it has users (barring two states that don’t require licenses), according to\u00a0Terry Maher, an attorney who helps emerging payments companies comply with money transmission laws.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat about anonymity?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome would like bitcoin to be the home of\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/75457\/using-bitcoin-hackers-are-trying-to-create-an-untraceable-financial-system\/\"\u003Ea truly anonymous financial system\u003C\/a\u003E. But if it’s going to be tradable in advanced economies\u2014Poland and the UK have raised similar issues\u2014the exchanges will need to know more about their customers. “The anonymous nature would probably be no more,” Maher says. Patrick Murck, who works on legal issues for Coinlab, notes that the crypto currency’s ability to disguise transactions is over-rated, due to the\u00a0distributed nature of bitcoin record-keeping (every transaction is recorded in every node on the network). But since the regulations currently only apply to exchanging money in and out of bitcoin, they touch only a small part of the market.\u00a0”There’s a lot of action where bitcoin intersects with traditional finance,” Murck says, “but there’s a lot of bitcoin business you can do where you never have to touch cash.”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow else will bitcoin go mainstream?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003EBitcoin has a lot of problems as a currency\u2014its tendency for\u00a0\u003Ca title=\"The wild, minute-by-minute chart of bitcoin trading today and what it means\" href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/73196\/the-wild-minute-by-minute-chart-of-bitcoin-trading-today-and-what-it-means\/\"\u003Espasms of crazy volatility\u003C\/a\u003E, most notably\u2014but fewer as a payments system. Losing its reputation for illicit activities could help it gain mainstream acceptance. Especially with big competitors like Google trying to win over\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/85209\/google-figures-out-the-simplest-most-profound-way-to-send-money-over-email\/\"\u003Ethe online payments business\u003C\/a\u003E, it needs all the brand credibility it can get. “White-hat people won’t care for the most part,” Murck says. “At CoinLab, I don’t want black-hat or grey-hat business, I only want people who are willing to put their name behind their actions.”\u003C\/p\u003E",
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                "caption": "Time to take off the mask. ",
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        {
            "id": 77020,
            "title": "The secret to a higher salary is to ask for nothing at all",
            "permalink": "http:\/\/qz.com\/77020\/the-secret-to-a-higher-salary-is-to-ask-for-nothing-at-all\/",
            "date": {
                "published": "2013-04-23 12:33:51",
                "updated": "2013-04-25 18:26:32"
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            "summary": "Twenty years ago, I developed a powerful approach to negotiating that goes beyond “win-win.” It involves starting by offering the most and asking for the least. It works extremely well, but I was unable to explain why until I read Wharton professor Adam Grant’s excellent new book Give and Take. Adam identifies three types of […]",
            "content": "\u003Cp\u003ETwenty years ago, I developed a powerful approach to negotiating that goes beyond “win-win.” It involves starting by offering the most and asking for the least. It works extremely well, but I was unable to explain why until I read Wharton professor Adam Grant’s excellent new book \u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.giveandtake.com\/\"\u003EGive and Take\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdam identifies three types of people: Takers try to get as much as possible from others, matchers seek an even trade, and givers contribute without expectation of return.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPreviously, I’d thought of things more in terms of debt and honor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMy parents raised me to believe that borrowing and then not returning is the moral equivalent of stealing. Put in the language of giving and taking, borrowing is a form of taking where I get what I want now and put my honor at risk in the future. Repaying my debt later only elevates me to the status of matcher, but not giver.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEventually, I came to see that getting paid a salary in advance of delivering value is a form of debt. In 1992, I accepted a job that came with a bonus guarantee. Almost immediately, the unit I worked for was disbanded and they paid both the guarantee and a severance. It was the first time in my career that I was paid more than I delivered, and I felt I was left with a debt I could never repay. That is when I changed how I negotiate contracts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe typical approach is for both sides to demand something unreasonable\u2014but not let on that they consider it unreasonable\u2014and then negotiate a “compromise” in the hopes that you will end up closer to your side than the midpoint. Even when the final agreement is declared a “win-win,” this approach backfires because it begins with acts of unreasonableness, selfishness, and distrust.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe next time I had to negotiate a contract, it began in typical fashion with a prospective employer sending me a lopsided agreement and asking me to counter-propose. I said I was incompetent to do that and suggested they write a new contract as if they were me, putting in everything that would be in my best interests, and then taking out everything they would never agree to. Since that would be the best I could get, I would accept it subject to agreement on compensation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe started with base pay. I wrote down the least I would work for and asked them to write down the most they would offer a perfect person, irrespective of whether I was that person or not. If when we exchanged papers, their number wasn’t higher than mine then we could stop there and save time. Their number was twice the best base pay I had ever received in past jobs, and my request was for $0. I explained that my goal is to live a debt-free life, and therefore I wanted to give value before receiving compensation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe did the same thing with profit sharing percentages. However, this time I wanted the highest payout standard for our industry, which happened to match their number. We agreed on that percentage because it maximized my incentive to perform and minimize the risk I would ever want to go elsewhere. (As it turned out, because human resources wouldn’t put me on the books without paying me something, I ended up getting a better deal than the best I would have ever asked for.)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI ran the contract past my lawyer who said he would not change a single word because it offered the best terms he had ever seen. He asked who had negotiated it for me, and when I told him what happened, he said that a good negotiator could have gotten me even more. Huh? How greedy would I have to be to want more than the best deal he’d ever seen?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESeventeen years later, I’m still with the same firm. Perhaps any “win-win” contract could have worked during good times when all we had to do was divvy up winnings. But we also got through hard times together because we started out with a “give-give” relationship that helped us care about each other even when we had to share pain.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn general, you can use this approach unilaterally but you are going to have to teach the other side how to give in the context of negotiation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Col start=\"1\"\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThink about what you would want if you were on the other side and ask them to think about the same thing.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EWrite down the most you are willing to give a perfect counterparty and the least you would accept.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAsk them to do the same.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESay something like, “If later you decide to improve your offer, then I will not work with you because you lied on the first go-around, and I do not work with liars. Likewise you should hold me to the same standard of honesty.” Of course, you can find less harsh words than these.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EReveal what you wrote to each other simultaneously.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EIf you each offer more than the other would accept, and you honestly admit your imperfections, then you will come to an agreement.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDo this and your relationship will be off to a great start.\u00a0 It may seem weird at first, but just imagine you and a friend are fighting over who will pick up the tab for lunch.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYou might not expect this to work but it does. Here\u2019s why: In \u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.giveandtake.com\/\"\u003EGive and Take\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E, Grant reports that in the business setting, most people are takers or matchers. But they are givers when it comes to the people they care about. For example, even in the heat of an argument with my spouse, we both know we want more for the other than we want for ourselves.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat I discovered is that if you care about other people first, even business people cannot help but care back. Of course, it is theoretically possible that someone cannot reciprocate empathy, and in that case my approach will not lead to a deal. But I haven’t found anyone like that yet, and I wouldn’t want to work with them if I did.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBrooke’s website is\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/brookeallen.com\/\"\u003Ebrookeallen.com\u003C\/a\u003E.\u00a0We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.\u00a0\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003ERead this next: \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/78105\/the-self-evident-and-life-changing-truth-about-working-for-free\/\"\u003EThe self-evident and life-changing truth about working for free\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E",
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            "id": 19056,
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