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2 bread / enero 2013
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Rome in the first two centuries A.D. faced a yawning gulf between rich and poor. The mighty empire
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The Football
Rome in the first two centuries A.D. faced a yawning gulf between rich and poor. The mighty empire
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Agenda
Rome in the first two centuries A.D. faced a yawning gulf between rich and poor. The mighty empire
The Circus
Rome in the first two centuries A.D. faced a yawning gulf between
Production by EDITA: Brands & Roses, S.L. · IMPRESION: Barcelona Digital · LEGAL DEPOSITY M42701-2012 · www.breadcircus.com DIRECTOR David Ortega - david@breadcircus.com · COPY Evelin Toledano - evelin@breadcircus.com ART DIRECTOR Benjamin James Barber - ben@breadcircus.com · 3D David Galar - galar@breadcircus.com
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GO OUT TO THE CIRCUS
enero 2013 / bread 3
Rome in the first two centuries A.D. faced a yawning gulf between rich and poor. The mighty empire built on tribute reached its geographic limits. Its economy created few exportable goods. Slaves acquired by conquest buiwlt most of its bridges, roads and aqueducts and took jobs in farming, mining and construction. As this cheaper labor replaced Roman citizens, idle, unemployed, hungry people filled the capital. The Caesars created make-work and part-time jobs, subsidized housing and doled out grain. Even more, they found, was needed. “A people that yawns is ripe for revolt,” wrote Jerome Carcopino in “Daily Life in Ancient Rome.” Alice Schroeder is the author of “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life.” Before becoming a full-time writer, she was a top-ranked insurance analyst on Wall Street. June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Alice Schroeder, a Bloomberg View columnist and author of “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life,” discusses her column comparing issues facing ancient Rome to the current U.S. economy. She speaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.” (Alice Schroeder is a Bloomberg View columnist.
The emperors added holidays until, eventually, the Romans spent half their days attending gladiator games, public executions and chariot races. Disgusted, the satirist Juvenal accused his fellow citizens of selling out for bribes of “bread and circuses.” The Romans did nothing to prove him wrong, until two centuries later the empire was divided forever and Rome was sacked by Visigoths. The complicated causes of Rome’s decline have long fascinated historians, and provide a lens through which to examine the vulnerability of other dominant cultures. Americans’ addiction to entertainment has been compared to the circuses of ancient Rome. We can, and do, spend much of our free time watching dreck on TV like “Half Pint Brawlers,” about a company of self-styled “midget wrestlers” who attack each other with staple guns and broken bottles. In fact, in 2009, people over age 15 spent an average of 58 percent of their leisure time watching television, playing games and using the Internet -- an increase of 16 percent from 2003. When entertainment dominates a society, it changes more than the culture; it also reshapes the economy. You can see that circuses are where the money is from the rise of digital entertainment, which has steered enormous amounts of discretionary income toward digital content and the devices that run it: laptops, televisions, gaming consoles, smart phones. In the decade leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, the only major industry other than health care that consistently showed strong real growth was consumer electronics. Although hit hard by the recession, spending on digital media has now begun to rebound. The question is who benefits. We produce a lot of content, yet most of the devices it comes on are not made in the U.S. Trade Imbalances. This exemplifies another problem that vexed the Romans and faces us today: Dominant economies tend to import more than they export, creating trade imbalances. The manufactured stuff of life, basic items such as food, clothing, cars, phones and furniture -- the bread, as opposed to the circuses -- costs less to buy if produced elsewhere than if made by a highly developed country’s own citizens. The result is a loss of jobs at home. The conquestdriven Romans stand out in history as an extreme example. They brought home their imports, including slave labor, as plunder. This made the “bread” as cheap as it could be, and put the Romans themselves out of work. We merely face a situation in which our labor costs, laws and regulations make U.S. business less competitive than that of other countries. In the 1990s, manufacturing workers went through a draconian loss.
4 bread / enero 2013
I The Football is part of the playfulness, the problem is when that entertainment becomes a smokescreen for powerful stun consciences people mercedes huelvas New York
In the first two centuries A.D. faced a yawning gulf between rich and poor. The mighty empire built on tribute reached its geographic limits. Its economy created few exportable goods. Slaves acquired by conquest buiwlt most of its bridges, roads and aqueducts and took jobs in farming, mining and construction. As this cheaper labor replaced Roman citizens, idle, unemployed, hungry people filled the capital. The Caesars created make-work and parttime jobs, subsidized housing and doled out grain. Even more, they found, was needed. “A people that yawns is ripe for revolt,” wrote Jerome Carcopino in “Daily Life in Ancient Rome.” Alice Schroeder is the author of “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life.” Before becoming a full-time writer, she was a top-ranked insurance analyst on Wall Street. June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Alice Schroeder, a Bloomberg View columnist and author of “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life,” discusses her column comparing issues facing ancient Rome to the current U.S. economy. She speaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.” (Alice Schroeder is a Bloomberg View columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. The heavy emperors added holidays until, eventually, the Romans spent half their days attending gladiator games, public executions and chariot races. Disgusted, the satirist Juvenal accused his fellow citizens of selling out for bribes of “bread and circuses.” The Romans did nothing to prove him wrong, until two centuries later the empire was divided forever and Rome was sacked by Visigoths. The complicated causes of Rome’s decline have long fascinated historians, and provide a lens through which to examine the vulnerability of other dominant cultures. Americans’ addiction to entertainment has been compared to the circuses of ancient Rome. We can, and do, spend much of our free time watching dreck on TV like “Half Pint Brawlers,” about a company of self-styled “midget
wrestlers” who attack each other with staple guns and broken bottles. In fact, in 2009, people over age 15 spent an average of 58 percent of their leisure time watching television, playing games and using the Internet -- an increase of 16 percent from 2003. When entertainment dominates a society, it changes more than the culture; it also reshapes the economy. You can see that circuses are where the money is from the rise of digital entertainment, which has steered enormous amounts of discretionary income toward digital content and the devices that run it: laptops, televisions, gaming consoles, smart phones. In the decade leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, the only major industry other than health care that consistently showed strong real growth was consumer electronics. Although bold hit hard by the recession, spending on digital media has now begun to rebound. The question is who benefits. We produce a lot of content, yet most of the devices it comes on are not made in the U.S. Trade Imbalances. This exemplifies another problem that vexed the Romans and faces us today: Dominant economies tend to import more than they export, creating trade imbalances. The manufactured stuff of life, basic items such as food, clothing, cars, phones and furniture -- the bread, as opposed to the circuses -- costs less to buy if produced elsewhere than if made by a highly developed country’s own citizens. The result is a loss of jobs at home. The conquestdriven Romans stand out in history as an extreme example. They brought home their imports, including slave labor, as plunder. This made the “bread” as cheap as it could be, and put the Romans themselves out of work. We merely face a situation in which our labor costs, laws and regulations make U.S. business less competitive than that of other countries. In the 1990s, manufacturing workers went through a draconian loss of employment as work was sent offshore. The very thing that drove the jobs overseas made the bread cheap. During the
high-growth bubble decade that culminated in 2008, the sales growth rates of basic consumer goods such as apparel, cars and sporting goods averaged less than 2 percent, so low as to be deflationary in real terms. Service Economy’ Offsetting the loss of manufacturing work, the leverage- happy bubble era created so many jobs for bankers, hairstylists, airline ticket agents and home health aides that we began to describe ourselves as a “service economy.” But service businesses are vulnerable to the very same forces that drove the fat out of manufacturing. Take retailing. Since the 1990s, businesses that helped make the bread cheaper, such as superstores and warehouse clubs, were the only major category of retailers to show strong growth. Now these businesses, too, are severely pressured by more efficient online sellers, which are growing twice as fast as their offline counterparts. The proportion of our total population that is currently working has fallen to 58.4 percent, the level it was in 1983, when far fewer women were in the job market.
It ’s true that this percentage should improve as the economy moves past the lingering effects of the f inancial crisis, but recovery won’t alter the fundamental trend. Structural forces are creating some very serious employment headwinds, faced especially by younger, less educated men. simply put // What has been good for American consumers hasn’t been good for workers. Look at the big picture, and you also see how, unlike Rome, whose armies looted the lands they conquered, the underemployed U.S. must borrow money to pay for our bread and circuses. Rome was so rich that it took hundreds of years for the empire to crumble. We’re broke, which accelerates the day of reckoning. Reform of U.S. entitlement spending would buy us time, but wouldn’t fix the employment situation. On a positive note, this bread-and-circuses economy does offer new opportunities. People who can help make things cheaper will do well. They
can use digital technology to build businesses of truly global scale. Lastly, anyone who can satisfy the public’s lust for mind-rotting drivel has a viable career ahead in a growth industry. Drowning a country in vicarious debauchery may be a lousy way to sustain a civilization. Still, there is something to be said for “Half Pint Brawlers” and its ilk. TV-watching keeps people at home, instead of marching in the streets. (Alice Schroeder, author of “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life” and a former managing director at Morgan Stanley, is a Bloomberg View columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.) For all the talk of tax increases and debt-cutting, President Barack Obama’s biggest and most- revealing decision this year may be which candidate he chooses to be his new secretary of state. It will tell us whether the president allows comfort to trump qualification.The two candidates are Susan Rice, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, and Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign
REIVINDICATION
It is time that the society wake up and not give in to fear. PROTEST
Handling money like magicians real wizards.
Relations Committee. Both would be impressive, though they bring different strengths. Jonathan Alter was a senior editor, media critic and columnist for Newsweek, where he worked for 28 years and covered five administrations and seven presidential campaigns. More about Jonathan Alter. Rice’s advantage is that she has a closer personal relationship with the president, making her better integrated in the administration’s policy-making apparatus. Kerry’s edge is that he’s a heavyweight who would be more effective representing the U.S. around the world. Rice has the inside track for now, and she got an unintentional boost last week from Senator John McCain, who was shooting from the hip, as usual. McCain, who is Kerry’s old friend and fellow Vietnam veteran, hounded Rice mercilessly over the tragedy in Benghazi, Libya. Her only sin was that on the Sunday shows in September she conveyed exactly what she was told by the Central Intelligence Agency about the attack on the U.S. consulate. Just before his first post-election news conference, the president heard that McCain and his Sancho Panza,
THE SOCCER IS SMOKESCREEN TO STUN CONSCIENCES
enero 2013 / bread 5
wrestlers” who attack each other with staple guns and broken bottles. In fact, in 2009, people over age 15 spent an average of 58 percent of their leisure time watching television, playing games and using the Internet -- an increase of 16 percent from 2003. When entertainment dominates a society, it changes more than the culture; it also reshapes the economy. You can see that circuses are where the money is from the rise of digital entertainment, which has steered enormous amounts of discretionary income toward digital content and the devices that run it: laptops, televisions, gaming consoles, smart phones. In the decade leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, the only major industry other than health care that consistently showed strong real growth was consumer electronics.
Although bold hit hard by the recession, spending on digital media has now begun to rebound. The question is who benefits. We produce a lot of content, yet most of the devices it comes on are not made in the U.S. Trade Imbalances. This exemplifies another problem that vexed the Romans and faces us today: Dominant economies tend to import more than they export, creating trade imbalances. The manufactured stuff of life, basic items such as food, clothing, cars, phones and furniture -- the bread, as opposed to the circuses -- costs less to buy if produced elsewhere than if made by a highly developed country’s own citizens. The result is a loss of jobs at home. The conquestdriven Romans stand out in history as an extreme example. They brought home their imports, including slave labor, as plunder. This made the “bread” as cheap as it could be, and put the Romans themselves out of work. We merely face a situation in which our labor costs, laws and regulations make U.S. business less competitive than that of other countries. In the 1990s, manufacturing workers went through a draconian loss of employment as work was sent offshore. The very thing that drove the jobs overseas made the bread cheap. During the high-growth bubble decade that culminated in 2008, the sales growth rates of basic consumer goods such as apparel, cars and sporting goods averaged less than 2 percent, so low as to be deflationary in real terms. Service Economy’ Offsetting the loss of manufacturing work, the leverage- happy bubble era created so many jobs for bankers, hairstylists, airline ticket agents and home health aides that we began to describe ourselves as a “service economy.” But service businesses are vulnerable to the very same forces that drove the fat out of manufacturing. Take retailing. Since the 1990s, businesses that helped make the bread cheaper, such as superstores and warehouse clubs, were the only major category of retailers to show strong growth. Now these businesses, too, are severely pressured by more efficient online sellers, which are growing twice as fast as their offline counterparts. The proportion of our total population that is currently working has fallen to 58.4 percent, the level it was in 1983, when far fewer women were in the job market.
It ’s true that this percentage should improve as the economy moves past the lingering effects of the f inancial crisis, but recovery won’t alter the fundamental trend. Structural forces are creating some very serious employment headwinds, faced especially by younger, less educated men.
simply put // What has been good for American consumers hasn’t been good for workers. Look at the big picture, and you also see how, unlike Rome, whose armies looted the lands they conquered, the underemployed U.S. must borrow money to pay for our bread and circuses. Rome was so rich that it took hundreds of years for the empire to crumble. We’re broke, which accelerates the day of reckoning. Reform of U.S. entitlement spending would buy us time, but wouldn’t fix the employment situation. On a positive note, this bread-and-circuses economy does offer new opportunities. People who
6 bread / enero 2013
enero 2013 / bread 7
8 bread / enero 2013
NO, WE CANT, BUT SHOULD WE FIGHT wrestlers” who attack each other with staple guns and broken bottles. In fact, in 2009, people over age 15 spent an average of 58 percent of their leisure time watching television, playing games and using the Internet -- an increase of 16 percent from 2003. When entertainment dominates a society, it changes more than the culture; it also reshapes the economy. You can see that circuses are where the money is from the rise of digital entertainment, which has steered enormous amounts of discretionary income toward digital content and the devices that run it: laptops, televisions, gaming consoles, smart phones. In the decade leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, the only major industry other than health care that consistently showed strong real growth was consumer electronics.
In the first two centuries A.D. faced a yawning gulf between rich and poor. The mighty empire built on tribute reached its geographic limits. Its economy created few exportable goods. Slaves acquired by conquest buiwlt most of its bridges, roads and aqueducts and took jobs in farming, mining and construction. As this cheaper labor replaced Roman citizens, idle, unemployed, hungry people filled the capital. The Caesars created make-work and parttime jobs, subsidized housing and doled out grain. Even more, they found, was needed. “A people that yawns is ripe for revolt,” wrote Jerome Carcopino in “Daily Life in Ancient Rome.” Alice Schroeder is the author of “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life.” Before becoming a full-time writer, she was a top-ranked insurance analyst on Wall Street. June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Alice Schroeder, a Bloomberg View columnist and author of “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life,” discusses her column comparing issues facing ancient Rome to the current U.S. economy. She speaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.” (Alice Schroeder is a Bloomberg View columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. The heavy emperors added holidays until, eventually, the Romans spent half their days attending gladiator games, public executions and chariot races. Disgusted, the satirist Juvenal accused his fellow citizens of selling out for bribes of “bread and circuses.” The Romans did nothing to prove him wrong, until two centuries later the empire was divided forever and Rome was sacked by Visigoths. The complicated causes of Rome’s decline have long fascinated historians, and provide a lens through which to examine the vulnerability of other dominant cultures. Americans’ addiction to entertainment has been compared to the circuses of ancient Rome. We can, and do, spend much of our free time watching dreck on TV like “Half Pint Brawlers,” about a company of self-styled “midget
Although bold hit hard by the recession, spending on digital media has now begun to rebound. The question is who benefits. We produce a lot of content, yet most of the devices it comes on are not made in the U.S. Trade Imbalances. This exemplifies another problem that vexed the Romans and faces us today: Dominant economies tend to import more than they export, creating trade imbalances. The manufactured stuff of life, basic items such as food, clothing, cars, phones and furniture -- the bread, as opposed to the circuses -- costs less to buy if produced elsewhere than if made by a highly developed country’s own citizens. The result is a loss of jobs at home. The conquestdriven Romans stand out in history as an extreme example. They brought home their imports, including slave labor, as plunder. This made the “bread” as cheap as it could be, and put the Romans themselves out of work. We merely face a situation in which our labor costs, laws and regulations make
REIVINDICATION
It is time that the society wake up and not give in to fear. PROTEST
Handling money like magicians real wizards.
U.S. business less competitive than that of other countries. In the 1990s, manufacturing workers went through a draconian loss of employment as work was sent offshore. The very thing that drove the jobs overseas made the bread cheap. During the high-growth bubble decade that culminated in 2008, the sales growth rates of basic consumer goods
such as apparel, cars and sporting goods averaged less than 2 percent, so low as to be deflationary in real terms. Service Economy’ Offsetting the loss of manufacturing work, the leverage- happy bubble era created so many jobs for bankers, hairstylists, airline ticket agents and home health aides that we began to describe ourselves as a “service economy.” But service businesses are vulnerable to the very same forces that drove the fat out of manufacturing. Take retailing. Since the 1990s, businesses that helped make the bread cheaper, such as superstores and warehouse clubs, were the only major category of retailers to show strong growth. Now these businesses, too, are severely pressured by more efficient online sellers, which are growing twice as fast as their offline counterparts. The proportion of our total population that is currently working has fallen to 58.4 percent, the level it was in 1983, when far fewer women were in the job market. It’s true that this percentage should improve as the economy moves past the lingering effects of the financial crisis, but recovery won’t alter the fundamental trend. Structural forces are creating some very serious employment headwinds, faced especially by younger, less educated men. simply put // What has been good for American consumers hasn’t been good for workers. Look at the big picture, and you also see how, unlike Rome, whose armies looted the lands they conquered, the underemployed U.S. must borrow money to pay for our bread and circuses. Rome was so rich that it took hundreds of years for the empire to crumble. We’re broke, which accelerates the day of reckoning. Reform of U.S. entitlement spending would buy us time, but wouldn’t fix the employment situation. On a positive note, this bread-and-circuses economy does offer new opportunities. People who can help make things cheaper will do well. They
In the first two centuries A.D. faced a yawning gulf between rich and poor. The mighty empire built on tribute reached its geographic limits. Its economy created few exportable goods. Slaves acquired by conquest buiwlt most of its bridges, roads and aqueducts and took jobs in farming, mining and construction. As this cheaper labor replaced Roman citizens, idle, unemployed, hungry people filled the capital. The Caesars created make-work and parttime jobs, subsidized housing and doled out grain. Even more, they found, was needed. “A people that yawns is ripe for revolt,” wrote Jerome Carcopino in “Daily Life in Ancient Rome.” Alice Schroeder is the author of “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life.” Before becoming a full-time writer, she was a top-ranked insurance analyst on Wall Street. June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Alice Schroeder, a Bloomberg View columnist and author of “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life,” discusses her column comparing issues facing ancient Rome to the current U.S. economy. She speaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television’s “In
enero 2013 / bread 9
The Football is part of the playfulness, the problem is when that mercedes huelvas New York
the Loop.” (Alice Schroeder is a Bloomberg View columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. The heavy emperors added holidays until, eventually, the Romans spent half their days attending gladiator games, public executions and chariot races. Disgusted, the satirist Juvenal accused his fellow citizens of selling out for bribes of “bread and circuses.” The Romans did nothing to prove him wrong, until two centuries later the empire was divided forever and Rome was sacked by Visigoths. The complicated causes of Rome’s decline have long fascinated historians, and provide a lens through which to examine the vulnerability of other dominant cultures. Americans’ addiction to entertainment has been compared to the circuses of ancient Rome. We can, and do, spend much of our free time watching dreck on TV like “Half Pint Brawlers,” about a company of self-styled “midget wrestlers” who attack each other with staple guns and broken bottles. In fact, in 2009, people over age 15 spent an average of 58 percent of their leisure time watching television, playing games and using the Internet -- an increase of 16 percent from 2003. When entertainment dominates a society, it changes more than the culture; it also reshapes the economy. You can see that circuses are where the money is from the rise of digital entertainment, which has steered enormous amounts of discretionary income toward digital content and the devices that run it: laptops, televisions, gaming consoles, smart phones. In the decade leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, the only major industry other than health care that consistently showed strong real growth was consumer electronics. Although bold hit hard by the recession, spending on digital media has now begun to rebound. The question is who benefits. We produce a lot of content, yet most of the devices it comes on are not made in the U.S. Trade Imbalances. This exemplifies another problem that vexed the Romans and faces us today: Dominant economies tend to import more than they export, creating trade imbalances. The manufactured stuff of life, basic items such as food, clothing, cars, phones and furniture -- the bread, as opposed to the circuses -- costs less to buy if produced elsewhere than if made by a highly developed country’s own citizens. The result is a loss of jobs at home. The conquestdriven Romans stand out in history as an extreme example. They brought home their imports, including slave labor, as plunder. This made the “bread” as cheap as it could be, and put the Romans themselves out of work. We merely face a situation in which our labor costs, laws and regulations make U.S. business less competitive than that of other countries. In the 1990s, manufacturing workers went through a draconian loss of employment as work was sent offshore. The very thing that drove the jobs overseas made the bread cheap. During the high-growth bubble decade that culminated in 2008, the sales growth rates of basic consumer goods.
In the first two centuries A.D. faced a yawning gulf between rich and poor. The mighty empire built on tribute reached its geographic limits. Its economy created few exportable goods. Slaves acquired by conquest buiwlt most of its bridges, roads and aqueducts and took jobs in farming, mining and construction. As this cheaper labor replaced Roman citizens, idle, unemployed, hungry people filled the capital. The Caesars created make-work and part-time jobs, subsidized housing and doled out grain. Even more, they found, was needed. “A people that yawns is ripe for revolt,” wrote Jerome Carcopino in “Daily Life in Ancient Rome.” Alice Schroeder is the author of “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life.” Before becoming a full-time writer, she was a top-ranked insurance analyst on Wall Street. June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Alice Schroeder, a Bloomberg View columnist and author of “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life,” discusses her column comparing issues facing ancient Rome to the current U.S. economy. She speaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.” (Alice Schroeder is a Bloomberg View columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. The heavy emperors added holidays until, eventually, the Romans spent half their days attending gladiator games, public executions and chariot races. Disgusted, the satirist Juvenal accused his fellow citizens of selling out for bribes of “bread and circuses.” The Romans did nothing to prove him wrong, until two centuries later the empire was divided forever and Rome was sacked by Visigoths. The complicated causes of Rome’s decline have long fascinated historians, and provide a lens through which to examine the vulnerability of other dominant cultures. Americans’ addiction to entertainment has been compared to the circuses of ancient Rome. We can, and do, spend much of our free time watching dreck on TV like “Half Pint Brawlers,” about a company of self-styled “midget wrestlers” who attack each other with staple guns and broken bottles. In fact, in 2009, people over age 15 spent an average of 58 percent of their leisure time watching television, playing games and using the Internet -- an increase of 16 percent from 2003. When entertainment dominates a society, it changes more than the culture; it also reshapes the economy. You can see that circuses are where the money is from the rise of digital entertainment, which has steered enormous amounts of discretionary income toward digital content and the devices that run it: laptops, televisions, gaming consoles, smart phones. In the decade leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, the only major industry other than health care that consistently showed strong real growth was consumer electronics. Although bold hit hard by the recession, spending on digital media has now begun to rebound. The question is who benefits. We produce a lot of content, yet most of the devices it comes on are not made in the U.S. Trade Imbalances. This exemplifies another problem that vexed the Romans and faces us today: Dominant economies tend to import more than they export, creating trade imbalances. The manufactured stuff of life, basic items such as food, clothing, cars, phones and furniture -- the bread, as opposed to the circuses -- costs less to buy if produced elsewhere than if made by a highly developed country’s own citizens. The result is a loss of jobs at home. The conquest-driven Romans stand out in history as an extreme example. They brought home their imports, including slave labor, as plunder. This made the “bread” as cheap as it could be, and put the Romans themselves out of work. We merely face a situation in which our labor costs, laws and regulations make U.S. business less competitive than that of other countries. In the 1990s, manufacturing workers went through a draconian loss of employment as work was sent offshore. The very thing that drove the jobs overseas made the bread cheap. During the high-growth bubble decade that culminated in 2008, the sales growth rates of basic consumer goods such as apparel, cars and sporting goods averaged less than 2 percent, so low as to be deflationary in real terms. Service Economy’ Offsetting the loss of manufacturing work, the leverage- happy bubble era created so many jobs for bankers, hairstylists, airline ticket agents and home health aides that we began to describe ourselves as a “service economy.” But service businesses are vulnerable to the very same forces that drove the fat out of manufacturing. Take retailing. Since the 1990s, businesses that helped make the bread cheaper, such as superstores and warehouse clubs, were the only major category of retailers to show strong growth. Now these businesses, too, are severely pressured by more efficient online sellers, which are growing twice as fast as their offline counterparts. The proportion of our total population that is currently working has fallen to 58.4 percent, the level it was in 1983, when far fewer women were in the job market.
It ’s true that this percentage should improve as the economy moves past the lingering effects of the f inancial crisis, but recovery won’t alter the fundamental trend. Structural forces are creating some very serious employment
10 bread / enero 2013
II The Football is part of the playfulness, the problem is when that entertainment becomes mercedes huelvas New York
Rome in the first two centuries A.D. faced a yawning gulf betwhich has steered enormous amounts of discretionary income ween rich and poor. The mighty empire built on tribute reached toward digital content and the devices that run it: laptops, teleits geographic limits. Its economy created few exportable visions, gaming consoles, smart phones. In the decade leading goods. Slaves acquired by conquest buiwlt most of its bridup to the 2008 financial crisis, the only major industry other ges, roads and aqueducts and took jobs in farming, mining and than health care that consistently showed strong real growth construction. As this cheaper labor replaced Roman citizens, was consumer electronics. idle, unemployed, hungry people filled the capital. The Caesars created make-work and part-time jobs, subsidized housing Although hit hard by the recession, spending on digital media and doled out grain. Even more, they found, was needed. “A has now begun to rebound. The question is who benefits. We people that yawns is ripe for revolt,” wrote Jerome Carcopino produce a lot of content, yet most of the devices it comes in “Daily Life in Ancient Rome.” Alice on are not made in the U.S. Trade Schroeder is the author of “The Imbalances. This exemplifies another Snowball: Warren Buffett and the problem that vexed the Romans and Business of Life.” Before becoming faces us today: Dominant econoREIVINDICATION a full-time writer, she was a topmies tend to import more than they ranked insurance analyst on Wall export, creating trade imbalances. Street. June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Alice The manufactured stuff of life, basic Schroeder, a Bloomberg View coitems such as food, clothing, cars, lumnist and author of “The Snowball: phones and furniture -- the bread, Warren Buffett and the Business of as opposed to the circuses -- costs Life,” discusses her column comless to buy if produced elsewhere paring issues facing ancient Rome than if made by a highly developed PROTEST to the current U.S. economy. She country’s own citizens. The respeaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg sult is a loss of jobs at home. The Television’s “In the Loop.” (Alice conquest-driven Romans stand out Schroeder is a Bloomberg View in history as an extreme example. columnist. The opinions expressed They brought home their imports, are her own. including slave labor, as plunder. This made the “bread” as cheap as The emperors added holidays until, eventually, the Romans it could be, and put the Romans themselves out of work. We spent half their days attending gladiator games, public execumerely face a situation in which our labor costs, laws and regutions and chariot races. Disgusted, the satirist Juvenal accused lations make U.S. business less competitive than that of other his fellow citizens of selling out for bribes of “bread and circucountries. In the 1990s, manufacturing workers went through ses.” The Romans did nothing to prove him wrong, until two a draconian loss of employment as work was sent offshore. centuries later the empire was divided forever and Rome was The very thing that drove the jobs overseas made the bread sacked by Visigoths. The complicated causes of Rome’s decline cheap. During the high-growth bubble decade that culminated have long fascinated historians, and provide a lens through in 2008, the sales growth rates of basic consumer goods such as which to examine the vulnerability of other dominant cultures. apparel, cars and sporting goods averaged less than 2 percent, Americans’ addiction to entertainment has been compared to so low as to be deflationary in real terms. Service Economy’ the circuses of ancient Rome. We can, and do, spend much of Offsetting the loss of manufacturing work, the leverage- happy our free time watching dreck on TV like “Half Pint Brawlers,” bubble era created so many jobs for bankers, hairstylists, airline about a company of self-styled “midget wrestlers” who attack ticket agents and home health aides that we began to descrieach other with staple guns and broken bottles. In fact, in be ourselves as a “service economy.” But service businesses 2009, people over age 15 spent an average of 58 percent of are vulnerable to the very same forces that drove the fat out their leisure time watching television, playing games and using of manufacturing. Take retailing. Since the 1990s, businesses the Internet -- an increase of 16 percent from 2003. When that helped make the bread cheaper, such as superstores and entertainment dominates a society, it changes more than the warehouse clubs, were the only major category of retailers to culture; it also reshapes the economy. You can see that circuses show strong growth. Now these businesses, too, are severely are where the money is from the rise of digital entertainment, pressured by more efficient online sellers, which are growing
It is time that the society wake up and not give in to fear. Handling money like magicians real wizards.
enero 2013 / bread 11
The Football is a Circus Sala I 01.09.13 / 14.11.13 Ulrich Hub
Movement, drawing, and other gallery activities give everyone the chance to participate. Each month a new theme is introduced.
Direction Michael Jung
Note: Kids must be four years old to attend this program. Younger siblings will be allowed to accompany the group, but the participating child must be four. + info www.breadandcircus.com/political
Sala II 09.10.13 / 14.11.13 Steven Parson Direction Ana Palmer
Look, listen, and share ideas while you explore modern and contemporary art. Movement, drawing, and other gallery activities give everyone the chance to participate. Each month a new theme is introduced. + info www.breadandcircus.com/political
Political Corruption Sala III 03.11/13 / 14.11.13 James Barber Direction Marta Smith
Wwhile you explore modern and contemporary art. Movement, drawing, and other gallery activities give everyone the chance to participate. Each month a new theme is introduced. Note: To accompany the group, but the participating child must be four. + info www.breadandcircus.com/political
Playfulness the problem Sala IV 07.12.13 / 31.12.13 Xio Xua Direction July Parker
Share ideas while you explore modern and contemporary art. Movement, drawing, and other gallery activities give everyone the chance to participate. Each month a new theme is introduced. + info www.breadandcircus.com/political
AGENDA OCT-NOV
Mass Media Manipulation
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