Why We Shouldn’t Mock the Idea of an Eiffel Tower in Hangzhou
Architects and critics within and beyond China have treated these derivative designs with scorn, as shameless kitsch or simply trash. Others cite China’s larger knock-off culture, from handbags to housing, as evidence of the innovation gap between China and the United States. For a larger audience on the Internet, they are merely a punchline, another example of China’s endlessly entertaining wackiness.
In short, the majority of Chinese architectural imitation, oozing with historical romanticism, is not taken seriously.
But perhaps it ought to be.
See more. [Images: Bianca Bosker]
![Zara’s Big Idea: What the World’s Top Fashion Retailer Tells Us About Innovation
Zara stores cozy up to the most famous brands in the world to sing their luxury ambitions even as they profit off a brilliant, cheap, short supply chain that delivers similar fashion at a much lower price.
Supply chains sounds boring. But they’re the secret to Zara’s success. Rather than ship skirts and dresses from Chinese plants where they arrive in-store after the style has peaked, Inditex (the parent company) makes the bulk of its clothes in Spain and Morocco. A hemline suggestion goes from a customer’s lips to a sales rack at record speed. The company, now the largest fashion retailer on earth, has grown overall sales by about 50% in five years to $17.5 billion. Its employees have gone from 80,000 to 110,000 in that time, despite being headquartered in a depressed Spanish economy, and selling predominantly to a very sick European continent.
Read more. [Image: Reuters]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdfp7kIvM71qcokc4o1_1280.png)
![Europe Is Literally Running Out of Money
Economies need money. Without it, businesses and households stop. Just ask Spain. It’s further along in the “no money” race than most. Unemployment is 25 percent, credit is drying up, and the government is supposed to cut its deficit an almost unthinkable amount.
It’s a vicious circle. When there’s not enough money, the economy collapses. And when the economy collapses, nobody wants to take out loans. Which reduces the amount of money even further. That’s why falling European private loan growth is so concerning. Instead of borrowing more, people prefer to stuff whatever money they have under the mattress. Except nowadays we have a new name for mattresses. We call them “government bonds”. That’s why the yields on U.S., U.K. German and a host of sovereign bonds are at all-time lows.
Read more. [Image: Scotty Barber]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4uh8iZSL41qcokc4o1_1280.jpg)
