Beer Wars

From The Economist

Who knew worldwide beer consumption provides goggles through which we can view the global economy? It seems the emerging nations of Africa and the Far East are drinking more brew, while the struggling advanced economies of the West are cutting consumption (and sitting at home on the couch drowning their sorrows rather than going out and indulging in social drinking – apparently all bad news for corporate behemoths of the bevy biz). Of course, with the West’s head start of centuries of over-indulgence, the up-and-comers still have quite a way to go to match us drink for drink.

One fascinating factoid floating about is that of the 1,800 micro-brews currently flourishing in North America (you know, the ones producing the only brews worth imbibing) still account for only 5% of the domestic beer market. To me that means two things:

1. Most beer drinkers are still satisfied with swill, and

2. The corporate giants can’t really view snatching up the microbreweries as much in the way of a solution to their bottom line woes. And that, in my book, is a good thing. We don’t need more deals like ABI’s recent gulping up of Chicago’s Goose Island.

See this report from The Economist to get to the bottom of the proverbial barrel on this one.

Quite Optimistic

This is an interesting video clip of Esquire editor David Granger’s interview with Steve Forbes at the 2010 Publishing Business Conference and Expo in New York City back in early March:

I’m not sure how Forbes reaches such an optimistic conclusion about whether America is in decline or not given the economic facts as he lays them out in his answer, but he’s more knowledgeable about this stuff than most of us. (Personally, I avoid discussions of monetary policy like the plague! ) Thought-provoking, nonetheless.

Time Is Right

The title of a new Feelies’ song (much on my mind since last Friday’s outstanding concert) seems an apropos entré to this brief shout out to Time magazine’s recent special issue highlighting “10 Ideas For the Next 10 Years.”

In 10 brief essays by leading thinkers, researchers and analysts (many from the New America Foundation), Time offers a fascinating overview of how America stands with one foot over the threshold of the new century, as well as some prognosis for the coming years. Overall, it’s a thought-provoking, remarkably optimistic and reasonably centrist (well, just left-0f-center, it is Time, after all) analysis of the United States’ evolving place in the world economically, politically, culturally and militarily. It holds a mirror to our recent history, and highlights key impulses already at play in our society or now percolating just beneath the surface.

The introductory essay, in particular, “The Next American Century,” by Andres Martinez, puts a surprisingly positive spin on our current national sense of society going to hell in a hand basket. It’s followed by thoughtful pieces on “Remapping the World” (bad borders and realistic means to minimize their ongoing detriment in light of current and future challenges), “Bandwidth Is the New Black Gold” (revealing how bandwidth issues will soon affect us all), “The Dropout Economy” (the future of work, education and social constructs in light of the growing libertarian impulse in America), as well as essays on U.S.-China relations, growing “white anxiety” in our increasingly diverse nation, and what it means to live in the “post-trust” era.

All worthwhile reads. Whether you go old school and pick up a copy at the newsstand or read them all online, spend 20 minutes with this Time.

Stocks, Gold or Mattress?

The info in this piece from the May 2009 issue of The Atlantic isn’t necessarily profound, though it does map out the current lay of the land investment-wise. However, it does so in a well-written and very entertaining manner. Writer Jeffrey Goldberg’s voice echoes around in my head like my own while I read this article.

Another article in the same issue – which I admit I only skimmed because I can only take so much of this depressing economic stuff – outlines how the financial industry effectively capture our government in recent years. It includes an intriguing chart (see below) depicting the escalation of the financial industry relative to the rest of the U.S. business world over the last few decades.