A Holiday That Shows the ‘Power of Chinese Consumption’
In just a few years, Nov. 11 has become the busiest online shopping day on Earth. It is known as Singles Day in China, an event in which online retailers offer massive promotions and shoppers happily gobble up the bait. Some have called it “a 24-hour orgy of consumption.” The informal holiday was started as a joke by a group of Chinese college kids in the 1990s, a kind of anti-Valentine’s Day to commiserate over breakfast about their...
Creating Community Through Creativity
When I was asked to write a piece on “the creative economy” here in the Upper Valley, I thought of how people living and working locally can sell their goods and services locally as a way to invigorate our local economic engine. Upon further reflection, it became apparent to me that the notion of a creative economy should be, almost by definition, a way to create a new economy, or economies, by being creative with the local talents...
