Archive
Reuters blog archive
from Tales from the Trail:
Election shines light on long path to post-racial America
So much for post-racial.
Supporters watch as U.S. President Barack Obama celebrates his re-election during his election night rally in Chicago, Nov. 7, 2012. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
When President Barack Obama won his historic bid for the U.S. presidency in 2008 as the nation's first black president, there was a lot of talk about a new era for America.
But his re-election on Tuesday showed that in U.S. politics, race has far from become a back-burner issue.
The Democratic victory driven by strong support from Latinos, blacks and Asians leaves many re-examining the impact of minority voters not only on future elections but on policies ranging from immigration to education.
from Unstructured Finance:
Diversity on Wall Street, or a lack thereof
By Matthew Goldstein
The shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen in Florida, has evoked a lot of debate about race in America and the nation’s attitudes to what it means to be a minority.
There’s been a good deal written that major media organizations were slow to react to this tragic story, in part because there simply aren’t enough minority voices on staff. This point was highlighted recently in a story in The New York Times
from MacroScope:
America’s poverty trap tightens its grip
U.S. poverty is becoming increasingly concentrated both geographically and racially, according to a new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. The authors find that while the poverty rate has moved up and down in a relatively narrow range over the last 40 years, mostly mirroring the ups and downs of the economy, that a deeper look at the data reveals some disturbing trends.
The data we have examined indicate that the share of Americans living in high-poverty neighborhoods increased between 1970 and 2000. And we have found that an individual’s poverty status or race is highly predictive of the neighborhood poverty rate they will experience.
from Tales from the Trail:
Pawlenty defends blandness with race card joke
The race card? No, Governor, he just means you're boring.
Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor running for the Republican nomination to unseat Democrat Barack Obama, the country's first black president, brought up race on Sunday when asked if he was too boring to win.
"The knock on you is .. that you're too nice, too bland, and Republicans want somebody who can take the fight to Barack Obama," "Fox News Sunday" interviewer Chris Wallace said.
from Photographers Blog:
Dreaming of the Dakar Rally
Since the creation of The Paris-Dakar Rally in 1979, I'd always dreamed of one day covering this extraordinary adventure.
Each year, I would follow the televised summaries of this rally race that traversed exceptional landscapes. So when I was asked to cover this event I didn't have to think on it for long! It was with a feeling of excitement and trepidation that I embarked on this adventure.
from Photographers Blog:
Sydney to Hobart: A “Wild Thing” experience
Every year on Boxing Day, the peaceful waters of the Sydney harbour become rough and wild with nearly 100 yachts making their way to Hobart - a race that I've covered 3 times now.
Photographers are assigned to media boats to get close to the main yachts. Very often you get so close to the massive super-maxi yachts that you feel like crashing every now and then. Despite this feeling, and my severe motion sickness, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race is an event I enjoy covering.
from Felix Salmon:
Downward mobility datapoint of the day
If you're white, and you were raised in the bottom 60% of the income distribution, you have a 22% chance of being in the bottom 20% as an adult.
If you're black, and you were raised in the bottom 60% of the income distribution, you have a 49% chance of being in the bottom 20% as an adult.
from Felix Salmon:
How the subprime crisis hit blacks hardest
America's minorities, it seems, can't catch a break when it comes to housing. Before the subprime boom, they were much less likely than their white counterparts to be able to get a mortgage. Then, when the subprime boom started, they were much more likely to be sold a predatory mortgage.
A new study by Douglas Massey and Jacob Rugh of Princeton does a great job of quantifying this effect and nailing it down. My colleague Nick Carey has a story about it, but you should read the study yourself: I've uploaded it here and embedded it below.
from Andrew Marshall:
Malaysian reforms: will rhetoric become reality?
David Chance, the Reuters bureau chief in Kuala Lumpur, has written a new analysis on the prospects for genuine economic reform in Malaysia. He is not optimistic. You can read the full analysis below:
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Malaysia's plans to revitalise investment by backing national champions and ending race-based policies may sound ambitious, but the details are hazy and real economic reform will face formidable obstacles.
from Global News Journal:
German banker bows out after stirring race, religion debate
A German central banker, Thilo Sarrazin, whose outspoken comments on race and religion sparked a fierce national debate unexpectedly quit the Bundesbank board on Thursday evening, sparing Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Christian Wulff and Bundesbank President Axel Weber a messy legal and political battle.
But Sarrazin, 65, made it clear that he will not go away and plans to use his new-found fame to press forward with the issues tackled in his best-selling book: that Muslims are undermining German society and threatening to change its character and culture with their higher birth rate. Whether Germans like his views or not, there is no denying that Sarrazin has struck a chord.
