Oh my, oh Mao... a bourgeois revolution in China?

Leader: Property rights in China | China's next revolution | Economist.com

Full article: Governing China | Caught between right and left, town and country | Economist.com

Interesting article about the emerging development of property rights in China. The question is, whose rights will the new laws protect? The peasants in the countryside who have farmed their land for generations but technically still "lease" it from the communist party? Or the middle class elite who have "looted the state as it has privatized assets". The article suggests two possible revolutions on the horizon, one decidedly anti-Maoist: the one led by the "property-owning middle class" that new property right laws will help, and the other the backlash of the frustrated peasant class in the countryside who may be left behind by the proposed laws.

"Clearer, enforceable property rights are essential if China's fantastic 30-year boom is to continue and if the tensions it has generated are to be managed without widespread violence."

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Hip Hop Economics

YouTube - Def Poet Tommy Bottoms

Is AP or IB Econ getting you down? McConnell and Brue just doesn't do it for you? How about some hip hop economics. Check out the YouTube video linked above and post your comments below. Here's some of the lyrics from this enlightening take on the dismal science.

“Basic Economics,” by Tommy Bottoms

"...See America is designed for the get rich. There’s a million and one ways for you to get paid off of this bitch. And most of them’s legit. Just find a market you want to target, produce a service and/or product and your revenue minus your expenses is going to equal your profit. See, it’s just basic economics. As long as you have the haves, you’ll always have the have nots, so it’s up to you to decide whether or not you’re happy with what you got...

Now, I know I spit this poem with a whole lot of Ebonics, but it don’t matter who say it or how it’s been said, it’s still just basic economics."

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