"economist" news and stories

Rapper and Def Jam Records CEO Jay-Z has announced a boycott of Cristal Champagne in response to an Economist article that used the phrase "unwelcome attention" when it referred to the bubbly's popularity in the rap community.  Although Jay-Z cited comments made by Louis Roederer Cristal's managing director Frederic Rouzaud as his reason for pulling Cristal from his 40/40 sports lounges, the "unwelcome attention" phrase was actually not a quote, but rather text from the article's author Gideon Rachman (or possibly an Economist editor). The AP quoted Jay-Z: "I view [Rouzaud's] comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various brands including the 40/40 Club nor in my personal life."  XXL's blog features some commentary, pointing back to the Economist article, and not Cristal's Rouzaud, who said that Cristal views the rap industry's embrace with "curiosity and serenity." An article on Pitchfork features a link to a short mix of various Jay-Z rhymes about Cristal. Amuse Bouche also chimes in, wondering when grower champagne will hit it big with the rap world.

This month's Economist features an article entitled "Ears of Plenty: The Story of Wheat." While it would be impossible for a magazine-length article to cover all the nuances of such a ubiquitous staple crop, this piece does well to cover some of the major factors and figures in the development of wheat. It begins with a short discussion of the current decline of wheat production, which the author later attributes to the grain's distaste for genetic modification(wheat is apparently much more complex than other staple grains like corn and rice). What follows are short descriptions of how wheat spread across the globe; how its demand for fertilizer sparked revolts and plunged guano into the spotlight; and asides on some of the major players in the wheat world. Although the article ends with some loosely-related digression on world hunger and population changes, it's still worth a read.