Odds and Ends: Stuff I'm Following
"May you live in interesting times" is a well-known English phrase of undetermined origin . Probably every lifetime is filled with interesting times. At any rate, 2011 is certainly no exception. Here are a few loose ends of things I continue to follow (in no particular order, for the most part)... Cyber Monday was indicative of the good holiday season for retailers , possibly indicating a stronger US economic recovery even as Europe teeters toward recession . It was not a positive season, however, for the former retail giant Sears, which plans to close over 100 stores next year . The Chinese, with typical Maoist zeal, see the "excess" of the US to be its inevitable downfall . Whether that is true or not, 2011 was one crazy year economically. Just look at these numbers . As the "lost decades" begin to stack up, ever-growing pressure is placed on the viability of democracy itself . Nevertheless, initial jobless claims are at a 44-month low . That certainly