Puzzle

People are not black boxes; they can explain how they arrived at their conclusions. And, even when they arrive at the same conclusion, they can explain the different approaches they took.

     On the Teaching Channel (teachingchannel.org), kindergarten teacher Donella Oleston showed how she positioned two green squares, two yellow squares, and six white squares in different locations on two boards that each had ten squares. Then, she asked students to tell:
     1. What do you see?
     2. What is the same?
     3. What is different?
In that way, her students learned to explain their answers and to show each other there were different ways to think about a problem.

     I just came across a real life puzzle that older students could discuss in a similar manner.

     When two teams are playing for a championship, in anticipation that either team could win, manufacturers print T-shirts celebrating the victory of both teams. What happens to the T-shirts boasting about the victory of what was the losing team? Often they are bundled up with used clothing and sent to Africa. Now, African countries are trying to develop their own clothing industries which cannot compete with cheap imports. When I began listing the following factors involved in this situation, I realized it would give students a wonderful opportunity to explain what they noticed and what solutions they would suggest, in other words, experience with critical thinking.

Situation

1. For African countries to achieve greater economic growth, they need to diversify beyond producing raw materials (agricultural commodities and minerals for domestic use and export).

2. Both clothing manufacturers and seamstresses offer Africa an avenue for economic diversification into the production of higher-priced goods. Enabling women to provide revenue from sewing also enhances their value to the family and, in cases where men have died from disease and in war, sewing can keep children from dying from starvation.

3. Prices for African-produced clothing are too high to compete with unwanted, used, and Chinese clothing imports.

4. African countries, such as Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and South Sudan, plan to raise tariffs to make clothing imports more expensive than locally produced clothes.

5. Africans who sell clothing imports protest raising tariffs, because they would lose their livelihoods.

6. The United States, which now gives favorable terms to some African imports, is being urged to retaliate against Africa's higher tariffs on clothing imports by canceling these favorable trade terms.

The U.S. Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association of 40 used clothing exporters claim high African tariffs would put 40,000 sorters and packers out of work and send more clothes to U.S. landfills. Since the U.S. also uses favorable trade deals to pressure African countries to make democratic reforms, it would lose this leverage if African countries were more concerned about fostering local industry than exporting raw materials to the U.S.

7. African leaders see the dignity of their people undermined when their countries are used as a dumping ground, not only for clothing, but also for old cars, buses, airplanes, expired drugs, medical equipment, computers, and electronic equipment.

What solutions can students suggest?

Falling Commodity Prices Spur Diversification in Emerging Markets

Commodity exporting countries that have depended on the Chinese market have been hard hit by the slide in China's economy. Zambia, for example, relies on copper exports to China, which consumes 40% of the mineral's global output, for 70% of its foreign exchange earnings and 25 to 30% of its government revenue. Like Nigeria, which has depended on petroleum exports that are declining in value, Zambia sees a new need for economic diversification.

Check out countries heavily dependent on commodity exports:

• Bauxite: Indonesia, Jamaica, Brazil
• Chromite: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Albania
• Coal: Indonesia
• Cobalt: Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Copper: Chile, Kazakhstan, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Peru
• Iron Ore: Brazil
• Lithium: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia
• Manganese: South Africa, Gabon, Brazil, Ghana
• Molybenum: Romania, Chile
• Nickel: (Indonesia banned exports to China), New Caledonia, Madagascar
• Petroleum: Saudi Arabia, Algeria, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Nigeria
• Platinum: South Africa
• Tin: Indonesia, Myanmar
• Tungsten: Myanmar, Bolivia
• Uranium: South Africa, Namibia, Niger, Kazakhstan
• Vanadium: South Africa
• Zinc: Peru, like Australia, has cut production and jobs 

Can Small Farms End Poverty?

Before performers, men, women and young people gather, at the Global Citizen Festival in New York City's Central Park on September 26, for the purpose of ending extreme poverty, let's look at a few of the factors contributing to world hunger. Silo thinking, where everyone focuses on their own problems and solutions, is undermining the need to feed and employ people, provide export revenue from agriculture, and protect the environment.

     Small farms provide employment that prevents a country's rural population from flocking to urban areas that are not ready to provide sufficient jobs, sanitation, housing, transportation, and education. David Hoyle, deputy director of ProForest has pointed out how small farms would benefit from governments willing to engage in land-use planning. What governments need to do is designate specific areas where: 1) villagers can farm and live, 2) concessions are leased to large scale export producers of, for example, palm oil and timber, and 3) forested areas needed to sop up greenhouse gases are protected. Water use planning to prevent pollution and supply sufficient water for sanitation, cooking, and crops is also necessary.

     Without land-use planning, plantations governments are counting on to provide agricultural export revenue are in constant competition and conflict with local farmers. Moreover, plantation owners need government help to provide the housing and sanitation facilities, schools, and clinics that are a constant source of complaints by the laborers they employ.

     Countries have tried to coordinate local production and crop exports by providing villagers with fertilizer, seeds, technical assistance, and credit. In exchange, under contract state-owned enterprises buy, at fixed prices, what the farmers produce. As earlier posts for Nigeria, coffee, and cocoa reveal, this process has been financially unsuccessful to both governments and small growers. Modifications have led governments to provide farmers with vouchers they can use to buy their own supplies, and private companies or coops have taken over the task of buying commodities from farmers.

     Chemical companies in a position to perform research for the precision farming that provides seeds, fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides adapted to local soil and climate conditions in global areas of extreme poverty now concentrate their efforts on profitable corn, soybean, and cotton crops important to American agriculture, not, for example, cassava, which feeds the poor in sub-Saharan Africa.

     Instead of engineering crops to provide added vitamins and minerals to first world consumers, in areas of extreme poverty the same objective could be achieved by introducing small farmers to new crops they could plant and bring to their local markets. Not only would a greater variety of produce improve nutrition, but crop rotation could improve soils and increase a farmer's income. Farmers might save money by controlling weeds with mulch rather than chemicals, and they may even be able to make additional money by using weeds to weave baskets (see baskets for sale at serrv.org) or make bio-fuel.

(Farming topics also are covered in the earlier posts, "World (Food) Expo, Hybrid Crops & New Farming Practices" and "Back to the Land.")

Time to Revisit China's and the World's Foreign Currency Exchange Rates

Watching how a change in the amount one country's currency, such as a US dollar, can buy of another country's currency, such as Chinese yuan, illustrates globalization at work. Currency exchange rates certainly demonstrate how countries are interconnected.

     What brings this subject to mind (after it was addressed in the earlier post, "When to Buy/Sell in the World Market") is today's Chinese devaluation of its currency by about 2% against the US dollar. Based on information in the earlier post, kids who have an interest in finance might conclude China was attempting to reduce the price of its exports in order to compete with lower priced goods from other countries. China's imports of luxury goods and electronics from the US would cost more, and US tourists in China would get more for their money.

     In the past, China selected a midpoint currency conversion rate that fluctuated between 2% above or below the US dollar. As a result of China's first devaluation, the US dollar could buy 6.22 yuan compared to 6.11 the day before. The next day the value of the yuan dropped a little over 4%, but that is nothing like the 20% to 40% devaluation that would be needed to compete with much lower priced competitors like Vietnam or Burma. Although China did not want to risk losing investment capital that would exit a country whose currency has this kind of weak buying power, subsequent devaluations have caused capital to flee.

     The truth is, demand is weak within China, as shown by Alibaba's slowed quarterly growth. China's $50 billion canal project in Nicaragua has been put on hold until 2016. While no reason was given, the stock market dip has caused the fortune of Wang Jing, CEO of the HKND Group funding the canal, to fall from $10.2 billion to $1.1 billion. Yet, in December, 2015, President Xi Jinping announced China would be giving Africa emergency food and $60 billion in grants and loans.

     Weak demand throughout the world is hurting all exporters, including South Korea and Taiwan. Countries that depend on their commodity exports to China are especially hard hit as reported in the later post entry, "Falling Commodity Prices Spur Diversification in Emerging Markets." A 2% currency devaluation and even a 20% devaluation will not cure sluggish worldwide industrial and consumer demand.

   

   

   

   

   

An Example Helps Understand the World Economy

For dairy farmers in the United States, 2014 is an excellent year. Revenue from good prices for milk and milk products is up, and feed costs are down. Farmers can pay off debts and buy new equipment. Profits in 2015 are not expected to be as good. Why? Not because milk prices are expected to go down, and feed costs up, but because exports of cheese, whey, milk powder, and other dairy products are expected to decline.

     The U.S. dollar is strengthening in relation to foreign currencies. You  can check the value of the dollar against the Japanese yen, Russian ruble, and other foreign money at finance.yahoo.com/currency. On October 31, 2014, for example, one U.S. dollar only bought 109.21
Japanese yen or 41.01 Russian rubles. Today, a dollar can purchase 118.32 Japanese yen or 44.97 Russian rubles.

     How does the greater purchasing power of the dollar affect U.S. exports? People in foreign countries need to buy U.S. dollars before they can buy U.S. goods, such as cheese and whey. When their money can buy less expensive foreign currencies, they will buy less expensive products from U.S. competitors, and U.S. dairy product and other exports will decline.

     On the other hand, if a U.S. farm family always wanted to visit a foreign country, 2015 might be a good time to plan a trip. It could take fewer U.S. dollars to pay for foreign hotel rooms, food, and souvenirs, if foreign currencies are weaker in relation to U.S. dollars. (Learn more about foreign currencies at the earlier blog post, "When to Buy/Sell in the World Market.")

   

Dairy Cows on the Moove

From the newly opened "Millions of Milkshakes" in Bahrain to everyone's need for bone-building calcium, there is worldwide consumption of milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, skim milk powder, and whey products from dairy cows. Once prosperity led to better nutrition options in India, for example, current production of milk, formerly a scarce commodity, reached 132 million tons, compared to 22 million in 1970, according to TIME magazine (November 18, 2013). Members of dairy cooperatives, many with only one or two cows, have now made India the world's largest milk producer and a dairy exporter.

      Young 4H members, dairy farmers, and international dairy cow shippers, such as Dens Ocean Livestock Express (livestock@densocean.be) and the ones used by T.K.Exports (livestockgeneticsbytke.com), have a prosperous future. The U.S. has become the world's largest cheese exporter. And with more women working the decline in breastfeeding has led to a boom in baby milk powder sales. West Coast dairy processors in the U.S., as well as a companies, such as Mengniu in China, are taking advantage of this increased demand in China and other Asian countries. There also is a growing world market for whey-based ingredients used in infant formula and human and animal nutritional supplements that is offering new opportunities for dairy products.

     Just outside Harbin in Shuangcheng (northeast China), Nestle has invested in a $400 million Dairy Farming Institute. The aim is to train about 700 students annually to become the dairy farmers, managers, and agribusiness suppliers who will meet China's growing demand for milk in a sustainable manner. In the past, China's dairy industry, which had reported sales of $28 billion in 2014, has had tainted milk problems from poor sanitation and deaths from infant formula.

      In the United States, dairy farmers have an outstanding research facility at the University of Wisconsin's Babcock Center for Dairy Research, named for Dr. S.M. Babcock. The Center is  the largest dairy research institution in the United States. Along with studying how to increase milk production,  students learn how to be business competitors, not only with dairy farmers in Wisconsin, California, New York, Arizona, and Texas, but also in the world market. Since the Center has an outreach program, it provides technical support and information about findings that help dairies, suppliers, government regulatory agencies, and domestic and international dairy organizations.

     Profitability, in the dairy farming business, relies on forecasting demand and careful record keeping and analysis of the cost of the feed cows need to maintain their size and health and to produce milk before excess feed just becomes manure. New Zealand's dairy giant, Fonterra, for example, reported that although more milk was processed into milk powder which has a higher return, rising input costs caused a 53% six-month drop in net profits. The desire to control all aspects of raw material to final product, there is some cross-country vertical integration in the dairy industry. For example, the Chinese company, Pengxin, has acquired both dairy farms in New Zealand and corn farms in Bolivia. China's state-owned Bright Food Group also has controlling interests in dairy producers in New Zealand and in Israel's Tnuva.

    Wisconsin's Dept. of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection distributes $200,000 in annual grants to farmers to finance studies of dairy feed, housing, and other factors that improve milk production. By calling 855-943-2479, dairy farmers and processors can find out about resources and technical assistance available from the State of Wisconsin. Currently, the State also is offering a $50,000 "Grow Wisconsin Dairy Processor Grant" to a licensed Wisconsin dairy processing plant that writes a proposal that would benefit the industry. The application form, due by February 21, 2014, is available at GrowWisconsinDairy.wi.gov.

      In recognition of Dr. Babcock's contribution to the milk industry, he received awards from dairymen in New Zealand and the Wisconsin legislature. In the future, an award may be given to someone who solves the problem of reducing the climate changing greenhouse methane gas released by cow flatulence. Considering a cow, by chewing its cud, expels 4.42 pounds of carbon dioxide for every gallon of milk it produces, methane is a serious concern. Phosphorus runoff from the cow manure that pollutes lake and other water sources also becomes a major problem when the number of big storms increases. But there also are uses for cow poop, check out the 251 facts in Dawn Cusick's kid's book, Get the Scoop on Animal Poop.

     The Financial Times (April 9, 2014) reported that the major impact of methane on global warming has motivated companies and research institutions, such as the following, to study ways to reduce methane emissions from cows:
     - The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy in Illinois
     - C-Lock Company in South Dakota
     - The National Institute of Agricultural Technology in Argentina
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is funding a $10 million, 5-year study to determine how the dairy industry can reduce greenhouse gas from methane 25% by 2020.Promising ideas about how to reduce cow-produced methane include: anti-methane grains and dietary supplements laced with basil or garlic, an improved digestive system for cows, scanners that monitor the gas content of cow burps, a strap-on-backpack connected to tubes that collect methane gas from cow stomachs, and a reduction in the world's cattle herd (In the U.S. there are 88 million cattle). To date, these ideas are too expensive to be practical. The Resources Defense Council did mention that methane from cows could power cars and refrigerators, if it could be harnessed.

     Methane is not the only cow-related problem. Phosphorus runoff from manure is a major contributor to water pollution, since it causes the growth of harmful blue-green algae. Limited phosphorus reduction is now achieved by digesters that use an anaerobic process to separate liquids from solids and then capture and burn off methane gas to generate electricity. Another machine that relies on a nutrient concentration system is also being used to remove excess phosphorus. Thus far, however, most raw manure remains untreated.

     It is interesting to note, according to Laurie Winn Carlson, in her book, Cattle: An Informal Social History, that Dr. Babcock never took out a patent on the machine he developed to measure the fat content of milk, because he believed it should be available to all. His invention prevented milk diluted by water to be sold for full price and enabled cows to be ranked not only by the quantity of milk they produced but also by the fat content of their milk. A cow that produces milk with a high fat content is doubly valuable because her eggs can be harvested and sold for artificial insemination. Cattle of the World by John Friend describes the process of harvesting fertilized eggs from dairy cows and freezing semen from bulls known to produce outstanding calves. In the frozen form, semen from desirable bulls can be exported to improve and/or provide cross-breeding with dairy cattle herds anywhere in the world.

     The variety of dairy cow characteristics John Pukite mentions in his book, A Field Guide to Cows: How to Identify and Appreciate America's 52 Breeds, suggests reasons why farmers import specific dairy breeds out of the world's approximately 920 different cow breeds. The Holstein-Friesian dairy cow, found in at least 125 countries, produces the largest amount of milk, but she feeds on a concentrated diet of grain/corn, lives in an environmentally controlled barn, and needs regular veterinary care. In contrast, quite a few dairy breeds, such as the Canadienne, Galloway, Jersey, and Brown Swiss, graze in pastures out-of-doors. The Brown Swiss, like the Jersey, Guernsey, Pinzgauer, and Ayrshire, produces milk with a high butterfat content and also is second only to the Holstein in terms of milk yield. Multipurpose breeds, such as the Maine-Anjou, MeuseRhineYssel, and Normande, are bred for both milk and beef throughout the world. The hides of the Galloway and Pinzgauer also are known for their good quality leather. All dairy cows are usually easy to handle. Some, like the Salers and Simmental, have good mothering instincts. The South Devon, Red Poll, and a few other breeds have long lifespans.

     Whereas, the ships that carried beef cattle across the Atlantic Ocean to England in the 1880s were overcrowded and filthy, health protocols now cover the ventilation, watering, feeding, and manure handling conditions of live animals when they are in transit by ship. Cargo planes also are specially fitted to ensure the safe, humane transit of livestock. At livestockexporters-usa.com,
the online newsletters of the Livestock Exporters Association (LEA) provide dairy cattle exporters with information about policies of the U.S.Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regarding, among other information, the health certifications of livestock exports and insurance underwriting guidelines for ocean transit of animals, as well as information about new markets, such as Jordan and Iraq.

     Dairy cows are not just traded among agriculturally developed countries. Through the not-for-profit Heifer International organization, children, scout troops, schools, and parents can donate cows to impoverished families around the world. Just go to the heifer.org website to contribute the $500 it takes to donate a cow, or $50 for a share of a heifer, and see some of the happy recipients who have learned to care for their gifts. Since families who receive a cow from Heifer International agree to pass on the first calf offspring to another needy family, each donation is a part of an endless chain devoted to eliminating world hunger and poverty. In Kenya, Heifer International also holds a 40 percent share in a plant that cools and processes milk and seeks new markets for the 6000 households that gain a secure monthly income by bringing their milk to the plant.

The World of Fashion

The World of Fashion

When designer Marc Jacobs, creative director of Louis Vuitton, was asked what fashion is, he said it was part of the art of living, just like books and good food. It is more. Contrary to those who consider fashion the trivial interest of people like the Kardashians, children who spend their free time making doll clothes might need to understand advanced technology. After all, New York's 2013 Toy Fair introduced Barbie wearing a "Digital Dress" that had a lighted touchscreen to let youngsters change designs. (This Barbie is now available for holiday giving in 2013.) In any case, sewing doll clothes can prepare children to make a number of significant contributions to their countries and the world. Anna Wintour, editor of U.S. Vogue, even was mentioned as a possible next U.S. ambassador to the U.K. or France.

     In England during World War II, the availability of new clothing was considered essential to maintaining civilian morale. While incendiary bombs and V-1 rockets were destroying the House of Commons, homes, and water mains, the Board of Trade authorized the use of scarce material for easy-to-mass-produce stylish clothing. Next summer, as part of the celebration commemorating the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, British fashion designers who dress the Royal Family have been invited to present a style show in the garden at Buckingham Palace.

    Museums note the importance of fashion by mounting exhibits devoted to textiles and clothing. The current "Interwoven Globe" exhibit that runs through January 5, 2014 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City features fabrics and garments that influenced cultures around the world when they were traded from 1500 to 1800. A catalogue for this exhibition is available from store.metmuseum.org. During the U.S. African American History Month in February, 2013, exhibits devoted to the meaning and designs of the kente cloth woven by the Asante and Ewe peoples of Ghana, Africa, were on display in Washington, D.C. at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of African Art and at its Arts & Industries Building.

     In her book, All We Know, Lisa Cohen, through the eyes of Madge Garland, former editor of British Vogue, tells how English designers were urged to raise funds for the war effort and to pay off debt after World War II by creating couture collections for export to North and South America. Familiarity with the names Dior and Chanel and Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Gucci, Pucci, Prada, Versace, and Missoni indicate France and Italy also recognize the importance of fashion exports. Not satisfied to export its fashions to foreign outlets, Japanese-based Uniqlo (unique clothing) opened its own stores to sell its private label brand thoughout Asia and in the U.S. and France. In 2015, Uniqlo also partnered with Muslim fashion blogger, Hana Tajima, to market a "modest wear collection" of headscarves and dresses.

     The U.S. promotes its couture for domestic and international consumption at New York Fashion Weeks, such as the one from Feb. 6 to Feb. 14, 2013 this year. According to trendwatching.com, new countries are entering the global haute couture market as well. These include China's Zhang Zhifeng's NE-TIGER brand, Masaba Gupta's animal print saris from India, and the Brazilian-California fusion styles of the Osklen fashion house. Trendwatching.com also reports Brazil exports its Amazonas Sandals, made from 80% recycled material and raw material from native rubber trees, to China.

     Brazil's sandals are just one indication that fashion has developed a social conscience. Although some designers still work with real fur, once People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) raised awareness of how animals are raised and the way their pelts are collected, other designers stopped using fur or switched to faux fur. The problem is few people are aware that coats that include less than $150 worth of real animal fur can be labeled faux fir. That means a so-called faux fur garment may include the skins of 30 rabbits, 3 raccoons, 3 red foxes, 3 dogs, or a bear. German sculptor, Iris Schieferstein, draws attention to the way people use and abuse animals by incorporating animal parts from animals that have died of natural causes into her shoe, hat, and umbrella designs. You might see Lady Gaga wearing Schieferstein's hoof shoes made from hoofs reclaimed from a butcher shop.

     Designers in the small island of Sri Lanka, who exhibited at the International Fashion Showcase during London's Fashion Week (February, 2013), are determined to make their country a regional center of sustainable fashion. They foster the use of fabric waste, green manufacturing processes, and the incorporation of handmade traditional crafts in their designs.

     Kids for Kids (kidsforkidsfashion.com) sells T-shirts printed with artwork created by orphans and underprivileged children in lesser developed countries and then donates 10% of sale revenue to the organizations that support these little artists. Brazil's Vitoria soccer club changed its usual black and red striped uniforms to black and white to support a blood drive. The website, trendwatching.com, reported the shirts will gradually return to all red and black during the 2012/2013 soccer season, when red replaces white to show blood donation targets are being met.

     Organizations, such as the International Labour Organization and Conservation International,  are now working to guarantee "economically marginalized" artisans a fair price, to eliminate child labor, and to protect the environment. WFTOMarket.com, a website of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), lists items available to wholesalers from worldwide sources that pay fair prices and operate under safe and healthy working conditions. In North America, the Fair Trade Federation is an association of members that subscribe to WFTO objectives. Before they buy scarves and jewelry, for example, young and older shoppers can look for the WFTO and Fair Trade Federation symbols on catalogs from organizations, such as SERRV International (serrv.org).

     The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) is just beginning to get clothing companies, such as Gap, Adidas, Nike, Target, North Face, and Timberland, interested in: reducing the billions of pounds of apparel that end up in landfills, finding substitutes for the pesticides that run off into and contaminate water supplies, eliminating the use of  harmful chemicals (coffee grounds can be used as dyes), cutting water consumed in production (cotton is a water intensive crop;1,600 gallons of water can be used to produce a single pair of jeans), and decreasing the energy used to manufacture and transport clothing. Eventually, SAC's Higg Index, higher for the most eco-friendly goods, could appear on clothing hang tags and be approved by the U.S. government.

     Livia Firth, the wife of actor Colin Firth, issued a "Green Carpet Challenge" to the top fashion designers who dress celebrity clients. Working under humane conditions, she asked what haute couture styles they could produce from things like upcycled plastic, discarded ostrich feathers, and fabric remnants. Firth herself has been seen wearing a rubber cuff bracelet made from an old tire and a patchwork jacket made from recycled tweed. Rising to Firth's "Green Carpet Challenge" at the Academy Awards on February 24, 2013, Vivienne Westwood and Michael Badger, the Ghanaian student she mentors, dressed "Skyfall" actress, Naomi Harris, is a gown that incorporated chocolate candy wrappers and reclaimed beads and zippers in its design. Dye from non-chemical goldenrod and chamomile gave the gown its mustard yellow color.

    As Barbie's "Digital Dress" suggests, technology students are finding applications for their skills in the fashion industry. Some work with nanoparticles no bigger than a billionth of a meter to give fabrics stain proof properties. Others have come up with quick-drying textiles, thin insulation for coats and gloves, cool material that stretches vertically and diagonally, and fabrics that shun perspiration. On another front, in the future we are likely to see more garments designed and made of materials created by the 3D printing process.

     One way to keep up with the latest developments in the fashion world is to check into fashionobserved.braveblog.com from time to time. More up-to-date information on sustainable/ethical clothes is available at ecouterre.com. Lately, ecouterre is reporting that marine litter, such as used fishing nets, is being recycled as socks and swimwear. After the collapse of the Bangladesh clothing factory that killed up to 900 workers, ecouterre reminded consumers to continue to patronize the country's ethical fashion companies, such as People Tree, Tulsi Crafts, Bachhara, Bhalo, and KAARU.

     Like a corset in the jazz age, clothes can be out of fashion, if they fail to reflect not only current tastes, but also economic and political conditions. Every since Pope Francis was elected, news coverage about him has noted how he expresses humility and concern for the poor by wearing an iron cross instead of a gold one and how he has dispensed with ermine-trimmed capelets and caps. Similarily, foreign policy experts might gain some useful clues by observing countries where women stop wearing head scarves and military leaders switch to business suits.