Periscope: The Dutch Have Become More Conservative. Is Europe Next?
Email To A Friend
Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.
By the Numbers
Emerging markets offer enticing opportunities for companies—and criminals too. A new survey of 5,428 companies in 40 countries suggests just how widespread the problem is.
2.4: Average amount, in millions of dollars, that the surveyed companies lost to fraud in the past two years
5.1: Average amount companies lost to fraud in the seven biggest emerging markets during that time
0.8: Average loss, in millions, due to asset theft reported by companies that responded to the survey
2.9: Average loss, in millions, due to asset theft for companies doing business in emerging markets
For A Home Away From The Big House
What kind of house does a man who has spent 34 years in solitary confinement in a two-meter-by-three-meter cell at a Louisiana prison dream of? That's what American artist Jackie Sumell asked imprisoned Black Panther and convicted murderer Herman Wallace. Three hundred letters, 20 prison visits and five years later, Wallace is still in jail and his house is still unbuilt, but an exhibit of Sumell's plan for it has been touring Europe since 2006 and is now on view in New York. As much about politics as design, the show draws attention to what Summell claims is the injustice of Wallace's conviction and the enduring racism of U.S. criminal law. Amnesty International describes Wallace's current home as "cruel, inhuman and degrading," but he retains a unique vision of the good life. Shag carpeting and mahogany furniture evoke the 1970s, the last time he was free to pick his own décor. He also has a unique approach to fire safety. Wood construction, Wallace notes in the exhibit, is a must "to set it a fire to give me a chance to make a clean escape upon attack." Though Sumell is raising money to build the house in Wallace's hometown of New Orleans, he won't be moving in any time soon. A request to reopen his case—on the ground that a prison warden bribed a fellow inmate to testify against him—has been denied by a Louisiana court.
—Zvika Krieger
Discuss