Learning English from Cartoons: Everybody Out!

This cartoon by Schrank from The Independent on Sunday relates to next Wednesday's public sector strike in the UK.

COMMENTARY

The ship going over a waterfall is a metaphor for the British economy, which is currently facing another recession. The group of people at the prow of the boat is striking public sector workers. One of them shouts, 'Everybody out!’ which is the traditional rallying cry for workers to 'down tools' and come out on strike (see below). There is, however, a play on words, as 'Everyone out!' could also be construed as a call for everyone to get out of the boat. Whichever way you look at it everyone is doomed!

ORIGIN

During the 1970s in the UK this phrase ('Everybody out!') was synonymous with militant union activity. It was used when workers were called out on strike, although more often in drama and literature than in reality. The work that made the phrase known was the 1960s BBC sit-com 'The Rag Trade', where it became a catchphrase. The show was set in a clothing factory and virtually every episode included the shop-steward Paddy (Miriam Karlin) blowing a whistle and shouting "Everybody out!" [source: The Phrase Finder].

Source: http://www.englishblog.com/2011/11/cartoon-everybody-out.html

Cartoon: Trickle-Down Economics

VOCABULARY

When a liquid trickles, it flows very slowly in very small amounts.

THE THEORY

"Trickle-down economics" and "the trickle-down theory" are terms used in United States politics to refer to the idea that tax breaks or other economic benefits provided by government to businesses and the wealthy will benefit poorer members of society by improving the economy as a whole. The term has been attributed to humorist Will Rogers, who said during the Great Depression that "money was all appropriated for the top in hopes that it would trickle down to the needy". Proponents of these policies claim that if the top income earners are taxed less that they will invest more into the business infrastructure and equity markets, it will in turn lead to more goods at lower prices, and create more jobs for middle and lower class individuals. Proponents argue that economic growth flows down from the top to the bottom, indirectly benefiting those who do not directly benefit from the policy changes. However, others have argued that "trickle-down" policies generally do not work, and that the trickle-down effect may be very slim, if indeed it even exists at all. (Source:  Wikipedia)

THE CARTOON

Clay Bennett's cartoon from the Chattanooga Times Free Press offers a literal/metaphorical representation of "trickle-down economics"—with a twist. The champagne trickling down from the top of the champagne fountain represents money (note the dollar sign on the bottle). But it stops at the second tier from the top, not reaching the poorer people at the bottom of the stack. The cartoonist is clearly sceptical about the benefits of trickle-down theory, suggesting that wealth remains concentrated in the hands (glasses) of the rich at the top.

THE AMERICAN CONTEXT

In the US, trickle-down theory tends to be associated with the  Republican Party, who are opposed to President Obama's plans to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for his jobs bill. 

SOURCE: theenglishblog.

Cartoons: Occupy Wall Street

The Cagle Post has a good collection of cartoons about the  Occupy Wall Street movement. This one is by Mike Luckovich from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

COMMENTARY
The 'joke' is that the protestors have no homes to go home to as they have all been foreclosed, i.e., repossessed by the lender because the owner can't repay the mortgage loan. Not all the cartoons are sympathetic to the protestors—see here, here, here, and here, for example.

LANGUAGE
Sheesh is an exclamation used in American English to express disbelief or exasperation.

Cartoon: World Economy.

This cartoon by Schrank from The Independent on Sunday is inspired by Castle in the Pyrenees, a painting by Belgian surrealist artist  René Magritte.

World leaders (from left to right, Silvio Berlusconi, Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy, David Cameron, and Barack Obama) are shown enjoying themselves on a beach. Meanwhile, a giant rock labeled 'World Economy' hovers in the sky over the sea.

COMMENTARY

It's not immediately clear what the connection is between the world economy and Magritte's painting. It looks like the rock is crumbling at the base, where we can see Spain, Italy and Greece in silhouette. The skyscrapers on top of the rock clearly represent the USA. Is the cartoonist saying that the economic crisis in Europe is undermining the US economy?

[CNN WORLD] Is Brazil's economy in danger of overheating?

 Is Brazil's economy in danger of overheating?

Here in America, we've had some rare good news this week. Our Women's Soccer Team has been making us proud at the World Cup in Germany, but, of course, they don't call it soccer over there. It's football. And the football that makes the most news is Men's Club Football.

Every summer, soccer fans around the world are fixated on their favorite players. These guys are traded from team to tame, like tech stocks, for many, many millions.

Among the players likely to make a move is Carlos Tevez. He's an Argentinean who left home to play in England's lucrative Premier League. Tevez is one of the world's most lethal goal scorers, and he has a salary to match. Manchester City pays him $21 million a year, about what Derek Jeter makes. And that's just salary. Add to it his multimillion-dollar endorsements.

You'll be surprised to know who's trying to buy Tevez. Not sheiks or oligarchs, but a small club from Sao Paulo, Brazil – Corinthians. They're offering $55 million to buy this soccer superstar. And that's just the transfer fee.

Now, Tevez may or may not be sold, but it's a huge statement of intent, and it's yet another sign of a rising, powerful Brazil, not just in soccer, but in many fields. For a decade now Brazil has been a Latin American success story, a record 7.5 percent growth last year, 33 million people lifted out of poverty in eight years, household incomes growing consistently faster than GDP and more.

These are great statistics, and they're often attributed to one man – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva led Brazil for eight successful years. President Obama once described him as "the man."

His Bolsa Familia welfare scheme brought prosperity to millions of Brazilians, a heady alchemy of subsidized housing, generous pay rises, easy access to credit, has made Brazil's favelas a more prosperous place. You could even say it's put an extra zing in the samba moves at Rio's Carnival. But the party might be soon over. Rising agriculture and a surge in commodity prices over the last decade have fueled Brazil's boom, but they've taken the pressure off the government to do structural reforms. Economists worry that Brazil's growth has turned into a bubble and it is about to burst.

That's a worrying problem, not just for a country of 200 million, but for the entire continent that looks to Brazil as a model for growth. In the past few weeks, the Brazilian real, its currency, has hit a 12-year high against the dollar, a surge of nearly 50 percent in two years. That might sound good, but it's actually making Brazilian exports much less competitive. Interest rates in Brazil have now crossed 12 percent, so borrowing costs are very high.

Brazil's new president, Dilma Roussef, is the country's first female leader and she will need to make tough decisions. Brazil's savings rate is just 17 percent of GDP. Now, that's what developed markets average. But developing countries usually have much higher savings rate, around 30 percent. China, for example, is closer to 50 percent.

And then there's the issue of what to do with your money. China plows more than 50 percent of its GDP into infrastructure. For Brazil, that figure is just two percent. For a developing country that number needs to go up.

So keep an eye on Brazil. It will be the center of the world's attention in three years when the Men's Soccer World Cup arrives at that sport's spiritual home in Brazil. And then once again, when a real carnival has been planned for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, let's just hope the party is still going strong at that point.

Source: http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/18/is-brazils-economy-in-danger-of-overheating/?iref=allsearch