Pi-Consulting

The same phrase can have diametrically opposite meanings, depending on where you are standing. Take the simple expression “That’s history”. To an American, the words mean that whatever “that” is, it is no longer relevant or worth thinking or talking about. To many Europeans, it means “that” is a highly relevant fact that probably predisposed what is happening today, and should therefore be studied in detail by historians, politicians and the general public. Pi hereby reminds itself to one day compile a catalog of the myriad cultural differences that keep the Old World and the New World in a permanent state of mutual puzzlement. Sources: The Economist, Pi.

UK census figures from thirty years ago show that, back then, only half of British mothers with dependent children were in the workforce. That figure has now grown to two-thirds, making “working mother syndrome” the norm, no longer the exception. 55% are working while bringing up children under five, up from 25% in their mothers’ day. Given the wholesale need for day-care in order to keep this many mums in the workforce, government has had to step in in a big way, giving new meaning to the phrase “Nanny State”. Further out, look for shifts towards more part-time work and “flexi-jobs”, with the menfolk filling in more at times when their partners rally have to be away at work. Sources, The Sunday Times, Pi.

Since 1975, house prices in the UK have risen twice as fast as homes in France, Germany, Japan and he USA. Britons have gone for home-ownership with the same zeal that Americans have brought to the buying of stocks and shares. The rising value of bricks and mortar has fueled a British epidemic of borrowing and self-indulgence. The casualties are first-time purchasers. Young couples (and increasingly young singles) find it well-nigh impossible to get their feet on the first rung of the property-ownership ladder. As a result, they are turning to their parents. Britain’s Council of Mortgage Lenders now say that over 40% of first-time buyers are depending on financial help from their mothers and fathers. When the family can’t – or won’t –help out, the kids simply get left behind. Skinflint parents are now being called “SKINS”, for “Spending the Kids’ Inheritance”. Source: The Economist, Pi.

A new generation of Americans is growing up on computers, and the race is on to be little kids’ online “destination of choice”. Now nine-year-olds can dress up dolls in cyberspace, picking out their clothes, hairstyles and accessories online. If you don’t like the dolls at Cartoon Doll Emporium, you could always click over to Cyworld, Habbo Hotel, Webkinz or WeeWorld. Even mighty Mattel is getting in on the act, with BarbieGirls.com. Sites enjoying 3 or 4 million visits a month are re-thinking their free access policies, and adding ‘premium services’ for $5 to $8 monthly. At Webkinz, buying a toy at the toy store allows children to enter a secret code from the sales tag at webkinz.com. This activates a ‘virtual replica’ of the toy, which the owner can then control at the click of a mouse, walking the cybertoy through virtual environments, building it a house, and so on. Kids “want a say in the script”, say industry observers. Most site visitors are female, with many ranging in age up to 16 and older. Seems there’s often a little girl hiding behind the most sophisticated teenage exterior. Sources: New York Times, Pi.

Whoever said the French are shoulder-shrugging cynics who dismiss new developments with a non-committal murmur of “Bof!” (French for “Who cares?”)? If they really were that world-weary and cynical, they wouldn’t bother to vote, right? We should therefore ponder the fact that the recent French general election, (which picked right-of-center Nicolas Sarkozy over left-of-center Segolene Royal), logged an astonishing 84% voter turnout. Britain and America barely scrape past the 60% level when it comes to turning out the vote. Given that this was the first time a female candidate had made the second-round run-off poll, it was interesting that Mr. Sarkozy not only scored 53% of the vote overall, but 52% of the female vote. So much for “women rallying behind one of their own”. Hillary-fanciers for the US 2008 election, please note. And Happy Bastille Day to all our French and French Canadian readers. Source: The Economist, Pi.