Daily Reads-57 (Level-2)

Reading Suggestion-1

Article Name: Another Lesson from Japan
Author Name: Stephen S. Roach
Source: Project Syndicate
Category: Economics

Summary for this article:

The article says, the Japan’s Consumer Price Index is heading down; through Aprilits core CPI basically flat relative to its year-earlier level. USA also witnessed a similar situation with its the core CPI that excludes food and energy sliding down just when the expectation was it going up. But for the deflation-prone Japan, the story is much more hard and difficult.

Japan’s past economy blunders had shown the world what exactly should not be done. It was a lesson for all the other nations; yet the nations failed to heed to such lessons.

The inflation surprise of 2017 offers key insights. First, the relationship between inflation and economic slack has broken down. Second, today’s globalisation is inherently asymmetric. Third, central banks are all but powerless to cope with the moving target of what can be called a non-stationary liquidity trap.

The author concludes by saying that there is much to be learnt by carefully examining and analysing the lessons of Japan

Words to learn from this article:

Arsenal: A collection or storage of arms and military equipment
Head: To pay close attention to something
Anaemic: Tired, weak; colourless
Chronic: An illness or a disease persisting for a long time
Slack: Not held tight in position; loose

Reading Suggestion-1: Click to read full article

Reading Suggestion-2

Article Name:Dissolving the ego
Author name:Jules Evans
Source: Aeon
Category: Sociology

Summary for this article:

The dictionary meaning for ecstasy is: a) a state of very great happiness: extreme delight and b) an illegal drug that is used to produce a feeling of excitement and pleasure.

According to the author, we humans have always sought ecstasy. This is the moment where you stand outside your ordinary self, and feel a connection to something bigger than you. Such moments can be euphoric, but also terrifying.

The author goes ahead saying how one can seek ecstasy in a healthy way. How such ecstatic moments have let individuals briefly shift beyond one’s separate self-absorbed egos, and feel deeply connected to other beings, or to some things. He then talks about how one can seek a mystical experience – the deeper moments of ego-loss.

Psychologists and Psychiatrists are moving from the traditional hostility to ecstasy. We humans drag ourselves around negative feelings such as guilt, trauma etc, but in moments of ecstasy the threshold of consciousness is put down, people face subconscious attitudes and are able to push themselves out of it. They feel huge positivity in the process. They feel love for themselves; thus, the process heals them to a deeper level. Whatever the reason for this maybe – there is a risk of ego-dissolution. The author concludes giving us ways to reduce this risk, though these cannot be completely eliminated.

Words to learn from this article:

Disenchanted: No longer satisfied or happy with someone whom you had previous respected and admired
Claustrophobic: Someone suffering from claustrophobia (fear of being enclosed in a closed space having no escape)
Strenuous: Something requiring great effort
Demonic: Devilish
Staleness: Something that is no longer fresh

Reading Suggestion-2: Click to read full article

Reading Suggestion-3

Article Name: Matisse: The joy of Things
Author name: Claire Messud
Source: The New York Review of books
Category: Art

Summary for this article:

In this article, the author talks about Matisse’s art works – how his art always revolved around ordinary items like a chocolate pot, a green glass vase etc which to a normal human being would just remain mundane but for Matisse they were not just ordinary things of daily life they were pieces of joy, happiness and they served as sparks in his art.

The article throws light about his style of art work and how his renditions of objects that revolved around ordinary items conveyed to the masses that his connection with these objects was a transmission of joy that surpasses words.

Words to learn from this article:

Brazier: A pan or a metal container for holding burning coal.
Odalisque: A female slave in a harem
Atavistic: Characterized by the reversion of a trait or a character of an ancestral or an ancient form.
Motif: An artistic design or a pattern
Scuff: (of an object or a surface) become marked by scraping or brushing
Serration: Having a row of sharp points along the edge, like a knife
Conjure: To make something appear by magic or as if by magic
Undulate: To have a continuous up and down shape or movement, like a sea wave