banana republics news stories on Newser

US Is Worse Than Banana Republics

Kevin Spak — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:59:38 CST

It’s tempting to say that the US now has a banana republic-level income inequality, but that’s not fair—to banana republics. “The truth is that Latin America has matured and become more equal,” writes Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times , even as the US has gone the other way....

Hitchens: We're Now a Banana Republic

Nick McMaster — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:28:01 CDT

The credit crisis has laid bare the failings of US government, writes Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair , putting us on par with other banana republics such as Zimbabwe and Venezuela. How else to describe this "collusion between the overweening state and certain favored monopolistic concerns, whereby the profits can be...

Yellow, Popular, and Not Long for Our Shelves

Ambreen Ali — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:32:14 CDT

With prices pushing the $1-per-pound mark, the banana's days as an American staple fruit are numbered, Dan Koeppel writes in the New York Times . “That bananas have long been the cheapest fruit at the grocery store is astonishing,” he notes of the exotic, quick-to-rot fruit, which is cheaper than homegrown...