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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    The Shanghai Expo and America's Economic Decline

    This year's Shanghai Expo makes the Beijing Olympics look like a Little League tournament, according to one observer, with 70 million people expected. But the US pavilion is being criticized as "bland," "uninspired" and "unimpressive." Does that reveal more than an image problem?

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    This year's Shanghai Expo makes the Beijing Olympics look like a Little League tournament, according to one observer, with 70 million people expected. But the US pavilion is being criticized as "bland," "uninspired" and "unimpressive." Does that reveal more than an image problem? In the aftermath of World War II, the US became the world's dominant power, with a middle class built by innovation and manufacturing. With so much now outsourced to the global economy, what's left to show off? Is the Shanghai Expo another signal America can't afford to ignore?

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Frances Anderton

      architecture critic and author

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      Andrea Brody

      Senior Producer, KCRW's Life Examined and To the Point podcast

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      David Hendricks

      Business Writer, San Antonio Express-News

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      Mina Chow

      Filmmaker, 'FACE of a Nation'

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      Harold Meyerson

      Editor, The American Prospect; and Columnist

      NewsNationalPolitics
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