Once the ultimate globalization success story, the island of Saipan now faces one of the fastest economic collapses in history. After suffering a harsh history of military struggles as well as a temporary economic boom after becoming a U.S. commonwealth, the island now stands devastated. Scores of factories remain empty, rotting shopping centers litter the country, and former factory workers turn to the sex industry for survival. Adam Yamaguchi visits Saipan to document the rise and sudden collapse of a tiny piece of America. (25:12 min)
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on Aug 14th, 2009 at 6:59 am
Ah, so this is what Saipan is all about.
A bit of irony there, that first the blue-collared Chinese workers were brought in (lured in?) for their cheap labout, and now the more affluent Chinese are welcome as tourists.
on Aug 14th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
I had no idea about Saipan and it being a U.S. commonwealth. It seems that there’s a lot more to uncover there than just the economic collapse.
The ugly faces of globalization are popping up all over the place…