Is it simply Schadenfreude or is the real-time news firehose rendering the once-immutable paradigm of reputation capital obsolete?

FORBES: Reputation Capital

The model we in the West grew up with - and our great-grandfather's parents grew up with too - turns out not to be immutable.

BBC: Will the rise of the rest mean the decline of the US?

This suggests that the familiar bell-shaped curve reflects no immutable law, and that intelligent government policies might well help to reduce pollution levels even while countries are still relatively poor.

ECONOMIST: Local difficulties