shopping

Q: During the holiday season, I keep hearing how important it is for our fragile economy that we buy, buy, buy.  If it is patriotic to buy impulsively and consume conspicuously, is it also good?

A:   Patriotic: yes.  Good…not so much.

The hottest new shopping destination in Sofia, Bulgaria is a shiny, glass-clad monolith on the busy highway between downtown and the airport. Called simply “The Mall,” its facade is plastered in a riot of international name brands: Carrefour, Zara, Benetton. There isn’t a Cyrillic letter, or a Bulgarian name, in sight.