Juxtaposition of the Day: The World on Two Balconies

The first one is from emerging China; the second from declining Greece.

(photo: Aly Song/Reuters caption: A worker climbs a ladder next to a mannequin during the China International Wedding Expo in Shanghai February 15, 2012. The expo will allow exhibitors to highlight their products, high-level equipment and the world’s wedding photography trends, plus the exchange and trade between the domestic and overseas wedding industries.)

(photo: Panayiotis Tzamaros/Reuters caption: An employee of the Workers Housing Organisation threatens to jump from the office where she worked because her wage has been cut and she and her husband were threatened with layoffs, in Athens February 15, 2012. Workers Housing Organisation is a state owned company that is on the list of state entities that may be shut down to cut costs under the terms of the new 130-billion-euro ($170 billion) bailout agreement with the European Union and International Monetary Fund. .)

From today’s Reuters Editor’s Choice slideshow (#21 and #12).