A paradigm shift I would be interested in researching is how professional athletes are starting to retire at earlier ages relative to their predecessors. A prime example being Andrew Luck, who I spent a 3rd round draft pick on in my fantasy football team, retiring at the age of 30. Athletes used to play their sport until they were forced out of it due to injury or age. Today, more and more athletes are voluntarily retiring at much younger ages. This is due to athletes making a much higher income than previously used to. Wether it be because of more lucrative contracts, the prevalence of endorsement deals due to higher expose or more and more athletes diversifying their portfolios, athletes do not have to play for long to make enough money to live off of the rest of their lives. This makes fiscal, as well as practical sense as the older they become and play, the more susceptible their bodies become to injury. Should athletes still want to be involved in their sport, there is a rise in the demand for former athletes to work as analysts and broadcasters, examples of these being Jalen Rose on ESPN or Tony Romo on NBC. I think this would be a good topic to research as I could compare retirement rates from the past to today, and give specific cases of players retiring early to pursue other interests.
Another paradigm shift I would be interested in is examining countries increasing shift from isolationism towards globalization. This shift originated after WWII, and was put in motion with the creation of the United Nations, and was then expanded upon years later with the founding the European Union. The United Nations was founded as a result of countries’ desire for worldwide economic stability and peace. WWI, The Great Depression, and WWII had devastated populations and stunted economic growth in many parts of the world. The United Nations was meant to prevent this, as economies became more intertwined, forcing diplomatic cooperation between countries. Conflict was also meant to be prevented, as the United Nations would serve as a collective body to solve disputes civilly and prevent cooperation. This proved to be successful, as we are currently living in the most peaceful time in human history. I think it would be interesting to specifically compare and contrast the differences and outcomes of isolationism and globalization and go more in depth what caused this shift and who were the leading parties behind it.