In The News

Speak Softly and Carry a Blank Cheque

July 22, 2010
Thanks to strong global demand for its agribusiness and industrial commodities, Brazil is one of the world's largest emerging markets and one of the rising BRIC four – along with Russia, India and China. Goldman Sachs predicts the combined economies of the four will exceed the G-7 total by 2032. With such economic power, Brazil extends several billion in development aid to other countries,...

Attention Whole Foods Shoppers

Robert Paarlberg June 21, 2010
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, more than a billion people, most living in developing countries were undernourished last year. In turn, the UN World Food Program identifies poor agricultural infrastructure as a root cause of hunger. Because of “buy local” campaigns in the West, interest has fallen among international donors to fund modern agriculture in developing nations...

Turkish Funds Helped Group Test Blockade

Sabrina Tavernise, Michael Slackman June 7, 2010
After winning a majority of Palestinian parliamentary seats in 2006, Hamas took control of Gaza in June 2007, using the position to launch rockets at Israel. Since 2007, Israel and Egypt isolated Gaza with blockades by land and sea. But supporters of Palestinians from around the globe have also worked to test the blockade, collecting donations, including large funds from opponents to Israel based...

The West Owes Haiti a Bail-Out

Gary Younge February 4, 2010
Last month's earthquake in Haiti may have been a natural disaster, but the devastation extends to the country's unfortunate position in the global political economy. Many Western experts say Haiti's underdevelopment stems from internal factors like government mismanagement and corruption. Yet Haiti's struggles are also due to centuries of destructive external pressures. For...

Black And White

Nayan Chanda November 10, 2009
China’s rising presence in Africa has received increasing notice in the press and increasing concern from the West. Such contact is not a new phenomenon as trade between the Middle Kingdom and the continent first occurred as far back as six centuries ago. Today, raw materials trade continues but it is not all one way – China invests directly in the region through mines, construction, and...

China Spreads Aid in Africa, With a Catch

Sharon Lafraniere, John Grobler September 23, 2009
In recent years, China has greatly increased its presence throughout the developing world by offering loans below market-rates, championing such efforts as win-win for both China and the receiving countries. Whereas Western nations have often attached political and economic reforms as conditions to their aid, China instead offered “no strings attached” assistance, disregarding human rights...

European Subsidies Stray From the Farm

Doreen Carvajal, Stephen Castle July 20, 2009
One of the biggest blots on free trade has been farm subsidies offered by the European Union. That they distorted trade was known, but this recent report shows the amazing extent of the distortion. European farm subsidies, once intended to help feed the population, are now doled out to some unlikely candidates, even the Queen of England. Originally used exclusively to promote production, such...