In The News

Is Big Data Turning Government Into Big Brother?

Michael Liedtke June 7, 2013
Privacy advocates have long been concerned about the US National Security Agency collecting data on US citizens and foreigners. Recent reports that Verizon and likely other US telecommunications firms are handing over phone logs stir new concerns about surveillance activities started under the George W. Bush administration. Individuals who use digital devices leave digital trails, reports Michael...

Sustainability or Greenwashing?

João Paulo Cândia Veiga May 28, 2013
The candeia tree of Brazil is an excellent source of an ingredient valued for its anti-inflammatory effect and used in cosmetics for sensitive skin. “Brazil is the sole world producer of natural Bisabolol, and until 2010, when Symrise bought more than 70 percent of local production, controlled the market and defined the global price of the asset,” explains João Paulo Cândia Veiga, a professor of...

Is Tourism the Most Destructive Enterprise?

Elizabeth Becker April 23, 2013
Travel has grown exponentially since the 1960s, and tourism employs more people than any other industry. As political developments have opened borders, as new technologies in aviation and communications provide new access, few destinations go unexplored, suggests Elizabeth Becker, author of Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism. She explains that any human endeavor can be...

Let's Not Learn to Love Disaster

Stan Cox February 1, 2013
Countries often focus on disasters within their borders, overlooking floods, fires and storms elsewhere. Scientist Stan Cox suggests that entire economies must be restructured in an opinion essay for Al Jazeera: “Governments and corporations worldwide … have built entire economies that depend on huge energy inputs and ever-expanding consumption, and they can't back out now.” Disasters are...

From Local to Global

Nayan Chanda December 13, 2011
Had the government proposal not run into a buzzsaw of opposition, foreign investors might have given India’s retail industry a jumpstart. The government tried to limit the potential impact on at least 20 million traders by limiting the big-box stores to cities with more than 1 million people, allowing state governments the right of refusal, mandating that 30 percent of manufactured and processed...

India Halts Wal-Mart Entry Amid Protests

Bibhudatta Pradhan, Andrew MacAskil December 8, 2011
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government could not overcome fear and opposition that modern big-box stores from the west would overwhelm the country’s small family-run stores – and suspended plans to let foreign retailers open stores in India. The change in plans reflects an inability to boost foreign investment and end policy paralysis, reports an article from Bloomberg. “In an attempt to kick...

India Needs Western Supermarkets

Salil Tripathi December 2, 2011
India has approved allowing foreign investors to hold majority stakes in multibrand retail. Critics blast the plans – worrying about store closures, job losses, profits going to foreigners, and homogeneity – and they vow protectionist measures in some states. But fast-growing India needs the so-called “big box stores” with their dependable supplies and reduced prices for consumers, argues Salil...