In The News

Politico: Trump Administration to Allow for 15,000 More Foreign Workers

Louis Nelson July 21, 2017
The US departments of Homeland Security and Labor have announced that they will issue up to 15,000 additional H-2B visas for temporary, non-agricultural workers this year. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly explained the decision to increase the Congressionally-approved cap of 66,000 H-2B visas per year as a supply-and-demand problem: “there are not enough qualified and willing US workers...

Brookings: The $110 Billion Arms Deal to Saudi Arabia Is Fake News

Bruce Riedel June 8, 2017
During Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May, he announced a $110 billion arms deal, a claim reported by YaleGlobal and other media. “Only problem is that there is no deal,” writes author Bruce Riedel. “So far nothing has been notified to the Senate for review. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the arms sales wing of the Pentagon, calls them ‘intended sales.’ None of the deals...

Bloomberg: Trump's Big Paris Mistake

June 6, 2017
By refusing to confront the growing and many risks associated with climate change, Donald Trump is breaking a vow to run the country like a business. “Any rational, responsible business leader, faced with an existential threat to his enterprise, would take steps to manage the risk,” argues a Bloomberg editorial. Rising seas threaten the tourism industry, high temperatures and droughts threaten...

Bloomberg: China's Downgrade Could Lead to a Mountain of Debt

May 30, 2017
Moody’s Investor Services lowered China’s sovereign debt rating by one level in late May for the first time since 1989. The company cited high levels of corporate debt mostly held by state-owned enterprises as the cause. With an increase in the yield premium on bonds, Chinese companies face higher interest rates when borrowing money, indicating greater risk. Hence, raising capital for investments...

Project Syndicate: Stop Insuring Climate Disaster

Bill McKibben May 11, 2017
As alternative energies become more competitive, the transition from fossil fuels would go much faster if the insurance industry accounts for the challenges of climate change and does not give coal and other fossil fuels a free ride. “While insurance industry representatives declare their intent and passion to rein in climate change and ensure a livable planet, in the back rooms their agents are...

Reuters: EU Headscarf Ban Ruling Sparks Faith Group Backlash

Alastair Macdonald March 14, 2017
Companies have great control over the appearance of their employees, and the EU’s Court of Justice has ruled that employers can ban religious and political symbols if “in pursuit of legitimate business interests” and if “a broad dress code for all customer-facing staff” is applied “to project an image of political and religious neutrality,” reports Alastair Macdonald for Reuters. The court...

China May Penalize US Automaker Over Price-Fixing

John Ruwitch and Jake Spring December 20, 2016
A Chinese state-run newspaper has reported that a US car company has been setting artificially high prices in the Middle Kingdom since 2014. News of a potential Chinese crackdown on this monopolistic scheme caused shares of both Ford and GM to drop. China is critical to both businesses – with the largest vehicle market in the world that constituted over 15 percent of their net incomes last year....