In The News

April 10, 2007
Scrappy new multinational firms are emerging all over the world: Hindalco and Tata from India, Lenovo and PetroChina from China. “Just as Toyota and Samsung eventually obliged western multinationals to rethink how to make cars and consumer electronics, so today's young thrusters threaten the veterans wherever they are complacent,” notes this article in “The Economist.” The new firms are...
Anand Giridharadas April 5, 2007
Developments in transportation and communications technology enable greater globalization of more segments of the labor market. For several decades, manufacturing jobs gradually moved from developed countries to areas with low-cost workers. Now workers in the developing world take on more complex tasks in engineering, finance and pharmacology. Boeing, for instance, relies on Indian-developed...
Andrew Cassel March 28, 2007
Japanese chefs, Norwegian engineers, Canadian fishermen and quirky American consumers combined over the past four decades to develop a new cuisine, one that shows how taste can be as powerful an agent of globalization as trade ministers and CEOs. Sasha Issenberg’s new book, “The Sushi Economy,” explores the history of sushi – the bite-sized combination of sticky rice and raw fish that became a...
Somini Sengupta March 26, 2007
Despite its reputation as an up-and-coming global competitor, India’s economic growth has been stunted by the limited higher-education opportunities – with only 7 percent of young adults entering universities. Recognizing the demand of Asia’s university-aged population, American schools seek to establish relationships with their counterparts in countries such as China and India. Through...
Hassan M. Fattah March 12, 2007
Mecca, birthplace of the Prophet Mohammed and Islam, is the destination for millions who arrive from every corner of the world for the religion’s annual pilgrimage, the hajj, required once of every fit worshipper. Steeped in history, the city has now become a target for tourism development, including malls, hotels with speakers that broadcast public prayers, fast-food restaurants and amusement...
Stanley Reed March 9, 2007
As Libya gradually emerges from 20 years of economic isolation, international energy firms rush to grab a piece of the North African nation’s extensive untapped oil reserves. Libya has organized an intensely competitive bidding process for exploration rights, pitting companies from the US, Europe and Asia against one another in a race to secure new sources of energy. Such investment will have...
Stephen King March 7, 2007
The macroeconomic policies of the world’s central banks are crucial for economic growth. By changing interest rates or adjusting the money supply, these banks keep inflation at low levels, thereby ensuring stable prices. That stability rests in large part on the predictability of the central banks and these institutions reacting consistently to market information. Recently, however, the data that...