In The News

The Other Malaysia: ASEAN and Globalization

Farish A Noor January 18, 2007
An integrated world economy is seen by many as beneficial for the developing world, but recent events in Southeast Asia cause some to question this optimism. After an announcement to impose controls on foreign capital in Thailand led to a 14 percent drop in Bangkok’s stock market, the newly-installed government was forced to retract its statement in a desperate effort to avoid a repeat of the...

Erosion of English Skills Threatens Growth in the Philippines

Carlos Conde December 29, 2006
Lawmakers in the Philippines have passed a law making English the primary language of instruction from high school onward, reversing a trend that encouraged instruction in native languages. About 95 percent of Filipinos speak English, but call centers and other business run by foreign firms impose high standards. English skills declined rapidly after a 1987 law required bilingual education to...

The New Dot-Economy

Alan Sipress December 11, 2006
Half a decade after the dot-com bubble burst, the US is experiencing another boom in internet business. Economic and technological innovation has sent costs into free-fall, encouraging small start-ups to enter high-tech markets considered too expensive until recently. Advances in computer chips, high-speed internet access and open-source software have reduced operating costs dramatically: Web...

Universities Move to Hide Work From US Eyes

Caroline Alphonso November 13, 2006
The internet tool RefWorks allows professors and students to organize and store research, automatically creating bibliographies. The firm RefWorks describes itself as an international company – but it is based in the US, home of the Patriot Act, which after the 9/11 attacks granted federal authorities wide powers to examine databases without warrants or notice for security risks. Concerned about...

Google Defiant Over Censorship in China

David Smith November 1, 2006
Defenders of free speech reject any controls over the internet. This issue and others were debated by more than 90 countries attending the first Internet Governance Forum in Athens. Companies like Google do business in China despite some censorship, and Google maintains that simply providing a connection is a major first step to creating an open society. To deny access to restrictive regimes only...

Vietnam’s Roaring Economy Is Set for the World Stage

Keith Bradsher October 30, 2006
Vietnam’s renunciation of statist economics in favor of capitalism in the early 1990s was a surprising development for the global markets. Along with China’s embrace of the market, Vietnam’s success story has raised the living standards of its citizens, drawn a large contingent of high-skilled émigrés back to the country and created a strong base for future development. Multinational...

One World…Many, Many Government Policies

Irwin M. Stelzer October 26, 2006
In a globalized world, corporations often pursue business deals in the countries with the least costs, not just from wages or property – but also in terms of policy regulations or taxes. Corporations look to low-tax nations to avoid all manner of taxes. And in some cases, corporations lobby their governments to erect barriers and prevent regulatory polices from other countries creeping into their...