In The News

China is Just Catching Up

Yasheng Huang June 8, 2004
China’s so-called 'rise' in the last two decades must be put into perspective, says Yasheng Huang, associate professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and author of "Selling China". In recent times, Huang notes, blaming China’s buoyant economy for financial uncertainties in other parts of the world has come into vogue. But the hysteria and exaggeration expressed by...

How Big a Threat to West is Growth of China?

Stephen King June 7, 2004
The ongoing, rapid economic growth in developing countries like China and India might have deep repercussions in the developed West, argues Stephen King, managing director of economics at HSBC. Although per capita gross national income and commercial energy consumption is significantly lower in China and India than in the US and UK, these countries also have two of the world’s largest populations...

No Lack of Fake Luxuries

Jin Hyun-joo June 3, 2004
Cartier, Rolex, DKNY… Brand-name items are all the rage on the streets of South Korean cities. But buyer beware, says this article in the Korea Herald; a great deal of these 'luxury goods' are fakes. Counterfeit items generate billions of won a year in sales, though, because savvy buyers don't seem to care that they aren't getting the real thing. Two out of three university...

China: The Missing Member at the G-8 Table

Jeffrey E. Garten June 3, 2004
China's key position in the world economy is increasingly obvious. A slew of indicators, from car usage and steel output to population size, shows that China cannot be ignored. Yet, writes Jeffrey E. Garten, Dean of the Yale School of Management, China will not be attending the upcoming Group of Eight summit in Georgia. Americans and others should wake up to China's importance for even...

Filipino Workers, Activists Protest Over Jobs

Cody Yiu June 3, 2004
For years Taiwanese industry and construction companies have relied upon the labor of Filipinos, Thais, and migrant workers from other Southeast Asian countries. Labor relations have not always been smooth, however, with reports of abuse and exploitation surfacing from time to time. The latest labor conflict, reported here in the Taipei Times, concerns 19 Filipino workers who were being over-...

Trade Theory vs. Used Clothes in Africa

Carter Dougherty June 3, 2004
In Uganda the seemingly ubiquitous struggle between free traders and protectionists is played out in the debate over used clothes. Like so many other cities in Africa, Uganda's capital, Kampala, is the destination for millions of dollars worth of second-hand garments from the developed world. But while myriad jobs have sprung up in Uganda's used clothes trade, those involved in the...

Benefits and Pitfalls of Globalization

Park Myung-seok June 1, 2004
A growing concern about globalization’s negative effects on national economies worldwide has some governments re-thinking long-held economic ideologies. The difficulty in creating jobs within the context of an expanding global employee base has some longtime champions of free trade, including the United States, looking to legislate against outsourcing. Similar movements to protect local jobs are...