In The News

Kerry's Solution to Offshoring

Sam Zuckerman March 27, 2004
Under the US tax system, companies that produce goods abroad wait until the capital reenters the country to pay taxes. According to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, this "tax holiday" structure has led to an increase in foreign investment at the expense of domestic business. In an effort to rebuild domestic industry and bring back jobs, Senator Kerry has proposed to...

American Democracy May Taste Indian Voting Machines

March 26, 2004
As the US presidential election approaches (and memories of the 2000 election's complications remain fresh), the question of how US citizens will vote – by machine or by paper – has become unusually heated. Now an Indian company, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), enters the fray by marketing its own voting machine designed for India' parliamentary elections. Importing electronic voting...

Containerized Trade Imbalance Set to Worsen

Beth Jinks March 25, 2004
A third of all shipping containers that land in Singapore are empty, according to recent surveys. This trend is set to continue throughout Asia, as more manufacturing shifts to the region. But shipping empty containers is costly – and worrisome to operators of shipping lines. The current imbalance, say observers, is partly due to the rise of countries like China, whose cheaper labor constitutes a...

Jobs Can Be Outsourced, Not Politics

Harold James March 24, 2004
The American outcry about outsourcing stems not just from job loss, but also from the politician's favorite platitude - trade. According to Princeton historian, Harold James, ascribing job loss to trade is fraught with complications. Moreover, from a historical point of view, it is a recurring theme that often ends terribly. As James notes, throughout the latter part of the 19th and early...

Schröder Condemns Job Offshoring as Unpatriotic

Bertrand Benoit March 23, 2004
Outsourcing, a vital component of global capitalism, appears to have met a staunch new critic in Germany. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder says Germany companies who move work to Eastern Europe and Asia are "unpatriotic". The cheaper labor of these regions, however, offers a strong economic incentive for German companies trying to compete globally. Nonetheless, says this article,...

Korean Bodyguards to Train Iraqi Police

O Youn-hee March 23, 2004
Despite the South Korean government's decision not to send troops to Iraq due to security concerns, a Korean private security firm, NKTS, still plans to send bodyguards to help train Iraqi police. Sending up to 150 bodyguards, NKTS, which has also guarded Jordan's royal family, will train the Iraqi police in bomb removal, martial arts, small arms, and common courtesy. The training...

Keep the Ban on Arms for China

Roger Cliff March 22, 2004
15 years ago, in the wake of the Tiananmen Square violence, the US and nations that now make up the EU agreed to an arms embargo towards China. Until their human rights record improved, China should not be supplied with weapons technology, argued the European and American states. Now, EU nations are facing a call from China to eliminate the "outdated" embargo in order to cement their...