In The News

An Outsourcing Giant Fights Back

Saritha Rai March 21, 2004
Azim Premji, the founder of one of India’s leading technology giant Wipro, has found himself on the defensive of late. Premji's business is one of the leading outsourcing concerns in the world, with a net worth of $8 billion and clients from the top layer of their industries. As the domestic debates in America over job loss and outsourcing grow, . Premji has come to symbolize exactly...

Shell Withheld Reserves Data to Aid Nigeria

Jeff Gerth March 19, 2004
Shell Oil recently downgraded its oil reserve estimates by 20%, sending the company's stock spiraling and investors panicking. Now, reports indicate that Shell's revisions include a downgrading of its Nigerian reserves by 60% - a diminution the company has kept "confidential in view of host country sensitivities." The fragile Nigerian government, which depends on oil export...

Making Business Work for the Poor

Ernesto Zedillo March 17, 2004
As the debate on how to best alleviate poverty in developing countries continue to rage, Ernesto Zedillo, the director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and the former president of Mexico, suggests one commonsense solution – facilitating private entrepreneurship to help people pull themselves out of the informal economy and into the larger formal marketplace. Current difficulties...

Where Are the Jobs? The Harsh Truth about Outsourcing

Paul Craig Roberts March 15, 2004
As the US struggles to deal with the political and economic fallout from the outsourcing of high-tech and manufacturing jobs overseas, many analysts have come down on all sides of the debate. Will America benefit in the end? Does the theory of "comparative advantage" hold true? Can the US find a niche that will allow it to replace the jobs lost and reverse wage declines? The answer,...

With Mexico FTA Set, Japan Turns Toward Asia

Mayumi Negishi March 12, 2004
After completing only its second Free Trade Agreement (FTA) ever, Japan is looking towards Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and South Korea for new prospective partners. The newly-inked Mexico FTA will provide much-needed agricultural imports to a country that imports 60% of its food stuff; however, it took some work to overcome the voices of the powerful Japanese agricultural lobby. With...

Laissez Unfaire

Arindam Mukherjee March 11, 2004
Globally, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is very much in vogue, but India is rethinking its rush to keep up with trends. At present, there are some 250 FTAS globally, a figure that is likely to increase dramatically in the near future. India has made many strides in this area, signing, or committing to sign, various multilateral as well as bilateral agreements. Currently, it is in the process...

Lingering Job Insecurity of Silicon Valley

Steve Lohr March 9, 2004
Despite the recent upsurge in business activity, skilled technology workers remain in weak demand in the US. Experienced and well-educated computer scientists and software engineers - many of whom boast PhDs - are falling victim to broad market forces that, until recently, have affected primarily blue-collar workers. "You have multiple effects going on: automation, outsourcing and business...