In The News

Tensions Between Globalization, Backwardness

Riad al-Khouri December 18, 2003
For the Middle East to move forward economically and politically, says this article in Lebanon's Daily Star, states in the region must embrace principles of efficiency and inclusivity. Rather than fight against the tide of globalization, the author suggests, the Middle East must jump on the bandwagon, work to strengthen itself internally, and fortify its position in the global economy....

Deflating Bush's China balloon

William Pesek Jr. December 17, 2003
The Bush Administration is pressuring China to float its currency, the yuan, instead of pegging it to the US dollar. Administration officials argue that the yuan is currently undervalued and is thus hurting the US economy. This week, Alan Greenspan, the US Federal Reserve chairman, said that a rise in the relative value of the yuan would have little effect on US employment, as companies would...

War Opponents Denounce U.S. Rules on Contracts in Iraq

Jackie Spinner December 10, 2003
Citing security concerns, US officials have announced that only those countries that supported the invasion of Iraq will be allowed to bid on $18.6 billion in reconstruction contracts. The decision enraged Russia, Germany, France, and Canada, who under the decision will be excluded from much of the biggest nation rebuilding effort since the Second World War. Igor Ivanov, the Russian foreign...

Jobs Here and in China a White House Topic

Jim Yardley December 9, 2003
As President Bush met with the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao this week, he pressed the issue of American jobs lost to China. But in spite of a recent economic boom, China has its own job-related woes. The country's economic restructuring has caused massive layoffs at older state-owned factories. And the Chinese countryside has too many farmers to fit on a diminishing amount of usable land....

The WSIS: whose freedom, whose information?

Solana Larsen December 9, 2003
In Geneva, more than 130 of the world's governments are meeting in the first phase of the UN World Summit of the Information Society (WSIS), to discuss how to bridge the "digital divide" and bring more telephone and computer technology to poor countries. But the summit has already hit a roadblock, as civil society groups formed an alternate body and wrote an opposing declaration...

Lesson in Protectionism

December 9, 2003
US President Bush recently ended import tariffs on foreign steel in order to avoid retaliatory sanctions by the European Union. But during the period of tariff protection, the US steel industry restructured itself. Many firms closed down or were taken over, says this editorial in India's Business Standard, which increased productivity and resulted in the first large public offering by any US...

An Ohio Town Is Hard Hit as Leading Industry Moves to China

Joseph Kahn December 7, 2003
Like many small industrial towns, Bryan Ohio has a few big employers. When one of them – the Ohio Art Company – decided three years ago to move its signature product line, the "Etch A Sketch" toy, to China, the community felt both the loss of 100 jobs and the loss of a community symbol. Etch A Sketch models used to decorate the town, but no longer. Due to "ineluctable laws of...