In The News

Activity at Korean Enclave Grinds to a Halt

December 6, 2002
In the past decade, as China opened its markets to foreign investment, the northeastern city of Dandong developed into a bustling center of economic activity. But its North Korean counterpart city across the border, Sinuiju, is still languishing in bleak poverty. North Korea has made plans to imitate China’s efforts in Dandong, however, by turning Sinuiju into an administrative center. The...

Will de Soto’s ideas work in Thailand?

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun November 17, 2002
In the age of almost instantaneous information exchange, ideas can travel around the world with only the click of a mouse. From South America to Southeast Asia, poor people around the world face similar problems. Now Thailand's Prime Minister is considering taking up an anti-poverty scheme developed by the Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto. If his idea proves as effective as it promises...

The Arab World Must Participate in Global Affairs and Not Follow

Najla Al Rostamani November 1, 2002
The first conference hosted by the Arab Thought Institute, a new pan-Arab organization founded by a Saudi prince, emphasized both greater intra-regional communication and increased Arab participation in international arenas. Despite the departure of European colonial powers, the West is seen by many Arabs as a constant oppressor of national freedoms. Noting that while some have characterized...

A Damaged Brand

Moisés Naím October 27, 2002
Privatization, trade liberalization, and deregulation were the buzzwords of the early 1990s. Developing countries happily adopted these terms, but in many cases their actual economic policies differed sharply from the formula. Both the formula and the local policies used in its place have failed, and as a consequence, developing countries have renounced globalization completely. This is tragic...

A Fight Over Farms Ends, Opening Way to Wider Europe

Elaine Sciolino October 25, 2002
One of the most contentious issues for the European Union as it prepares to admit 10 new members are the farm subsidies to the Eastern European economies. The question of who should foot the bill generates the greatest wrangling. Yet, much of the disagreement has suddenly disappeared now that France and Germany have negotiated a scheme in which subsidies to French farmers will be slowly reduced...

Debate on Intellectual Property

Steve Lohr October 14, 2002
Based on the economic history of the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and other nations, the borrowing of ideas – and the making of improvements upon them – is essential to building strong domestic industries. Each of these countries owes a great deal of its economic success today to earlier eras in which foreign patents, copyrights, and trademarks received little or no protection. Now,...

Cows Can Fly While World's Poor Starve

Grace Sung October 3, 2002
European agricultural subsidy programs effectively give cows in the EU 1.40 euros per day to live on. Meanwhile, over 3 billion poor people around the globe struggle to survive on 1.3 euros each day. Combined with high tariffs on agricultural products to the EU, the massive subsidization of Europe’s largest farms puts farmers in developing countries at a competitive disadvantage. Despite...