In The News

U.S. Defends Its Farm Subsidies Against Rising Foreign Criticism

Elizabeth Becker June 27, 2002
Thanks to record high US farm subsidies, American farmers can produce cheap crops that drive drown prices in foreign markets. Even though the US maintains that its farm subsidies are within WTO limits, countries around the world believe that the subsidies are contributing to the underdevelopment of agriculture-dependent African and Latin American economies. The US contends that it is trade...

Globalization Narrows Gender Gap: World Bank

June 13, 2002
Andrew Mason, an economist with the World Bank, has found that globalization not only reduces poverty and raises income but also helps narrow gender inequalities in education, nutrition, and health. However, he cautions, governments need to continue their efforts to reduce inequalities. Although export promotion has created millions of new jobs for women "at wages higher than in traditional...

More Aid, More Need: Pledges Still Falling Short

Tim Weiner March 24, 2002
The US is not living up to its aid responsibilities despite growing concerns about global poverty after September 11, says this article in The New York Times. Though President Bush has drawn an explicit link between poverty and terrorism, and is substantially increasing aid to poor countries as a result, US aid remains restricted to specific counties and is still far less than aid from its...

Why Are Globalizers So Provincial?

Alice H. Amsden January 31, 2002
A quick review of the national origins of leaders at the upcoming 2002 World Economic Forum reveals the provincial nature of purportedly global economic organizations. In order for institutions like the World Trade Organization to live up to their name, says MIT scholar Alice H. Amsden, leaders from semi-industrialized countries like Brazil, Mexico and China must be allowed among international...

India among 'More Globalised Developing Nations'

Anon. December 6, 2001
“India is among twenty-four ‘more globalised developing countries’ listed by the World Bank which says globalisation has enabled the country to obtain tangible benefits in economic growth and trade.” Nevertheless, not all areas in India have attracted foreign investment. Although India liberalized trade and investment in the early 1990s, many policies are controlled by individual states, which...

Guggenheim, Bilbao, and the ‘hot banana’

Leslie Crawford September 4, 2001
Since building the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao has witnessed extraordinary growth in tourism. Now, many policy makers see Bilbao and the Guggenheim as a model for urban renewal. But not all are in agreement. Tourism is an uncertain industry, and museums are attractive as long as they are unique. Furthermore, the novelty of attractions wears off; and without a plan to keep the momentum of economic...