In The News

Managing Globalization

February 22, 2006
Experts agree that globalization is inevitable, offering both positive and negative effects, and that the major problem is the world’s lack of institutions to contain the negative effects. In 2003, the private-sector arm of the World Bank created the “Equator Principles” in an attempt to fill the missing role. The guidelines cover the social and environmental impact of major projects such as...

Connecting Developing Nations

Eric Sylvers February 20, 2006
Cell phone company executives boast about how their services and economic development improve the quality of life in poor countries. However, delivering cellular technology to the developing world is a business proposition as well as a humanitarian one. The world has plenty of untapped markets – Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America – and no two are alike. Two-thirds of the world’s...

How Kenya Is Caught on the Thorns of Britain's Love Affair with the Rose

Jeevan Vasagar February 14, 2006
Kenya controls a quarter of the British rose market, and the flower, now the country’s second-largest export, is fueling much of the nation’s economic growth. Once blasted over low pay and poor working conditions, Kenya’s foreign-owned rose growers have cleaned up their act and reinvest some of their profits in Kenyan communities under the principles of fair trade. The flower industry’s...

The World’s Drinking Glass Is More Than Half Full

G. Jeffrey Macdonald February 14, 2006
Throughout the developing world, about 700 million people have acquired household access to drinking water since 1999. According to the WHO and UNICEF, more than half of people around the globe now have drinking water piped into their homes. In rural developing regions, women typically collect household water. Eliminating the trek to and from the nearest water source, sometimes up to ten miles...

China's Powerhouse Vision for 2050

Jonathan Watts February 13, 2006
China released a report from its leading research institute with an optimistic vision for the nation’s next 50 years. The projections depend on China undergoing a transition from a predominantly agricultural society to a suburban knowledge-based economy – and moving 500 million people closer to the cities. China would also have to maintain a strong growth rate, now at 9 percent. Noting that China...

China Could Learn From India’s Slow and Quiet Rise

Yasheng Huang January 27, 2006
Two years ago the view that India might have a more competitive economy than China was met with incredulity. Now a comparison of the two countries offers valuable insights for anyone studying economic growth. A fundamental distinction is that China’s growth stems from resource accumulation while India’s is rooted in increasing efficiency. Those who warned that India attracted too little foreign...

E-Waste@Large

Elizabeth Royte January 27, 2006
Computer recycling is meant to keep hazardous materials out of incinerators and landfills, reusing components to avoid the pollution and energy use required to obtain new materials. But recycling is also expensive and hazardous. So many companies, rather than disassemble the machines, chose to export them to developing nations, where they are not repaired or sold, but dumped. Each month, 400,...