In The News

China Spending Billions to Better Universities

Howard W. French October 27, 2005
In its latest bid to rise to great power status, China is spending billions of dollars to transform its universities by wooing top scholars and building cutting-edge research facilities. Yet despite China's astounding expansion of education – the number of undergraduates and PhDs in China has increased fivefold in the past decade – many educators lament the dearth of academic debate in...

China, India Superpower? Not so Fast!

Pranab Bardhan October 25, 2005
Every day, countless commentators prophesize the ascendance of the world's next superpowers, China and India, the two "Asian giants" shaking off their ancient slumber and rising to the call of the 21st century. According to popular punditry, their place in the firmament of globalization's success stories is already guaranteed. Yet economist Pranab Bardhan argues that a much...

Egypt Pushes to Modernize Industry

October 25, 2005
Egypt is investing US$35 million in its National Supplier Development Program in an effort to prepare its protectionist economy for gradually-increasing openness to international trade. The venture targets small- and medium-size Egyptian businesses supplying larger "mother companies" whose size and efficiency allow them to compete far more effectively in the global marketplace....

China Builds Its Dreams, and Some Fear a Bubble

David Barboza October 18, 2005
China is experiencing a building boom, the scope of which means that cities like Shanghai now dwarf New York in terms of skyscrapers and vast networks of upscale apartment complexes. As a result of its unprecedented construction sector growth, China is scouring the world for energy and natural resources so that its cities, 170 of which have more than 1 million people, can meet and surpass Western...

'Protect Regime Now, Feed People Later'

Shim Jae Hoon October 18, 2005
Locked in a food shortage approaching crisis proportions – which reportedly caused two million deaths in the past five years – the government of Kim Jong-il has been wooing neighboring China and its brethren to the South for more far-reaching aid. As Seoul-based journalist Shim Jae Hoon reports, this move comes at the expense of broader, international emergency efforts coordinated by...

Top Advisory Panel Warns of an Erosion of the U.S. Competitive Edge in Science

William J. Broad October 13, 2005
Is the US losing the ability to compete globally in the areas of science and technology? Experts convened on October 12 under the auspices of the National Academies, the nation’s premier science advisory body, to answer this pressing question. Sponsored by a bipartisan group in Congress, the panel announced that without a substantial effort to address the issue, the US “could soon loose its...

Brazil Regrets its China Affair

Matt Moffett October 12, 2005
Two years ago, to much fanfare, China and Brazil entered into a bilateral trade partnership, hoping to propel both populous, ambitious nations to the top of the development heap. With increased exports to China, Brazil made modest economic advances since entering the trade agreement. But in the same period, the world's textile quotas expired, leaving many world economies vulnerable to China...