In The News

Europeans Need Clearer Vision to Revive WTO Talks

Shada Islam November 14, 2003
The US and the European Union helped derail negotiations at the Cancun meeting of the World Trade Organization by refusing to end subsidies to their farmers. Although European leaders talk of building a multi-polar new world order, says Shada Islam, their stand at the WTO betrays a reluctance to deal with the developing world as equals. The deal the European Union struck with Washington is...

The Future of Migration - Part Two

Lant Pritchett November 9, 2003
In Part II of a two-part series on the future of migration, economist Lant Pritchett argues that the forces building up to another wave of mass migration face opposition in the form of ideas. Simply put, he says, "the primary reason there is not more migration is that the citizens of the industrialized world don't want it." People in the industrialized world - the main...

Healthy Dose of Capitalism?

Fatemah Farag November 7, 2003
Occupational hazards are a global problem. The International Labor Organization estimates that two million women and men die as a result of occupational accidents and work-related diseases each year, eliminating four percent of the world's GDP. This weekend, a UN-led conference in Germany brought together non-governmental organizations, international businesses, and labor leaders to discuss...

President Bush Discusses Freedom in Iraq and Middle East

George W. Bush November 6, 2003
President Bush challenged Middle Eastern countries – allies and enemies alike – to embrace democracy and recognize the fall of Saddam Hussein as "a watershed event in the global democratic revolution." In a speech given in honor of the 20th anniversary of the National Endowment for Democracy, Bush aligned his administration's intentions in Iraq with efforts to establish democracy...

Grievances That Can Bring Globalization to Grief

Larry Rohter November 5, 2003
Ten years ago, an American company won a bid to extract lithium from Bolivia's rich deposits. Protests from the impoverished Indian majority – who feared that the deal would only make the rich richer and leave most Bolivians worse off – helped stop the deal. Now, Bolivians may be regretting that decision. Such a deal would have forced greater investment in the nation and perhaps have...

The World's Sweatshop

Joseph Kahn November 4, 2003
China is supplying the world with a great variety of cheap products, including exports of pharmaceutical medications to US partner companies. Yet this article argues that some of the so-called cheap drugs Americans enjoy carry a hidden price tag that is difficult to put a dollar figure on – human life. Hisun, a Chinese company with US government approval to produce medications in cooperation...

Unevenly Yoked

Norbert Mao November 3, 2003
In the race to attract global capital and spur economic growth, Africa seems to have missed the bandwagon. Norbert Mao, a member of the Ugandan Parliament and currently a Yale World Fellow, says that Africa's dismal economic situation is a result of both inept political leadership and unfair policies of the developed world. Agricultural subsidies, patent restrictions, and a host of trade...