In The News

Putin Appeals for Calm as Russian Bourses Dive

October 27, 2003
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the head of Russia's largest oil and gas company, Yukos, was arrested over the weekend for corruption and tax evasion. In response, Russia's stock market, the MICEX, dove 12% on Monday, reflecting the jitters felt by Russia's business leaders. The development of Russia into a privatized, capitalist economy after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 has long...

Roh Supports English as 2nd Official Language

October 24, 2003
South Korea's President Roh is throwing his weight behind a plan to make English his country's official second language. The Ministry of Finance and Economy expects to build 100 special zones nation-wide for English education, and several provinces are considering investing some of their own resources into English immersion schools. In a recent survey of 12 Asian countries, South...

Bangladesh Faces the Challenge of Globalization

Wahiduddin Mahmud October 22, 2003
Bangladesh's economy grew rapidly during the 1990s as the country liberalized its markets and became increasingly integrated into the world economy. Until the 2001 global recession, Bangladesh ranked third for improvement of human development - behind only Cabo Verde and China - thanks in large part to exports from its blossoming garment industry. Wahiduddin Mahmud, economist and former...

The World's Poor and Sick Have Not Been Forgotten

Krishna Ravi Srinivas October 20, 2003
If you're sick, it's definitely better to live in a rich country than a poor one. Pharmaceuticals produced in developed countries are prohibitively expensive for people in the world's poorest areas, but there are signs of improvement, says legal scholar Krishna Ravi Srinivas. In August 2003 trade ministers concluded negotiations on an agreement that will allow companies to profit...

Courageous Arab Thinkers

Thomas L. Friedman October 19, 2003
Can the Arab countries – long dependent on their abundant oil resources for their incomes – be convinced that development and growth is actually dependent on democracy and open societies? A group of Arab scholars are aiming to do just that by publishing their second "Arab Development Report", which analyzes the economic stagnation of the Middle East in light of the UN's "...

Bolivia's Poor Proclaim Abiding Distrust of Globalization

Larry Rohter October 17, 2003
In a civil conflict that has already left more than 80 Bolivians dead this month, protestors have turned the issue of natural gas export through Chile to the United States into an indictment of globalization. Calling for the resignation of President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, demonstrators are sending a powerful message – a resounding "no to the export of gas and other natural resources; no...

Privatization vs. Democracy

Salah Hemeid October 13, 2003
The chief US Administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, recently announced that Iraq's state-owned industries will be sold off to private investors in an effort to boost the country's struggling economy. The new policy also allows for 100 percent foreign ownership of all industries except for oil, which will remain under government control for the time being. Iraqis view their oil reserves as...