In The News

Can the Midwest Regain Its Economic Clout?

Richard C. Longworth January 9, 2008
Achieving economic stability requires a strategy that does not neglect global markets or trends. In the US, the Midwest region has been devastated by companies shifting manufacturing operations first to southern states, paralyzing debt among farmers, followed by globalization with its shift of factories and jobs to low-wage countries. “Of course, an economic revolution as disruptive as...

The Globe’s Most Important Relationship

Morton Abramowitz January 8, 2008
China, Japan and the US may not enjoy the most comfortable of partnerships, considering each nation’s competitive streak and occasional differences over trade, global governance and security issues. But the partnership works and is improving, with the potential for resolving many regional and global problems, explains Morton Abramowitz, former US ambassador and senior fellow at the Century...

The Ink Fades on a Profession as India Modernizes

Anand Giridharadas January 7, 2008
As the conduit connecting service providers and consumers grows transparent, middlemen lose jobs. Illiteracy once guaranteed business for letter writers, but a growing economy that provides the resources for education, and affordable cell phone services has left letter writers jobless. This development appears to harm middlemen, but the jobs that technological advances generate more than...

Redder Than the Real Thing

Ian Williams January 7, 2008
To secure Chinese favor, the United States has devalued Taiwan’s quest for democracy. America’s official stance is pro-China, despite the inequality and injustice propagated by the Chinese government, says the author. Ironically, the superior form of governance is the form practiced by Taiwan, and that is the European-style social democracy, which America should appreciate more, logically...

What’s Your Consumption Factor?

Jared Diamond January 3, 2008
The average citizen of a wealthy nation consumes at a rate 32 times that of the average citizen of a poor nation, and a rising human population will present major problems if people consume at levels on display in the wealthiest nations. High consumption levels exacerbate environmental devastation, resource shortages, waste and other social problems. Citizens of the poorest countries are fully...

2008: Year of Reckoning?

Ernesto Zedillo December 21, 2007
Economists debate whether huge global imbalances are dangerous or matter of course. But a specific financial tool as simple as home loans in the US has revealed the intricate ties linking global financial markets, resulting in “the credit-crunch drama,” explains Ernesto Zedillo, director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. Recklessness in the sub-prime mortgage market has also...

For China and Vietnam, a Highway Link Means Speedy Growth

Donald Greenlees December 14, 2007
Investments in infrastructure contribute to economic growth, which in turn can reduce poverty. A new highway between China and Vietnam will encourage trade and many other connections, reports Donald Greenlees for the New York Times. The highway, when completed in 2012, is expected to reduce travel time between the two huge developing markets, ranked first and 13th in terms of population, both...