In The News

Global Risk of US Credit Crisis – Part II

David Crane September 24, 2007
The globalization of finance has made vast amounts of capital available to many across the world, allowing select leading firms and individuals to become fabulously wealthy. But a lack of effective regulation and opaqueness of many financial instruments also exposed many firms and individuals to enormous risk. Globally connected financial markets and high-speed technology mean that one nation’s...

Global Risk of US Credit Crisis – Part I

David Dapice September 21, 2007
Uncertainty swirling in the US financial markets and the Federal Reserve's rate cut leave world players, along with US homeowners and investors, in a quandary. In the first part of this series, economist David Dapice analyzes the global implications as the uncertainty and lack of confidence associated with the credit crunch spread beyond US borders, hurting banks in Europe and investors in...

Google Urges UN to Set Global Internet Privacy Rules

Bobbie Johnson September 21, 2007
The introduction of Google Street View – photographic images of street-level landmarks and people – sparked concern from consumers about loss of privacy and abuse of the internet. Internet users around the world are already alarmed by poor security displayed by some internet banking and other online services, so technology companies, including Google, prod international organizations such as the...

Fading Superpower?

David Rieff September 19, 2007
A favorite topic for many Washington politicos is how long will the United States hang on to its role as world's sole superpower. Most suspect the US will stand alone as top power well into the future, because other countries have not hurried to develop similar power or assume global responsibility and also because most world leaders appreciate how the US provides economic stability and...

No Thanks, And Keep Your Farm Aid

Joel Stein September 18, 2007
The international humanitarian organization, CARE, rejected $45 million in aid from the US government, suggesting that dumping huge amounts of wheat and other US-grown crops into developing markets only drives local farmers out of business and aggravates poverty. According to Joel Stein, Los Angeles Times columnist, the US insists on a distribution system that “only a huge bureaucracy or a really...

Globalization Was Good Then, Not Now

Mark Thirlwell September 17, 2007
Even as economists fret about sustaining global economic integration and politicians in the wealthiest nations make opposition to globalization a winning campaign theme, the phenomenon continues to connect the world. Such a dichotomy may not continue for long, warns economist Mark Thirlwell. Growing alarm in the developed nations stems from the emergence of powerful competitors in the developing...

Cut Fuel Use and the Trade Deficit

Bruce Stokes September 14, 2007
An old saying suggests that “killing two birds with one stone” is the height of efficiency. Pressuring China to re-set the yuan to a higher value and cut subsides has not helped to lower the US trade deficit. Instead, the US could take immediate action regarding one major import, suggests Bruce Stokes. “Net US outlays for imported oil and natural gas exceed the nation’s trade balance with China,...