In The News

Come One, Come All

Edward Glaeser July 12, 2007
Globalization has contributed to a decline in manufacturing cities like Detroit, forcing firms to confront foreign competitors. Other cities, like New York, reap benefits from globalization, argues Harvard professor Edward Glaeser. New York City thrives on producing ideas, and globalization spurs innovation. Innovation emerges in communities where people thrive on education, exchanging ideas and...

Taking Stock

July 5, 2007
As shares on the Chinese stock market fall due to a government decision to raise share transaction taxes, experts warn that the decline is only temporary. China’s share prices quadrupled over the past 18 months. Furthermore, the World Bank predicts that China’s economic growth for 2007 will reach 10.4 percent. But the Chinese market is not invincible. Perhaps the greatest risks to the Chinese...

Fast, Freewheeling Globalization for All

Susan Froetschel July 5, 2007
Any attempts to analyze globalization must wrestle with its heady speed. Daniel Altman’s latest book, Connected: 24 Hours in the Global Economy, is one such effort. Altman, who also writes a column on managing globalization for the International Herald Tribune, uses a sample of events from a single day – June 15, 2005 – to analyze all manner of economic connections. He suggests that every person...

The Life of the Chinese Gold Farmer

Julian Dibbell July 4, 2007
World of Warcraft, produced by Blizzard Entertainment, is one of the most profitable massively-multiplayer-online (MMO) games in history. Players collect currency to buy weapons and other gear to fight monsters, by looting or selling items to other players. At a normal playing rate, the process of collecting currency, known as “the grind,” takes about four months to complete. However, Chinese...

The Next Globalization Backlash

Sebastian Mallaby July 3, 2007
Globally, with national reserves growing, countries move spare cash into sovereign wealth funds. Oil-rich countries, such as Russia and Nigeria, have experienced high growth rates, and it is unlikely that hydrocarbon prices will fall anytime soon. A global trade imbalance also spurs the funds’ growth. East Asian countries, such as China and Japan, have accumulated large sums, while the US...

A Lesson That Thomas Could Teach

David Leonhardt June 29, 2007
For the past two decades, US firms have relied on an outsourcing strategy: They move manufacturing operations overseas where they can employ workers for low wages, distancing themselves from production and condoning secrecy about factory practices. But this strategy has repercussions: After learning that Thomas the Tank Engine toys, manufactured in China, have lead paint, businesses tried to...

Expert View: Outsourcing Is Out – It's a Political Cold Potato

Chris Walker June 28, 2007
Companies began outsourcing tasks, including payroll processing, in the 1960s. As the information-technology sector grew, so did the number of outsourced jobs. Today, all types of jobs, from low-level data entry to the transfer of intellectual property, are outsourced from high-wage to low-wage areas. Experts estimate that in India, call centers employ more than a million people, which some...