In The News

American Graduates Finding Jobs in China

Hannah Seligson August 19, 2009
Faced with near double-digit unemployment at home, US college graduates are flocking to China due to its growing economy, entrepreneurial atmosphere and lower cost of living, not to mention its low urban unemployment. What is perhaps surprising is that a number of these graduates knew little about China or its language before arriving. But the opportunity for quick advancement proved more...

Mass Effect of Global Downturn

Cithara Paul August 17, 2009
In 2004, news of a tiny Kerala church in India holding a Mass to pray for the renowned British soccer player David Beckham fascinated the global media. Although Beckham’s celebrity certainly contributed to the focus, “Mass intentions” – applying a Mass for a specific purpose – had been around long before the media took notice. What is perhaps new is outsourcing Mass intentions to India where...

What About the BRICs?

John Frankenstein August 13, 2009
In the current financial crisis, the world has pinned its hopes on Brazil, Russia, India, and China – known as the BRICs – to lift the global economy out of its funk. And while some of these countries may have more positive growth prospects than the developed world, there’s more to economic strength than GDP and stock market indices, according to Professor John Frankenstein. Indeed, on many...

Driving Out of Germany, to Pollute Another Day

Carter Dougherty August 12, 2009
Old polluting German cars meant to be destroyed are being smuggled into the developing world, particularly Eastern Europe. Started in January 2009, Germany’s “cash for clunkers” program pays people up to $3,500 to give up an old car for a more environmentally-friendly one. Unlike the US program, which stipulates that engines be destroyed, the German program only requires clunkers to be left at...

Cambodia Has to Cope With its Global Connection

Anne-Laure Porée August 11, 2009
Once the poster child for the benefits of globalization, Cambodia is now being asked to cope with its darker side in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The four pillars of the country’s economy – tourism, garment-making, construction, and agriculture – are feeling the global pinch in their various ways, writes journalist Anne-Laure Porée. Tourism is down thanks to the global stay-at-home...

Japan Pays Foreign Workers to Go Home

August 10, 2009
The hard times of the global economic crisis has forced foreign workers in Japan into a quandary. “To leave or not to leave?” This is perhaps the question that most foreign workers will be asking themselves as the government tempts them with thousands of dollars in exchange for agreements to permanently leave the country. If they return under this program, they will be ineligible to reapply for a...

Doctors in Cuba Start Over in the US

Mirta Ojito August 7, 2009
Within the last six years about six thousand medical professionals have left Cuba. The numbers escalated in 2006, aided by the Department of Homeland Security’s program to welcome to the US, Cuban medical personnel studying or working in a third country under the auspices of the Cuban government. Over two thousand Cubans have escaped to the US under this parole program. While the outflow of its...