In The News

Huddled Classes

November 21, 2008
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development released results of a 2006 study on how migrant children fare in host countries, based on performance in language, math and science. One conclusion is that “almost everywhere immigrant students fare worse than locals,” largely because of difficulties with language, yet first-generation immigrant children tend to have more motivation than...

The Limits of Growth – Part I

Bo Ekman November 21, 2008
The double whammy of two global crises – recession and climate change – emerged after too many of the world’s citizens pursued lifestyles that the planet simply cannot sustain. This YaleGlobal series explores the limits of growth and calls for global governance that will encourage sustainable lifestyles that could ensure the planet’s survival. Fractured regional or national governance only...

Fierce Democratic Struggle Shapes Globalization

Salil Tripathi November 19, 2008
The world watches in amazement as India, with about one-sixth of the world's population and great diversity, chalks up impressive economic growth. Large-scale changes as India develops, though, are not wrought without friction. In recent decades an entrenched bias has favored city growth, argues journalist Salil Tripathi, while two-thirds of the country's billion-plus people remain...

A Sea of Unwanted Imports

Matt Richtel November 19, 2008
Even as US automakers plead for government bailout funds, millions of dollars worth of foreign cars pile up at US docks. US Dealers decline the new vehicles because of a global credit crunch and consumer wariness about job loss. Japanese and German car companies resort to leasing space in US ports, and “They are turning dozens of acres of the nation’s second-largest container port into a parking...

Not a Bad Weekend’s Work

November 17, 2008
The Group of 20 meeting of world leaders did not offer solutions on the global economic crisis, but did produce a detailed plan for financial reform, including reviving the Doha Round on trade and pledging to avoid protectionism. “This was the first time that the leaders of all these rich and emerging economies – which between them represent almost 90% of global GDP – had gathered for an economic...

How the Mobile Phone in Your Pocket is Helping to Pay for the Civil War in Congo

Mike Pflanz November 14, 2008
An abundance of rare minerals bless and curse the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Raw columbium-tantalite ore, commonly known as coltan, is ground to make a heat- resistant powder used in capacitors for mobile telephones and other electrical devices, reports Mike Phlanz. The bulk of the world’s supply is inside war-torn Congo. “The links between Congo's vast riches and its blood-stained...

Industrial Policy Puts Global Cooperation at Risk

Patricia Wruuck November 14, 2008
Leaders gathering in Washington DC for a G20 summit to discuss the global financial crisis recognize that a global response is required. Any new financial architecture also requires international cooperation – even as the economic slowdown increasingly triggers calls for protectionist measures at the domestic level. For example, US carmakers clamor for government aid to resolve problems – such as...