In The News

Connecting Developing Nations

Eric Sylvers February 20, 2006
Cell phone company executives boast about how their services and economic development improve the quality of life in poor countries. However, delivering cellular technology to the developing world is a business proposition as well as a humanitarian one. The world has plenty of untapped markets – Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America – and no two are alike. Two-thirds of the world’s...

Fuss About China Is Overdone

Guy de Jonquières February 20, 2006
The world has become “mesmerized” by China – hungry for its market and fearful of its increasing strength. In this article, Guy de Jonquières speculates about the possibility of an economic downturn for China and what that might mean for the world at large. Such an event, while unlikely, could emerge with “internally generated upsets” such as a property market crash or social unrest. His argument...

Companies in Emerging Markets Show Clout in Global Deal Game

Jason Singer February 17, 2006
Some critics of globalization think of market liberalization as “neo-colonialism.” Western companies, they claim, reap profits from exploiting cheap labor of the developing world. Yet recent corporate maneuvers suggest that globalization is a far more complex process. Since 2002, companies from emerging markets like India and China have bought up Western competitors with increasing frequency. The...

Keeping North Korea from the Brink – Part I

Peter Beck February 14, 2006
Countries throughout the north Pacific recognize the grave danger of the North Korean nuclear program, but lack a coherent strategy for restraining it. This two-part series examines the specific concerns for US and China in containing the program – as well as proposals for a long-term resolution. Peter Beck, an analyst with the International Crisis Group in Seoul, notes that US economic...

How Kenya Is Caught on the Thorns of Britain's Love Affair with the Rose

Jeevan Vasagar February 14, 2006
Kenya controls a quarter of the British rose market, and the flower, now the country’s second-largest export, is fueling much of the nation’s economic growth. Once blasted over low pay and poor working conditions, Kenya’s foreign-owned rose growers have cleaned up their act and reinvest some of their profits in Kenyan communities under the principles of fair trade. The flower industry’s...

China's Powerhouse Vision for 2050

Jonathan Watts February 13, 2006
China released a report from its leading research institute with an optimistic vision for the nation’s next 50 years. The projections depend on China undergoing a transition from a predominantly agricultural society to a suburban knowledge-based economy – and moving 500 million people closer to the cities. China would also have to maintain a strong growth rate, now at 9 percent. Noting that China...

Some Assembly Needed: China as Asia Factory

David Barboza February 10, 2006
Although a wealth of products pour into the US, bearing the label “made in China,” few are made completely in that nation at all. These days China is just the last stop in the complex global production networks run by multinational companies in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the US. By confusing between what really is assembled in China with the common label of “made in China,” one...