In The News

Globalization in Trouble – Part I

Bernard K. Gordon February 12, 2010
From financial woes to security worries, a new world seems to be dawning in which the process of globalization risks slowing down. In part one of a two part series, YaleGlobal looks at trade troubles that may arise from a non-trade failure. For all the praise of free and open trade creating prosperity in the post-World War II, analysts often forget how the stability of the international system...

Will Japan Emerge from its Shell? – Part I

Edward J. Lincoln February 3, 2010
For the world’s second largest economy, Japan takes a decidedly backseat approach to involvement in global affairs. While there are no rules to force global intercourse, Japan-specialist Edward J. Lincoln believes that as a key beneficiary and user of global public goods, Japan should become more involved. But the hurdles preventing greater interchange between the world and the Japanese are many...

China and Google: Searching for Trouble – Part II

Jeffrey Garten January 21, 2010
The China-Google tussle is about two visions of the future, according to international trade and finance professor Jeffrey Garten. It is about openness and globalization vs. stability and nationalism. For China, the desire is to continue to lift millions of its citizens out of poverty; if such a goal entails national stability, requiring control of the internet, so be it. To Westerners, who...

The New Rules: Globalization’s Next Wave of Integration

Thomas P.M. Barnett January 21, 2010
The global recession, rather than setting back economic integration, is actually deepening it by making companies create tighter, vertical supply chains that cut out the middle-man, with companies buying direct from the producer. A major example of this is Wal-Mart, which is using its global size to negotiate directly with suppliers to reduce costs but also to ensure security of supply. To the...

Immigration in Italy: Southern Misery

January 15, 2010
Rosarno, Italy has recently experienced a wave of anti-immigrant violence targeted at Africans, many of whom work as crop-pickers. Causes of such violence are multi-faceted. An influx of immigrants, many of whom entered illegally, created tensions with the existing population over employment and race. Worsening the situation, cheap citrus imports from countries like Spain and Brazil left Italian...

Globalization: After the Recession

Justin Lin January 6, 2010
While some developing country leaders may decry globalization as exploitation by a different name, World Bank economist Justin Lin argues that the world is far too integrated today for any one country to turn its back on globalization. Indeed, for developing countries to benefit from globalization they must learn from the lessons of history, particularly when it comes to employing the principle...

The Trade Factor

Nayan Chanda January 5, 2010
The precipitous drop in trade last year as a result of the global financial crisis was evidence of the heightened interconnectedness of the world’s major economies. But such interconnectedness was also one reason why trade protectionism – the bogey everyone feared would send the globe into another Great Depression – never rose to a level that threatened a recovery. Indeed, there were many calls...