In The News

Europe Looks East – Part II

Shada Islam February 1, 2008
The European Union is uneasy, grappling with the effects of globalization on its economy. Public opinion leans toward protectionism and, as Shada Islam suggests in the second of a two-part series, that pushes policymakers to take an aggressive stance against China, a country often associated with the benefits and downside of globalization: In its economic boom, China has benefited from the large...

Jobs for the Children of Globalization

Tim Weber January 29, 2008
Today’s children, the future workforce for the world, will confront intense competition in a world where workers are mobile, projects can be shipped instantly over the internet and customers everywhere demand bargain prices. Advising children to pursue an education is no longer adequate. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, a session on career advice for children was overbooked; attendees...

“Ancient” Forgeries Fool Art Markets

Matthias Schulz January 24, 2008
As the world accumulates more wealth, eager investors pay exorbitant fees for art. To help supply meet frenzied demand, art forgery is also on the rise. Even established collectors, including governments and museums, get fooled, reports Matthias Schulz for Spiegel Online. Globalization and advances in technology – with new chemicals; access to antiquated stone, paper or even tools; and elaborate...

Virus On Jet Plane

Nayan Chanda January 22, 2008
The speed and frequency of today’s travel has placed individuals at risk to the spread of many infectious diseases. As Nayan Chanda points out, governments facing these challenges should be more vigilant than ever to avoid future epidemics. Full cooperation with the WHO must also be achieved. In an interconnected world, it is important everyone recognizes that our health and well-being is...

Closing a Legal Gap Between China and WTO 　

Xi Si January 18, 2008
Governments are big spenders, and the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Government Procurement opens government purchases to international competition. The voluntary agreement, in effect since 1996, currently has 28 members, all developed nations, who agree to regulations and schedules. China has also applied, but other members balk at that application: “Chinese state-owned enterprises…are...

Solving a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside a Cookie

Jennifer 8. Lee January 18, 2008
Fortune cookies are popular in Chinese restaurants the world over, everywhere but China. Japanese researcher Yasuko Nakamachi theorizes the absence is because the cookies originated in Japan, as evidenced by references in Japanese literature and art decades before the early 1900s. California restaurants with Japanese owners introduced the dessert between 1907 and 1914, reports author Jennifer Lee...

Workers’ Paradise?

Kenneth Rogoff January 17, 2008
The expansion of global trade eroded the status of national and local unions. Yet as many workers in the world’s wealthiest nations worry about the status of their jobs, politicians who want to win and stay in office increasingly respond to the anxiety by pandering to unions. “After decades of vilification by economists for raising unemployment and strangling growth, the union movement is now...