In The News

Fed Chief Gives Seminar on History of Globalization

Edmund L. Andrews August 29, 2006
Governments must prepare their citizens for the increasing disruptions of new competition caused by the force of globalization. The world will face fewer disruptions if the “benefits of global economic integration are sufficiently shared,” urged Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve at an annual retreat. Increasing numbers of the world population – particularly emerging economic...

Why Globalization Is in Trouble – Part I

Branko Milanovic August 29, 2006
The dominant world powers historically pushed for globalization as a means of increasing wealth and influence. Yet those nations fret as the emerging powers of India and China embrace the same strategy. This two-part series by World Bank economist Branco Milanovic explores why both the world’s wealthiest and poorest nations fear globalization. In the first article, Milanovic argues that citizens...

A Muslim Militancy Born in Modernity Not Mosques

Faisal Devji August 29, 2006
After the surprise attacks of 9/11, the world has made great strides in the technical aspects of security, but stalled when it comes to the complex politics that lead to radical thinking. British police were successful in foiling a plot to attack planes traveling from the UK to the US. But more frightening is the fact that instigators were citizens of the UK, educated in a democratic society that...

Belief in a Worldwide Islamist Conspiracy Foolish

Max Hastings August 18, 2006
“He who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.” The proverb attributed to a 7th century Islamic caliph serves as a germane warning for the US. The Bush administration has amalgamated all Muslim opponents of US foreign policy into one group of “terrorist enemies,” and a more discriminating policy is necessary, argues author Max Hastings. He urges a policy that can differentiate between the just...

Globalization for the Rich

Sunita Narain August 17, 2006
In the 1980s, the world’s most industrialized nations deliberately set out to create standards of global integration and trade liberalization, often foisting policies upon less-developed nations that had little say in the negotiations. In the area of trade liberalization, the world’s richest countries refuse to reduce agricultural subsidies while insisting that developing nations expose their...

Europe's Muslims: Economic Worries Top Concerns About Identity

August 11, 2006
Muslims and non-Muslims alike in the UK share worries about growing Islamic extremism, even though European Muslims as a whole tend to favor moderate Islam, according to a spring 2006 poll on immigration and identity, conducted by the Pew Research Foundation. The results follow a year that included bombings in London and Madrid and the riots sparked by Danish cartoons, but were released before...

When Labor Loses Out to Trade

Gustav Ranis August 10, 2006
International trade raises the standard of living for most people in any country, but inevitably results in a loss of jobs for a few. The challenge for governments is identifying and implementing policies that support readjustment of those few workers at a reasonable cost. International trade accounted for about 4 percent of layoffs in Canada, the US and the EU in 2000, according to the...