In The News

In Singapore, A Local Switzerland for Asia's Wealthy

Wayne Arnold January 11, 2008
Singapore’s authoritarian order and highly regulated environment attracts foreign investors who value banking secrecy. Coupling a pro-business stance with amenities that appeal to the wealthy, Singapore has become a haven for private banking. While suppression of free speech and artistic expression is bothersome, Wayne Arnold reports for the International Herald Tribune that internal security...

2007 DMN Texan of the Year: The Illegal Immigrant

January 4, 2008
Undocumented immigrants are no longer a rarity in the US, representing a hefty and growing percentage of workers in the cleaning, agriculture, food-processing, landscaping, restaurant and construction industries. US immigration rates since 2000 have exceeded those from previous historical periods, and government enforcement has essentially vanished. The Dallas Morning News, in naming a "...

Slave Labor That Shames America

Leonard Doyle January 3, 2008
The agricultural sector keeps costs low by relying on immigrant labor to harvest fruits and vegetables quickly and efficiently. Employers confront rising energy costs and consumers balk at higher prices. With a political environment that encourages public resentment over illegal immigration, many employers take advantage of the vulnerable illegal workers, reducing pay and imposing brutal work...

As Immigration Debate Generates Heat, Dust Gathers on a Workable Plan

Joseph Chamie December 18, 2007
For two centuries, the US grew and flourished with the world's most open immigration policy. But with the public worried about growing illegal immigration and politicians trying to outdo one another with an anti-immigrant stance, the issue has moved from reason to rhetoric. As a topic, immigration has tripped many a politician in US election campaigns, and the 2008 presidential race is no...

In France, Discrimination on Upswing as Violence Smolders

Katrin Bennhold December 10, 2007
About 10 percent of France’s population is Muslim. Yet Arabs, even those armed with education degrees and solid experience, struggle to find work in the country. Researchers have documented the discrimination by sending out resumes with identical experiences, from applicants with French and Arab names. The French names attract more job offers than Arab names by a ratio of 20 to one. The research...

How the Next US President Might Deal With Trade

Edward Gresser December 6, 2007
With lifelong loyalty to a single company no longer the norm, fewer US businesses provide insurance and pensions for their laborers. At the same time, more firms replace US jobs with computers or low-cost labor abroad. As a result, Americans are anxious about jobs – and who will pick up the costs for their health care and retirement. In this context, candidates for US president on the right and...

Western Union Empire Moves Migrant Cash Home

Jason DeParle December 5, 2007
Technology and circumstances can lift or dash industry fortunes in a heartbeat. Western Union was a company that went bankrupt in the early days of the internet. But even as the internet became established in homes and offices, worker mobility increased, with growing numbers of migrants looking for safe, easy ways to send money home to families. So Western Union is back in business, earning...