In The News

Egypt Pushes to Modernize Industry

October 25, 2005
Egypt is investing US$35 million in its National Supplier Development Program in an effort to prepare its protectionist economy for gradually-increasing openness to international trade. The venture targets small- and medium-size Egyptian businesses supplying larger "mother companies" whose size and efficiency allow them to compete far more effectively in the global marketplace....

US Labor Is in Retreat as Global Forces Squeeze Pay and Benefits

David Streitfeld October 19, 2005
This week, union workers at Delphi Corp. and General Motors will take drastic cuts in their pay and benefits. While the United States may be enjoying an economic recovery, workers in the auto industry and across the nation are contemplating lower wages just to keep their jobs. At the same time, they face a cost of living that has been rising faster than wage increases. But American workers may...

Cracks in the Social Net

Alexander Osang October 13, 2005
“We left that city like the colonial powers left Africa,” lamented the ex-head of personnel at what was one of the largest textile mills in North Carolina. In 2003, the Pillowtex plant, based in the city of Kannapolis, closed and laid off its five thousand workers overnight. In a region where unionization was militantly discouraged, the mill provided an entire framework of life for the community...

Brazil Regrets its China Affair

Matt Moffett October 12, 2005
Two years ago, to much fanfare, China and Brazil entered into a bilateral trade partnership, hoping to propel both populous, ambitious nations to the top of the development heap. With increased exports to China, Brazil made modest economic advances since entering the trade agreement. But in the same period, the world's textile quotas expired, leaving many world economies vulnerable to China...

Undue Fears of China Inc?

Paul Mooney September 29, 2005
Nearly two decades after fears of a Japanese industrial takeover reached fever pitch in the United States, expansionist moves by Chinese corporations have triggered alarms around the world. Last summer, when Chinese companies CNOOC and Haier attempted to buy Unocal and Maytag, respectively, American critics imagined the sinister hand of the Chinese state wrenching control of US assets and markets...

Muslim Malaysian Sailors Denied Jobs over Terror Fears

September 19, 2005
Though the years after the 9/11 attacks have already witnessed incidents of racial profiling against Muslims in the West, fears of terrorism are now making targets out of Muslims elsewhere in the world. The Malaysian Seafarers Association claimed recently that international shipping companies are not recruiting Muslim sailors and officers from Malaysia. Muslim Malays do not have last names, but...

Our House of Cards

Andrew Leonard September 16, 2005
Most critics of globalization point to the suffering of workers, the ordeals of displacement, or the brutality of poverty that it causes. Others, like Barry Lynn, former editor of Global Business, shirk such conventional leftist rhetoric. In his book, "End of the Line: The Rise and Coming Fall of the Global Corporation," Lynn sketches the demise of the prevailing economic order in its...