In The News

Patent Pitfalls on China’s Road of Clones

Chris Buckley June 21, 2005
As part of a drive to both improve the rule of law and encourage entrepreneurship, China is seeking to improve its patent regulations. For Chinese inventors, patents both in China and abroad mean increased revenue and access to new markets. Unfortunately, despite the many efforts that Chinese innovators are making to protect their creations against intellectual property theft, the terms of...

In Spite of Offshoring, US Students Can Still Engineer a Career

David Wessel June 20, 2005
A new report by McKinsey & Co. concludes that the nominal demand for engineering jobs in the US will not wane in the next few years in spite of the potential of offshoring. While there are more university-trained professionals in low-wage countries, many of them, according to the report, are unfit for the jobs demanded by foreign employers. Furthermore, it concludes that by the end of the...

Free to Take Exceptions to "Free Trade"

Gregory Clark June 17, 2005
A top economic advisor to the Japanese government, Gregory Clark, argues that globalization and free trade do not always add up to global prosperity. Infant industries have historically benefited more from national trade protection than they have under free trade. The idea that protectionist measures only reward inefficient sectors and do not improve them in the long term is a crucial tenet of...

Chinese Shoe Sales Strain EU Trade Ties

Tobias Buck June 9, 2005
China's shoe exports to Europe have increased nearly seven-fold since the beginning of January, when trade quotas limiting its textile and clothing output were abandoned. Low-priced and abundant, Chinese-manufactured footwear has skyrocketed in market share, panicking European shoemakers who fear that their jobs and sales are threatened. Many are calling on Brussels to adopt anti-dumping...

The World in the iPod

Andrew Leonard June 8, 2005
The iPod, one of Apple's most successful products is not "made" by Apple at all. Apple designed the product, but the components are assembled in China by two Taiwanese firms. This Salon.com article takes a broad view of PortalPlayer, the company that developed the essential iPod microchip, examining the pattern of globalization and outsourcing in the technology industry. The...

Next for the West Are Cars "Made in China"

Geoff Dyer June 1, 2005
Automakers may see China as a growing market, but soon they may face unexpected competition from a number of manufacturers who are seeking to export to the West, as well. Several Chinese companies have already begun a trial run in the Middle East to prepare for the US market, the goal of more than two decades of attempts to build a competitive car industry. The Chinese companies will encounter...

Drug Deal

Kelly Hearn May 26, 2005
In coming weeks, the US Congress may ratify the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), creating a new free trade area. One of the often-overlooked but controversial aspects of the agreement is its intellectual property protections. According to journalist Kelly Hearn, the new protections could halt production of the generic medications that AIDS patients depend on...