In The News

The Global Footprint of an Indian Outsourcing Giant

Joe Bolger March 21, 2005
Bombay businessman Subramaniam Ramadorai and his company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), are looking for farther shores and a broader base to operate their ever-growing partnerships with western businesses. TCS, a multibillion dollar group based in India, has been among the strongest actors in the movement to outsource work from the West. The firm has many prominent big-business clients in...

HSBC to Double Offshore Jobs

Mark Bendeich March 16, 2005
Global banking giant HSBC plans to shift a large number of Western clerical and call-center operations to lower-cost areas, according to a top executive. In the next three years, HSBC may employ as many as 25,000 workers in Asia, offshoring thousands of jobs in a move that would save the company over US$1 billion. Though outsourcing has raised many eyebrows among skeptics – US and European...

Dollar's Fall Silences Africa's Garment Factories

Michael Wines March 14, 2005
The fall of the US dollar has begun to have a real and tangible effect upon southern African economies. In countries like Lesotho, where the struggling economy is dependent upon the garment industry, closing factories have cost thousands of jobs in the past months. Competition from the giant Chinese apparel industry contributes to the sudden squeeze, but the key factor, writes the New York Times...

Oil Fuels Beijing's New Power Game

Ziad Haider March 11, 2005
As China's industry continues to grow apace, so does its energy needs. In the next quarter-century, China is expected to account for more than one-fifth of growth in world energy demand. As Ziad Haider writes, Beijing's pursuit of fuel resources and safe supply routes may have implications for regional and global geopolitics. Considering competing Western energy demand – and, crucially...

Central Asia Is Corrupted by Cotton

Quentin Peel March 10, 2005
Though many developing countries are cheering a recent WTO ruling declaring US agricultural subsidies illegal, indigent farmers in Central Asia will never know the difference. Since the dismantling of the Soviet regime, the cotton industries in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan have been hijacked by wealthy insiders. Working with international traders, middlemen sell expensive inputs to...

Leveraging the Dragon: Toward "An Africa That Can Say No"

Chris Alden March 1, 2005
China is extending its economic influence to every corner of the world, and natural-resource-rich Africa is no exception. Between 2000 and 2003, China-Africa trade volume increased from US$10 billion to US$18 billion. However, some fear that this bilateral relationship is not built on equitable terms. According to economist Chris Alden, Africa's trade deficit with China has increased...

Don't Blame Wal-Mart

Robert B. Reich February 28, 2005
Multinational giant Wal-Mart is notorious for its anti-union stance and questionable labor practices. But, as Robert B. Reich opines, "Isn't Wal-Mart really being punished for our sins?" Reich suggests that US consumers, in their quest for bottom-dollar bargains, continue to shop at low-price retailers – thereby enabling their practices. In the competition to stay afloat,...