In The News

The WTO – Faltering on Its Way to Success?

Edward Gresser August 12, 2008
The recent breakdown in the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations was largely described as “failure” by commentators around the globe. But the goal of eliminating poverty by opening global agriculture markets is ambitious, as negotiators tackled some very sensitive issues. The WTO requires that all 153 member nations reach consensus on any rules, yet despite that challenge, the...

Wave Goodbye to the Invisible Hand

Steven Pearlstein August 4, 2008
An economic era centered around globalization could be fading away, argues columnist Steven Pearlstein for the Washington Post. Developing nations will continue benefiting from trade agreements, albeit without the frenetic fast growth, while developed nations will see fewer cost savings based on low wages in far-off lands. “It is not the protectionists of the AFL-CIO or CNN who are primarily to...

Obama and the Illusion of Leadership

Jeremy Seabrook July 28, 2008
Europe is enthralled by Barack Obama, the Democratic presumptive nominee for US president. But columnist Jeremy Seabrook offers the reminder that real leadership requires more than charisma, humbleness or intelligence – and entails delivery of services and policy that improve communities and the world. A crowd of more than 200,000 turning out for Obama’s speech in Berlin demonstrates how global...

Globalization Requires Safety Net, UN Says

Michael A. Fletcher July 10, 2008
As globalization continues to connect distant places of the globe together, many citizens, even those in wealthy nations, face the consequences of “severe economic swings.” Disturbances in the economy resulting from intense competition come in many forms, including food shortages, rising income inequality or steadily increasing fuel prices. According to separate reports from the United Nations...

Tiny Voices Defy Child Marriage in Yemen

Robert F. Worth July 2, 2008
Poverty, combined with families producing more children than they can afford, can end childhood for girls as young as eight years of age. “Pulled out of school and forced to have children before their bodies are ready, many rural Yemeni women end up illiterate and with serious health problems,” writes Robert F. Worth for the New York Times. “Their babies are often stunted, too.” Some Islamic...

Big Issues for the Next President

David Wessel June 30, 2008
The US electorate holds high expectations for the next president – and most center on improving the economy. Yet most voters tend to overlook the multitude of connections that make up the economy, failing to realize how their choices on purchases or activities contribute to daily life and the societies where we live. The US president can provide great leadership by demonstrating such connections...

Labor Row

June 30, 2008
The economies of oil-rich nations depend on immigrant labor from Bangladesh to clean and build, fix and cook. Workers are separated for months from families and work in harsh conditions for low wages in countries with lavish lifestyles. The alleged murder of a Bahraini supervisor by a Bangladeshi mechanic has exposed the inequality and tensions that go hand in hand with relying on immigrant...