In The News

Bridges to Somewhere

Justin Yifu Lin September 15, 2011
Following the financial crisis of 2008, the developed world still faces weak growth prospects and dim employment forecasts, and leaders in the US and Europe urge debt reduction. In this Foreign Policy article, Justin Yifu Lin of the World Bank makes a strong case for global infrastructure initiative, encouraging developed countries to invest billions of dollars on infrastructure projects at home...

Portugal’s Jobless Graduates Flee to Africa and Brazil

Lucy Ash September 13, 2011
Despite troubled histories, colonial powers and their former colonies have maintained close relations, largely due to shared languages. This often resulted in what’s been called “brain drain,” the large-scale immigration of professionals from the former colonies to the former colonial powers in search of economic opportunity. Lucy Ash of BBC News describes a reversal in the traditional migration...

Arms Makers Eye Exports to Offset Pentagon Cuts

Jim Wolf September 12, 2011
With US politicians up in arms over deficits and debt, defense manufacturers anticipate sharp budget reductions for the US Department of Defense. US spending on defense nearly doubled in the decade following the 9/11 attacks, but even hardline politicians have expressed a new willingness to reduce defense spending, which makes up about 20 percent of the federal budget. Without incoming orders,...

Unemployment, Inc.: Six Reasons Why America Can't Create Jobs

Mark Trumbull September 12, 2011
High unemployment in the US and a sharp reduction in consumer spending depress economies around the globe. Economists warn that the US economy could be experiencing a structural shift, explains Mark Trumbull for the Christian Science Monitor. He lists six reasons for the long period of high unemployment: companies pushing for higher productivity among workers, while hiring workers on a temporary...

India’s Anti-Corruption Movement Wins – For Now

Ashok Malik September 1, 2011
Anna Hazare organized his public fast in New Delhi to strengthen anti-corruption legislation that was already winding its way through India’s parliament. Widespread public support, in particular among the middle class and youth, attracted immediate global attention and stunned India’s political establishment. After 12 days, the government capitulated, and Hazare ended the fast. But India’s...

Stopping the Vicious Cycle

Nayan Chanda August 29, 2011
In the face of economic crisis and massive imbalances, the leaders of the world’s large economies, the Group of 20 or G-20, are paralyzed. “The weakness of western leaders is compounded by an abject absence of ideas about how to rescue the world economy,” writes Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal’s editor, in his regular column for Businessworld. “Equally striking has been the silence of the BRICS – Brazil...

The Challenging Billions

David Bloom August 26, 2011
It took the world centuries to reach 1 billion people in 1800, and 6 billion more have been added since. Technological changes that provided jobs for billions and supported families are not so fast paced, notes David Bloom, a Harvard professor, in an essay for Project Syndicate: “A failure to absorb large numbers of people into productive employment could lead to mass suffering and myriad...