In The News

The Great U-Turn

Patrick Barta, Joel Millman June 18, 2009
Over the past century, individuals seeking to better their lives have seen the US as the land of opportunity. But the recent economic recession has apparently changed this view, as some immigrants are deciding to return home, for good. But it is not just the US that faces this new trend. This year, many developed countries have seen double digit year-over-year drops in immigration rates from...

Declining Immigration Slows Asian, Hispanic Growth

Hope Yen, Thu May May 14, 2009
Prior estimates of when minorities would overtake majorities in the US have been altered thanks to changes in immigration trends. Policies enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks are part of the cause for the change, but analysts surmise that the economic meltdown has had an effect as well. The US may no longer appear to be the land of opportunity for immigrants. Yet, while the inflow of people has...

Capitalism Divides

Nayan Chanda May 6, 2009
As pundits debate whether intervention in financial markers, or the lack thereof, was the cause of the current financial crisis, what is missing from the debate is a critique of capitalism. Whether greed multiplied 30 times through the use of debt and derivatives or the vicious cycle of twin deficits and currency manipulation caused the collapse misses the point. Assuming capitalism is safe – the...

Japan Pays Foreign Workers to Go Home

Hiroko Tabuchi April 24, 2009
After allowing low-skilled laborers of Japanese descent from South America to work there for years, Japan is offering them pay packages and incentives to return to their home country with only one condition: don’t come back. The policy – meant to stem rising unemployment – is related to the slump in Japanese manufacturing that has been exacerbated by the global financial crisis. Many academics...

Wall Street Still Finds Ways to Hire Foreigners

Robin Sidel April 15, 2009
Wall Street banks that have received money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, “TARP”, are employing innovative methods to work around some of the migrant labor restrictions: relocating workers to international offices. One of the stipulations of TARP is that recipients prove that they have tried to hire American workers for the same job and that foreigners aren’t replacing US citizens when...

The G-20 and the Future of Capitalism – Part III

Pranab Bardhan April 3, 2009
In the third part of our series on the G-20 and the Future of Capitalism, Berkeley economics professor Pranab Bardhan suggests perhaps much to the chagrin of its naysayers, capitalism is here to stay. But chastened by the crisis, it is likely to take on a much milder form. Financial asset growth will slow; producers rather than traders will resume precedence; and financial regulation will...

The Road Not Taken

March 20, 2009
The ability of workers to move for jobs, both inside a country and out, promotes business flexibility, the best use of skills and individual prosperity. But home ownership and a lack of universal health insurance have reduced mobility in the US, reports the Economist. People typically escape bad circumstances by moving to new locations, but Americans are trapped in overpriced homes and fear...