In The News

Seeing Green in Golf Courses

Sim Sung-tae September 30, 2004
In an effort to stimulate the country's economy, Korean officials are trying to increase the number of domestic golf courses being built. Hoping to keep Korean golfers – many of whom travel overseas to play – and their money at home, the Ministry of Finance and Economy claims that more golf courses will also create new jobs, attract tourists, and salvage Korea's struggling construction...

Where Did All the Jobs Go? Nowhere

Daniel W. Drezner September 29, 2004
The issue of outsourcing has figured quite prominently in US electoral politics this year. Despite the headlines and political rhetoric, points out political scientist Daniel Drezner, outsourcing is really a minor issue, accounting for less than one percent of mass layoffs last year. Technological innovation has a far larger impact on the American job market, though few pundits argue that...

The Price of Free Trade - Part I

Mustafizur Rahman September 29, 2004
Instituted some 30 years ago, the international Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA) set export quotas on all textile manufacturing nations. Some poorer countries, like Bangladesh and Cambodia, received larger quotas, which enabled them to attract foreign investment and sharply boost their earnings. Artificially protected from competition, they built their developing economies around the textiles...

Tremors of Global Insecurity Reach Shangri-La

Kesang Sherpa September 27, 2004
As the South Asian nation of Nepal has seen, the forces of globalization may be both a blessing and a curse. While open borders helped to develop trade, manufacturing, and tourism as the country's economic pillars, a Maoist insurgency has devastated the country in recent years. Amidst this social and financial crisis, Nepali workers overseas now bear the onus of supporting Nepal's...

Looms of Doom

Sutapa Mukerjee September 22, 2004
The collapse of the specialized silk industry in parts of India results from years of mismanaged industry policies and an influx of Chinese silk - a cheaper, more durable alternative. Five years ago, the Indian government allowed the free import of Chinese crepe silks, reversing a protectionist ban that had only served to produce a demand for smuggled Chinese goods. The new policy has seen a...

Budapest, the Next Bangalore? New EU Members Join the Outsourcing Race

Stefan Wagstyl September 21, 2004
American companies have become the world's leaders in outsourcing services to regions with low labor costs. Western European firms, previously slow to follow this global trend, have now begun outsourcing labor to central and eastern European countries, whose advantages include geographical proximity and language proficiency. Despite early optimism, a few obstacles lie ahead. First,...

In Some States, Foreign Trade Means Jobs

Timothy Aeppel September 21, 2004
When outsourcing started becoming a trend in America's many industries, Midwestern states, such as Ohio and Michigan, suffered the biggest job losses. Compared to other US regions, however, the Midwest experienced higher-than-average exports, which helped lessen the impact on employment. A Bank of America market strategist suggests that "the more integrated a state is with the global...