In The News

Jacob Threatens Sony with Boycott Campaign

December 3, 2002
When a global firm makes decisions based on global needs, local interests can feel the pain. Thousands of Indonesians may lose their jobs if Japanese electronics giant Sony goes ahead with plans to close a factory in Indonesia. Indonesia's Manpower Minister, however, is threatening to organize a boycott of Sony products if the company can't offer "clear reasons" why it plans...

Hollywood in the Era of Globalization

Allen J. Scott November 29, 2002
Hollywood films represent more than half, and sometimes more than two-thirds of total box-office receipts in major markets. Films that succeed in the US market also tend to succeed in foreign markets. This suggests that a convergence of popular taste may be coming about, though in many countries this phenomenon also occurs against a backdrop of cultural contestation. Hollywood has been a success...

US, Singapore on Brink of Sealing Free-Trade Pact

November 19, 2002
American and Singaporean negotiators spent most of last night negotiating the final terms of the first American-Asian free-trade agreement, which, if all goes smoothly, could be signed as early as next year. The two sides agreed on all but one major issue (that of capital transfers in-and-out of Singapore). Singapore’s geopolitical importance, with its modern technology and peaceful political and...

Business Key to Internet Use in Poor Nations

Frances Williams November 18, 2002
Regional and global supply chains need to be linked in order for business-to-business internet commerce to expand. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Unctad, reported that poor countries lack the needed infrastructure and skilled labor to establish and expand the business-to-business sector worldwide. Although Africa and Asia enjoyed internet use growth rates of almost 46%...

Job Subsidies May Clash with EU Law

Carola Schlagheck November 15, 2002
EU antitrust regulation has placed strict restrictions on government subsidies to private businesses. The German government’s plan to create jobs by financing job placement agencies and temporary employment contracts may contradict EU policy, and infringement proceedings against the country are pending. For the one million Germans who benefit from publicly-subsidized employment, the results of...

Malaysian State to Whip 400 Illegal Immigrants

November 15, 2002
After a four-month amnesty has expired for all illegal immigrants in Malaysia, one southern state is beginning to crackdown on stragglers. Over 400 illegal immigrants will be whipped for their failure to depart. These punitive measures have been decried by Indonesia and the Philippines. Yet along with such cruel and unusual punishment, Malaysia also seems to be biting the hand that feeds it....

Hathaway Closes Maine Factory, Last Major U.S. Shirt Plant

The Associated Press October 20, 2002
America’s industrial revolution was launched in the early 19th century by men like Francis Cabot Lowell, who set up textile mills with technology copied from Great Britain. Some textile mills still operate in the South, but the closure of the US’s last major shirt maker marks the end of an era in a globalizing world where production is perpetually in search of low-cost labor and rent....