In The News

Technology Boosts Bangladesh Migrant Job Search

Anbarasan Ethirajan November 9, 2011
The Bangladeshi government has turned to technology to assist its citizens in looking for jobs overseas. Any worker can now post his or her resume, national identification and passport details on a government website portal, which can then be viewed by foreign employers. This process reduces transaction costs related to attaining jobs overseas, particularly payoffs to corrupt middlemen, and rural...

World Will Miss Economic Benefit of 1.8 Billion Young People

Fiona Harvey October 31, 2011
As the population hits the 7 billion mark, the world contemplates the challenges in providing adequate education, jobs and other opportunities for growing numbers of youth. The largest cohort of youth in the world’s history can represent great potential or missed opportunities. A UN report warns that the potential economic benefits of having such a large global population of young people could go...

Colliding Forces

James Crabtree October 25, 2011
Widening inequality, easy proximity between poor nations and rich, exacerbate the many temptations of undocumented immigration. Angst is building in immigration hotspots – the Italian island of Lampedusa or along Mexican borders, both north and south – because citizens recognize that immigration pressures will only expand, explains James Crabtree for the Financial Times. He explains that citizens...

Chinese Scientist Admits Stealing Trade Secrets in US

October 20, 2011
A Chinese scientist, a permanent resident in the US who worked in the agro industry, has pled guilty to stealing trade secrets on pesticide and food products from two US employers, reports the BBC News. He was charged under the US 1996 Economic Espionage Act. The article suggests that greed or career ambitions can prompt such exchanges as much as patriotism. In the case of biotechnologist Kexue...

US Falls Behind in Global Race for Talent

Bruce Stokes October 17, 2011
The US has long attracted the world’s top talent coming to its shores for study and work and benefited richly from their innovations. Advanced engineering, math and science programs of US universities depend on students from China, India and South Korea: More than a third of the US doctoral-level science and engineering workforce was born outside the United States, reports Bruce Stokes,...

So Many US Manufacturing Jobs, So Few Skilled Workers

Lucia Mutikani October 17, 2011
A disconnect hampers US economic recovery: Manufacturing plants based in the US struggle to fill jobs, even with 14 million Americans searching for work. American students prefer studies in the social sciences, arts and business. Math, engineering, technology and computer science degrees account for less than 10 percent of college diplomas. For jobs that don’t require degrees, vocational...

Beyond the PC

Martin Giles October 14, 2011
Getting computers into more hands over the past two decades spurred innovation: Early in Apple’s history, the late Steve Jobs, 56, encouraged company secretaries to train in computer skills and offer ideas, one Wall Street Journal columnist reminisced. Thus a desktop meeting scheduler was born. Merging smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices – all developed and promoted by Jobs – into...