In The News

Saudis Behead an Indonesian Maid

June 26, 2011
Crimes and punishments that cut across borders provoke global judgments on differences in culture and legal systems. Individual players in the sensational dramas represent their nations. Poor nations send millions of workers, 75 percent of them women, overseas as unskilled labor. Given the power imbalance, contracts, if any, are unenforceable. The migrant workers have few protections and are...

Good for Obama’s Jobs Council, Good for America?

Jia Lynn Yang June 17, 2011
There was a time when what was good for US companies was good for America. But, the US government and US-based multinational firms may no longer share the same formula for the good life. President Obama appointed a 26-member jobs council, including corporate leaders from General Electric, Intel and Citibank, to advise on creating US jobs and growing the economy. Jobs often follow revenue and...

People on the Move – Part II

Steven Borowiec June 16, 2011
Poorer nations drive the world’s population growth while developed nations with aging populations are in need of young labor. Strategic policies on immigration can fill the gaps, but social, economic and diplomatic challenges emerge when the immigrants are treated as less than equal partners. With a low birth rate, South Korea seeks immigrants to work in construction, manufacturing and agri-...

Defenders of the Schengen Zone Face a Battle

Stanley Pignal June 7, 2011
Economic and social unrest in North Africa contribute to increasing illegal immigration to Europe, and extremist parties take advantage of the turmoil to blast European cooperation over open borders. “At the very least, there will be new ways for countries to re-impose temporary border controls within the Schengen zone, which has expanded since its inception in 1995 to include most EU countries...

Measuring the Human Cost of an iPad Made in China

John Bussey June 6, 2011
Lower standards in workplace protections in China, along with the ample supply of low-cost labor, minimize manufacturing costs for Apple and other technology firms. Consumers demand low prices, companies pursue profits and the Chinese want jobs and economic growth. John Bussey of the Wall Street Journal describes how contract manufacturers satisfy those goals while shielding governments and...

As China’s Workers Get a Raise, Companies Fret

Keith Bradsher May 31, 2011
Much like bargain-hunting consumers who go online to compare prices, workers around the globe are using Facebook and other social media to compare notes on workplace conditions and salaries, reports Keith Bradsher for the New York Times. The result is double-digit wage hikes, leading to higher prices for shoppers and shrinking profit margins for companies. Apparel factories are concentrated in...

513 Migrants in Two Tractor-Trailers

Ioan Grillo May 20, 2011
Mexican police, screening tractor-trailers for illegal cargo with X-rays, detected more than 500 people crammed inside two trucks. US border controls and kidnapping dangers in Mexico force immigrants to turn to smuggling cartels. Each immigrant reportedly paid smugglers $7000 for passage to the US – more than $3.5 million in all. “[A]mid the drug war, Mexico's southern border has become...