In The News

From Chiquita to Nike: Labor Activists Drive Corporations Bananas

John Lasker May 19, 2011
Labor activists try to devise innovative campaigns to catch attention of global consumers, exposing the source, labor and procedures behind popular products. Campaigns can range from stickers that explain the labor process to high-profile lawsuits on workers rights. An “effective tactic for supporting workers toiling at the roots of the global supply chain is simply gaining an understanding of...

A Future Scenario for Asia

Philip Bowring May 12, 2011
Asia accounts for 27 percent of the global economy and nearly 60 percent of the world’s population. Analysts anticipate growth and influence, but labels of an Asian Century could be premature, warns an Asian Development Bank report, analyzed by Philip Bowring for the Asia Sentinel. Asia has capacity for economic supremacy, the report maintains, but not certainty. Countries tend to fall into a “...

Sorry, We're Closed

Leo Cendrowicz May 11, 2011
Citizens of 25 European nations can cross those borders freely without delay, thanks to the Schengen Agreement of 1985, which abolished internal borders in lieu of a single external border and applies common rules on visas and border controls. But with unrest in North Africa, illegal immigration to Europe has climbed, and leaders of Italy and France have called for temporary imposition of border...

Peter Thiel: We’re in a Bubble and It’s Not the Internet – It’s Higher Education

Sarah Lacy April 25, 2011
Analysts prowl for the next bubble, and venture capitalist Peter Thiel argues that higher education is a likely candidate. In an article for TechCrunch by Sarah Lacy, Thiel compares higher-education costs with US housing prices: Both are touted as investments, promising long-term financial security; highly exclusive homes and educations can convey what Thiel calls “an unhealthy sense of...

Going Home: The Polish Migrants Who Lost Jobs and Hope in UK

Amelia Gentleman April 11, 2011
For Poles, the UK has long been a destination for opportunity. But the promise of prosperity is deceptive, as higher wages in the UK are accompanied by a higher cost of living. Competition for employment is intense, with a strained UK economy and dwindling numbers of construction, janitorial and restaurant jobs, writes Amelia Gentleman for the Guardian. Young migrants from Poland increasingly...

Visa Curbs Will Cut Overseas Students by 80,000, Says Theresa May

Alan Travis March 29, 2011
Great Britain’s dynamic campuses draw ambitious students from around the globe, the likes of India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former US President Bill Clinton and Charles Kao, the so-called Father of Fiber Optics. But campuses may be less inviting as the government aims to reduce total net immigrants to 100,000 per year. Students account for the bulk of visas issued to non-EU immigrants,...

Now Feeling Free, But Still Without Work, Tunisians Look Toward Europe

Scott Sayare March 28, 2011
Zarzis and other cities of Tunisia celebrate new openness and freedoms since the 14 January departure of longtime dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. But jobs and economic promise have been slow to materialize. The revolution and fears of violence even exacerbated economic challenges, including a slowdown in tourism and investment, reports Scott Sayare for the New York Times. Sayare adds that youth...