In The News

Our Dickensian Economy

Alan S. Blinder December 21, 2010
Britain’s prolific novelist Charles Dickens, 1812 to 1870, spent part of his childhood visiting his father in debtor’s prison, an experience that influenced themes of alienation, ambition and inequality in his work. Economist Alan Blinder, writing for the Wall Street Journal, evokes Dickens, detailing how US government policies promote growing social divides: unemployment concentrated among those...

Calls Mount Everywhere for Deportation of Illegal Immigrants

Joseph Chamie, Barry Mirkin December 20, 2010
Rags-to-riches tales of traders and adventurers who provided skills and innovations during their wanderings are among the more charming parts of world history. But such globalization could go into reverse in the modern era, even in democratic nations, as political parties rile voter anger over rising unemployment and security concerns, and make immigrants a scapegoat for economic crises, The top...

Falling Short on Skills

Nayan Chanda December 13, 2010
Technology has boosted industrial efficiency. Industrial growth, full employment and economic recovery require engineers, mechanics and a host of other highly skilled workers. Millions of jobs go unfilled in China, the US, Germany, India and other nations because managers in health-care, biomedical, aeronautical, energy, communication and other industries can’t find workers skilled in math,...

Chinese Workers Build MLK Memorial: Investigation

Annys Shin December 7, 2010
It’s an old debate: Should planners of symbolic projects rely on local workers or stretch funds by hiring immigrant labor? The latest project under scrutiny is construction of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, DC. Debt crisis in Greece delayed granite delivery, and critics slammed the Chinese sculptor’s original design. The foundation organizing the $120 million project...

UK to Relax Immigration Rules for the Rich

James Boxell November 25, 2010
The rich are different, as noted by more than one literary figure. To assist a struggling economy and keep pace with Canada, the US and other nations, Great Britain will relax some immigration rules to entice wealthy families and entrepreneurs from emerging economies like China, India and the Middle East, reports the Financial Times. The price for fast-track permits is £10 million, reducing the...

Global “Chop Shops”: Slice, Dice and Outsource

Farok J. Contractor October 27, 2010
Manufacturing and IT firms slice their work into parts, much like the chop shops that collect old cars, breaking them down into parts for resale and higher profits. Mangers divide tasks, sending work to points of the globe where costs and skills are most efficient for each task at hand. Farok J. Contractor, professor of management and global business, analyzes trends underway in the once-...

India-Ohio Outsourcing Ban

Rupa Chanda October 8, 2010
As US job creation remains stymied, governments at all levels enact protectionist measures. For example, the US has hiked fees for H1B visas for foreign professional workers, and with an unemployment rate exceeding 10 percent, the state of Ohio has banned outsourcing of IT or back-office work in government-funded projects, reports the East Asia Forum. Firms in India that bristle about such...