In The News

After the Boom, The Bust. Now What?

Zhang Hong December 12, 2008
Unemployment is on the climb in China, possibly approaching as high as 20 percent, and that could trigger some social unrest. Having lost their jobs, several million migrant workers are returning to their rural homes. Journalist Zhang Hong suggests that any unrest will be minimal as long as workers can use their savings, reduce expenses and receive fair compensation for any work done. Students...

Lawyers Wanted: Abroad, That Is

John Bringardner December 8, 2008
As a result of a credit crunch, closure of major investment banks and economic recession, many American law firms seek to expand internationally to sustain profits. Previously, lawyers were unwilling to move abroad, but the economy is shifting attitudes, as evidenced by increasing numbers of applicants to law firms abroad, especially in wealthy places like Dubai and Hong Kong. Lawyers anticipate...

India’s Reverse Diaspora

Steven L. Raymer December 5, 2008
Indians still move abroad to work or study, but increasing numbers of restless immigrants are now turning to their ancestral land for opportunity. “By several estimates, between 50,000 and 60,000 information-technology professionals alone have returned to India from overseas since 2003, most to the suburbs of New Delhi, Hyderabad and especially Bangalore, the nexus of what Indians call their...

India Calling

Anand Giridharadas December 2, 2008
Immigrants tend to flow from poorer nations to wealthier ones, but on second thought, perhaps attitudes are more attractive than wealth. Indians moved to the West, escaping India’s constraints in the 1970s. But India’s economy has since enjoyed ample growth and its politicians matured, enacting policies that focused on privatization, liberalization and globalization. In recent years, the...

As China's Losses Mount, Confidence Turns to Fear

Ariana Eunjung Cha November 5, 2008
A global credit crisis has prompted consumers worldwide to slow spending, leading to shuttered factories in China. Leaders of China, like those throughout the world, worry that economic crisis could trigger political instability and demands for change. Growth in the domestic national product, whiles till approaching 10 percent, has been slow by Chinese standards. The government has acted...

Do You Really Want This Job?

David Dapice October 24, 2008
An era of the US living beyond its means has come to an abrupt end, with a flailing stock market and credit freeze, mounting job losses, wages that do not keep pace with climbing housing prices, and the world’s costliest health care system that fails to cover all citizens. The next US president, to be decided in the November 4 election, will inherit a battered economy that restrains any US role...

Unilateral Delusions

Joseph P. Quinlan October 20, 2008
US voters have an independent streak, preferring to overlook just how much American prosperity depends on foreign labor, capital and natural resources. Presidential candidates find it easy to attract voters, especially those worried about jobs and the economy, with anti-trade messages, and this year’s campaign is no different: Democrat Barack Obama criticizes firms that ship jobs overseas, while...