In The News

An Uncertain Victory for China’s Workers

Lyle Morris June 24, 2008
China’s expansion, fueled by cheap exports that poorly paid workers produce, may slow with a new labor law in force. The law aims to protect laborers and improve global perceptions of China’s human-rights record. Companies in China, both domestic and foreign, have been notorious about hiring workers with short-term contracts. The law provides higher wages and greater job security, including a...

Can the US Bring Jobs Back from China?

Pete Engardio June 23, 2008
Despite a decline in the dollar and a spike in oil prices, finding a US manufacturer eager to develop prototypes for new products or compete for contracts is not easy. Not only does the US fail to compete in industries that require ample cheap labor, it also struggles to compete in terms of innovation. “American factories and supplier networks in many industries have withered in the era of...

Spain, Like US, Grapples With Immigration

Jason DeParle June 19, 2008
Millions of non-citizens, with 600,000 recently legalized, power Spain’s economy. The once illegal immigrants now command higher wages and enjoy job security. But a recent economic downturn has spurred unemployment, and Spanish citizens looking for work are understandably dissatisfied. Throughout open Europe, many critics question whether legalization programs approved in the southern countries...

Stung by Soaring Transport Costs, Factories Bring Jobs Home Again

June 18, 2008
Rising energy costs are putting the brakes to rapid globalization – and in some cases even reversing gears. Manufacturers are rethinking any plans to open new factories in low-wage nations, and some even ponder returning factories to the US and Mexico from China, reports Timothy Aeppel for the Wall Street Journal. Transportation costs are now equal to a 9 percent tariff on US imports, notes one...

China and Wal-Mart: The Champions of Equality

Christian Broda June 5, 2008
Workers worry about being on the losing side of trade and losing jobs. But inflation and higher prices can also quickly erode wealth. “National statistics ignore the fact that inflation affects people in different income groups unevenly because the rich and poor consume different baskets of goods,” writes Christian Broda for the Financial Times. In the US, where unemployment stands at about 5...

EU Enlargement: The Dark Side of Globalization

June 2, 2008
As the European Union opened trade and borders, foreign investors set up shop in communities throughout the former Soviet Republic. For example, Samsonite opened a factory in Samorin, Slovakia, in 1997. But the jobs and economic development were short-lived, with Samsonite moving its production line on to China a decade later. “Samorin is a witness to the way that globalisation is fragmenting as...

Perceptions and Realities of Globalization

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard May 30, 2008
Globalization is a non-stop economic process. Individuals, companies or governments are always on the lookout for new processes or innovations – and so the economic and power structure of the world is never stagnant. The West made a mistake in assuming that the flow of technology and know-how moves only one way, from developed to developing nations. As a result, voters in the West are puzzled and...