In The News

A Lesson That Thomas Could Teach

David Leonhardt June 29, 2007
For the past two decades, US firms have relied on an outsourcing strategy: They move manufacturing operations overseas where they can employ workers for low wages, distancing themselves from production and condoning secrecy about factory practices. But this strategy has repercussions: After learning that Thomas the Tank Engine toys, manufactured in China, have lead paint, businesses tried to...

Expert View: Outsourcing Is Out – It's a Political Cold Potato

Chris Walker June 28, 2007
Companies began outsourcing tasks, including payroll processing, in the 1960s. As the information-technology sector grew, so did the number of outsourced jobs. Today, all types of jobs, from low-level data entry to the transfer of intellectual property, are outsourced from high-wage to low-wage areas. Experts estimate that in India, call centers employ more than a million people, which some...

In a World on the Move, a Tiny Land Strains to Cope

Jason DeParle June 28, 2007
In Cape Verde, the number of people who have migrated approaches the number of people who have stayed behind, and everyone has a close relative in either Europe or North America. So many Cape Verdeans, such as Antonia Delgado, receive money from those abroad. She raises her granddaughter’s son, who rarely sees his mother because she works in Portugal. Despite stricter immigration policies, many...

A New Deal for Globalization

Kenneth F. Scheve June 27, 2007
Globalization – through education, trade and innovation – has delivered immense benefits for the US. But wages have declined, even for workers with college degrees. Only workers with doctorate or professional graduate degrees – less than 4 percent of the work force – experienced earnings growth between 2000 and 2005. Unskilled and low-skilled workers make up the majority of the US labor force....

Putting the Brakes on US Fast Track

David Dapice June 26, 2007
Negotiating a free-trade agreement is no easy task. To minimize complications or addition of provisions to cater to special-interest groups, US Congress gave the president the authority to negotiate such pacts, before submitting them for legislative review and an up or down vote. Jobseekers and politicians in the West increasingly worry that labor, health, safety and environmental regulations put...

Report Shows Darker Side of Globalization

Brian Love June 23, 2007
Lower costs of transportation, communication and other technology allow businesses to move to the most profitable points on the globe. Such relocations have contributed to rising economies in China, India, Russia and Brazil, with those four nations accounting for almost half of the world’s labor supply. In the meantime, wages as a percentage of gross domestic product have declined in most wealthy...

In Ukraine, Illegal Mines Beckon the Jobless

Andrew Matheny June 21, 2007
Under communism, miners in Ukraine earned three times the national wage average, and mining jobs included perks like an apartment and early retirement. The transition from communism to capitalism has not been easy for Ukraine’s state-run mines, since the nation gained independence in 1991. Independence brought new competition from competing energy sources, mostly gas and oil from Siberia. The...