In The News

End of the Melting Pot?

Ashley Pettus May 14, 2007
Seeking jobs and opportunity in a new country, immigrants often head for communities where family members, friends or acquaintances have already settled. The practice creates pockets of ethnic groups, changing demographics and culture in many US towns, often raising questions about the ability for immigrants to assimilate. This article in “Harvard Magazine” compares immigration throughout the...

Bush and Democrats in Accord on Trade Deals

Steven R. Weisman May 11, 2007
After weeks of negotiation, the Bush administration and congressional leaders have worked out an agreement on how to include environmental and worker protections in trade deals. “The unusual agreement, which came after weeks of negotiations, would guarantee workers the right to organize, ban child labor and prohibit forced labor in trading-partner countries,” writes journalist Steven Weisman. “...

Calling India

Scott Kraft May 10, 2007
The word “outsourcing” may carry plenty of negative connotations in the US – but not when consumers are hunting for a good deal. Parents in the US, desperate to help their children achieve in an increasingly competitive global environment, seek tutoring services but don’t want to spend a lot of money. Using a voice-over-internet phone and an interactive computer “whiteboard,” a pupil in Beverly...

France: Waiting for Reform

Patrick Sabatier May 8, 2007
French voters have increasingly become aware that their country is at economic odds with the rest of the world: high unemployment rates, high levels of debt and massive social benefits reserved for a shrinking majority. Most candidates vying for president, and most of their supporters, recognize deep inside that such a system cannot be sustained amid intense global competition. So the French...

Sources: New Law to Jolt Outsourcing

Shen Jianyuan May 4, 2007
China is drafting policy to bestow preferential tax treatment for its firms that focus on information-technology (IT) or business-process outsourcing. “Industry insiders regard this as an effort to overtake India in the outsourcing industry,” writes Shen Jianyuan for “The Economic Observer Online,” adding that the new policies will define and boost an industry now described as “disorganized.” The...

Unions for a Global Economy

Harold Meyerson May 3, 2007
Workers are following the footsteps of business executives, expanding and gaining global influence by merging with counterparts in other sectors and around the world. “As unions begin their inevitable transformation into global entities, globalization's cheerleaders must define themselves more clearly, urges “Washington Post” columnist Harold Meyerson. “In other words, are they really for...

Eastern Europe Becomes a Center for Outsourcing

John Tagliabue April 30, 2007
Be careful what you wish for, goes the old saying. People in Western Europe once grumbled about immigrants from Eastern Europe seeking work. But instead of people moving about, more Western European firms shift jobs to Eastern Europe, reports journalist John Tagliabue in “The New York Times.” The global outsourcing market is worth almost $400 billion this year. Eastern European nations like the...