In The News

Rare Earth Metals Will Be Mined in Vietnam by the Japanese

Shino Yuasa November 4, 2010
Japan is finalizing plans to mine rare-earth metals in Vietnam, a bid to reduce its dependence on Chinese production accounting for 97 percent of the world’s supply. Rare-earth metals are crucial for many high-tech manufacturing processes, and a recent disruption in Chinese supply rattled Japanese companies. Japan alleges a Chinese ban on exports in retaliation for the arrest of a Chinese fishing...

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-...

Pentagon Loses Control of Bombs to China Metal Monopoly

Peter Robison, Gopal Ratnam October 1, 2010
The US, in search of the low prices, embarked on a privatization kick, and companies turned over many production facilities to China. The US failed to enact industrial polices, subsidize strategic industries and turned to short-term profit grabs. The result is that it now depends on China for rare-earth metals, essential ingredients for state-of-the-art technology, including military applications...

Inside the Knockoff-Tennis-Shoe Factory

Nicholas Schmidle September 22, 2010
Putian, China, with its sneaker manufactures, is a global counterfeiting center, sometimes beating the real sneakers to market and shipping everywhere from Italy to New York. Major footwear companies loathe discussing the problem for fear of upsetting Chinese authorities or losing consumer trust over product authenticity. Even authorities have a tough time distinguishing the best fakes from brand...

IMF Chief: Crisis Not Over Until Jobs Come Back

Bjoern H. Amland September 16, 2010
Global unemployment rates continue to climb – and the danger of global economic crisis is not past until jobs return, warns Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Only through cooperation can the IMF and the International Labor Oganization “steer globalization in the right direction,” maintains Juan Somavia, director-general for the ILO. Unsustainable...

Light Bulb Factory Closes; End of Era for US Means More Jobs Overseas

Peter Whoriskey September 10, 2010
The original light bulb has a long history with many nations and patents – starting with an English chemist in 1809 and perfected over the years by Scottish, German, American and Russian scientists – before Thomas Edison purchased some patents and devised the long-lasting filaments in 1879 and 1880. His name is associated forever with light bulbs. The last major GE factory making traditional...

Western Profits Wilt on China's Surging Wages

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard August 31, 2010
As wages rise in China, companies of the West recognize that they cannot pass higher costs of manufacturing electronics or clothing onto their consumers who hold their purses tightly, amidst worries about the recession. “Reliance on Chinese plants is suddenly proving double-edged,” observes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard for the Telegraph. Some companies plan for reduced profits or shifting production...