In The News

LG Investigates Smart TV “Unauthorised Spying” Claim

Leo Kelion November 27, 2013
Cable and satellite companies that provide television service monitor customer viewing habits. Some smart TVs may also send information about viewer habits and connected devices to manufacturers, suggests an IT consultant. Such feedback allows custom services, but also breaks UK law if consumers do not grant permission, suggests Leo Kelion for BBC News. South Korean firm LG is investigating the...

Paying the China Price

Nayan Chanda November 15, 2013
Manufacturing that adapts to new technologies and conditions shapes societies and economies. The challenge for India and other countries is competing with China’s low costs. Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal’s editor in his column for Businessworld, describes how business people place manufacturing orders with China and then reap the profits by re-selling readymade goods or assembling components with big...

US Textile Plants Return, With Floors Largely Empty of People

Stephanie Clifford September 23, 2013
Low-cost labor, first in the southern region of the United States and later in developing nations, lured textile mills away from manufacturing centers of New England. Globalization makes the industry turn full circle. Textile mills are up and running once again in the United States, but with fewer jobs because of automation. Stephanie Clifford of the New York Times writes about the return of the...

Don’t Cry For Me, Motown

Nayan Chanda August 19, 2013
Detroit was a US auto manufacturing center a few decades ago, but now its population of 700,000, down from 2 million, cannot afford to pay off $18 billion in debt and unfunded liabilities. The city has filed for bankruptcy. “Outsourcing, automation and suburbanisation have drained its population” and “the bankruptcy of what used to be the country’s fourth-largest city does indeed signal the...

India Takes Lesson From China to Lure Workers to Garment Industry

Amy Kazmin July 30, 2013
India ranks as the world’s third largest exporter of garments. Government regulations once limited investment and factory size; with those lifted, some firms may follow China’s industry model by constructing dormitories to attract workers from poorer areas, reports Amy Kazmin for the Financial Times. “Despite the country’s vast, young labour force, India’s garment industry has struggled to...

Pope Condemns Bangladesh “Slave Labor”

May 9, 2013
Pope Frances, an advocate for the poor, has stepped up on May Day to denounce workers conditions in Bangladesh and compare their condition to “slave labor.” He linked work with dignity and argued that providing extra work for others is a higher purpose than making profits, reported BBC news and Vatican Radio. More than 700 people died in a building collapse near Dhaka, the country’s worst...

Can Western Companies Put an End to Bangladesh Factory Disasters?

Pramila Jayapal May 1, 2013
Responsible corporations prioritize workplace safety. Building-structure codes, fire and smoke alarms, multiple exits, limited work hours and other standard safety regulations are documented to prevent accidents. Consumers may appreciate low prices, but will avoid brands that become associated with brutal workplace conditions. A factory fire in November and a building collapse in April have put...