In The News

Robert Wall, Nina Trentmann and Natalia Drozdiak December 1, 2017
US proposals to cut taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals are troubling executives of foreign firms. The United States is the world’s largest market for many companies and tax changes can affect global profits, explains a team of writers for the Wall Street Journal. Reduced taxes could mean reduced government revenues and increased uncertainty that slow consumer spending. Some...
Karen Hofman and Charles Parry June 2, 2017
The alcohol industry confronts low population growth rates and regulatory barriers in the developed world, its traditional source of profits. So the industry is focusing on Africa with its increasing affluence and what is described as a “high-intensity consumption of beer,” according to Karen Hofman and Charles Parry in the Conversation. AB Inbev, maker of Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois...
Robert G. Blanton and Dursun Peksen April 27, 2017
Economic globalization— trade, foreign direct investment and low tariffs—has a twofold effect in making costly, environmentally harmful and deadly industrial accidents more probable, according to professors Robert G. Blanton and Dursun Peksen in a discussion of their study in Harvard Business Review. First, there is more room for error as byzantine international supply chains straddle countries...
Anthony Fensom March 14, 2017
South Korea’s president was removed from office, and so far the country’s economy and markets are left unfazed. South Korea’s first female president had promised strong economic growth, with a rise in per-capita income, as well as increased tax breaks to encourage investment. Instead, “Exports shrank for two straight years through 2016 and may be further damaged by deteriorating relations with...
Terry Hallmark February 22, 2017
The Niger Delta Avengers have declared “all-out” war against the Nigerian government and oil interests, continuing a two-decades-long conflict in the Niger Delta. Profitable oil drilling has pitted the Nigerian government and multinational corporations including Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron against a rotating cast of opponents. Organized opposition surfaced in the 1990s, with protests, civil...
Matt Phillips November 16, 2016
The US president-elect plans to increase jobs by ending trade that does not benefit the United States. That assumes the US is self-sufficient and that other countries might go along. Instead, the other countries, especially China as the world’s largest market and soon to be largest economy, will retaliate while possibly continuing trade with one another. Meanwhile, US prices will soar and quality...
September 19, 2016
In the age of globalization, giant “superstar companies” such as Apple and Google are skilled at eliminating competition which poses a risk for backlash. The Economist suggests that levels of market concentration in the Americas are especially worrying. Many corporations search out tax havens, evade regulations and collect data from customers. Public trust is wearing thin. The Economist urges...