In The News

The War on Big Food

Beth Kowitt May 27, 2015
Global consumers are picky eaters, examining labels and prompting food manufacturers to reassess what goes into their products. “The idea of ‘processing’ – from ancient techniques of salting and curing to the modern arsenal of artificial preservatives – arose to make sure the food we ate didn’t make us sick,” explains Beth Kowitt for Fortune. “Today many fear that it’s the processed food itself...

Major Companies Threaten to End Relationships With Indiana Over “License to Discriminate” Law

Louis Weisberg April 2, 2015
A storm of criticism from multinational corporations and human-rights groups has convinced lawmakers in Indiana to backtrack on a vague law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, suggesting that governments could not “substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion” and individuals or businesses could assert such claims in legal proceedings. The law was crafted soon after courts required...

Bud Crowded Out by Craft Beer Craze

Tripp Mickle November 27, 2014
Big-factory beers have fallen out of favor as customers increasingly demand the flavors offered with small and local craft beverages. Some bars no longer sell major brands like Budweiser. Meanwhile, many of the craft beer makers began as do-it-yourself home brewers, tinkering with recipes and relying on local ingredients. Young beer drinkers have flocked to the diverse flavors, paying more for...

Global Governance Reimagined – An “Astonishing Diversity” of Cooperation

Keith Porter September 12, 2014
Global governance is a reality. Packages, medical advice, diplomacy cross borders every day – “All this (and much more) happens every day within well-established rules thanks to global governance, which formalizes cooperative problem solving among nations,” writes Keith Porter, president and CEO of the Stanley Foundation for its publication Courier. The venues for global cooperation have expanded...

Companies Fear Radical Turn in Argentina

Benedict Mander August 25, 2014
Argentina has defaulted on its bonds twice since 2001. The country had settled with most bondholders, but the terms of some loans required disputes settled in US courts. A US judge sided with the minority, ruling that Argentina could not avoid the holdouts. A defiant Argentina swiftly responded with a swap plan to continue paying most creditors, but not the holdouts. Foreign firms doing business...

Positively Un-American Tax Dodges

Allan Sloan July 11, 2014
Multinational firms are moving headquarters to avoid US tax rates. The US corporate tax rate is 35 percent compared to Ireland’s 12.5 percent. About 60 firms have abandoned the United States because it taxes all profits worldwide, notes Alan Sloan for Fortune magazine, and he contends the transfers undermine the US tax base, standards and respect for corporate brands: “Inverters don’t hesitate to...

Hong Kong Votes, Beijing Fumes: Analysis

Dylan Loh Ming Hui July 3, 2014
A global finance capital is in turmoil over how to organize an election set for 2017. Beijing plans for universal suffrage in Hong Kong with a slate of candidates approved by a 1,200-member pro-China committee, explains Dylan Loh Ming Hui, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, in Eurasian Review. Occupy Central wants the nominating process to be open. China blasted an unofficial...