In The News

Modern Globalization

Nayan Chanda January 5, 2008
This column for Businessworld in India explores the many facets of globalization manifested in all aspects of life. By exploring the interconnections of the globalization forces, columnist and YaleGlobal's editor Nayan Chanda hopes to build better understanding, pointing to the dangers and opportunities. Like it or not, humanity is bound together by invisible threads of connections born of...

The End of Globalization?

Gabor Steingart December 12, 2007
Doubts expressed out loud can spur major movements. Such doubts about globalization are emerging in the US presidential campaign, as candidates question whether free trade is a source of the nation’s wealth or economic woes. Since World War II, US presidents supported a philosophy of free trade for spreading wealth and other benefits. “America's enormous trade deficit – and that in a country...

Mexico Seeks a Lasting Share of Aerospace Boom

Joel Millman November 28, 2007
Mexico struggles to compete with low labor costs of Asian manufacturers, but has established a niche in manufacturing aerospace equipment because of location. Massive items that entail expensive transportation fees used to be manufactured in distant countries with highly skilled work forces, like Japan and Taiwan. But the Mexican government has invested in training programs for aerospace workers...

Why We Trade

Russell Roberts November 19, 2007
Debates featuring US presidential hopefuls feature complaints about trade deficits, outsourcing and the competitive threat of China. Author and professor Russell Roberts, though, offers the reminder that promoting foreign open markets and a protected one at home is no better than mercantilism. All countries are wary about such a strategy and won’t stand for it. On the other hand, free trade...

Plain English Gets Harder in Global Era

Phred Dvorak November 12, 2007
The globalizing economy – particularly the rise of outsourcing and offshoring, along with the growing acceptance of English as the universal language within multinational corporations – raises the demand for sophisticated language training. English speakers confront a broader range of accents and cultures than ever before, and education programs step up their offerings. Some concepts – sarcasm,...

Sarkozy, The Ambivalent Globalizer

Jonathan Fenby November 9, 2007
When Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president of France, there was talk of a big rupture with the past and France’s full embrace of globalization and American-style capitalism. That stance is about to be tested. He has taken on the powerful public-service unions, cut taxes for the rich and tackled France’s convention of a 35-hour workweek. Yet this Gaullist politician is none too fond of...

Globalization a Mixed Bag: Patten

Amit Baruah November 5, 2007
Globalization does not help every individual or country, but it is by no means a conspiracy by the rich against the poor, said Chris Patten, chancellor of Oxford University and former British governor of Hong Kong, during a lecture in India. Evidence suggests that trade and economic growth have ended poverty for millions of people. World labor markets, especially for skilled workers, are highly...