In The News

Subsidies' Harvest of Misery

Jimmy Carter December 10, 2007
A US bill passed during the 1930s Great Depression – paying farmers for crops not grown – no longer makes sense. Instead, current US farm programs hurt the poorest people in the world and small farmers in the US, encouraging “excess production while channeling enormous government payments to the biggest producers,” argues former President Jimmy Carter in an opinion essay for the Washington Post...

The “China Honeymoon” Is Over

David Shambaugh December 7, 2007
Foreign investors in any land are put off by any trade and investment practices that discriminate against them. Protectionist practices in China include a lack of respect for intellectual property and market barriers. Changes in political leadership and concern over outsourcing jobs throughout Europe combined with ongoing reports of human-rights violations in the Chinese workplace have strained...

Down With Democracy

December 7, 2007
Some leaders are so insecure that they cannot withstand any hint of opposition or dissent at all. Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, may have an 80-percent approval rating, and yet his party squashed any questions or debate about his record. Democracy is a complicated process, reminds this article in the Economist. “Everything depends on who is allowed to vote, who selects the candidates or...

How the Next US President Might Deal With Trade

Edward Gresser December 6, 2007
With lifelong loyalty to a single company no longer the norm, fewer US businesses provide insurance and pensions for their laborers. At the same time, more firms replace US jobs with computers or low-cost labor abroad. As a result, Americans are anxious about jobs – and who will pick up the costs for their health care and retirement. In this context, candidates for US president on the right and...

The Costs of Containing Iran

Vali Nasr December 5, 2007
A US intelligence report published December 3 concludes that Iran abandoned its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The report from 16 US intelligence agencies could slow an aggressive policy on Iran from the Bush administration. The US has failed to build a US-Israeli-Sunni alliance against Tehran – and also fails to recognize that, even if possible, such an alliance would further inflame...

Western Union Empire Moves Migrant Cash Home

Jason DeParle December 5, 2007
Technology and circumstances can lift or dash industry fortunes in a heartbeat. Western Union was a company that went bankrupt in the early days of the internet. But even as the internet became established in homes and offices, worker mobility increased, with growing numbers of migrants looking for safe, easy ways to send money home to families. So Western Union is back in business, earning...

“Russia Has Discredited Itself in the Eyes of the World”

Naomi Buck November 29, 2007
The Kremlin has assumed a two-pronged approach toward December 2 parliamentary elections: arresting opposition figures and banning international observers. This has culminated in violence and mass detentions in several cities, with police crushing demonstrations by opposition parties. The Kremlin-backed United Russia party is expected to select Putin as president, through May 2008 when term...