In The News

Gale Warning, Global Burden Sharing

Joergen Oerstroem Moeller October 19, 2007
Global questions of political economy have traditionally revolved around sharing public goods or dealing with crises. Today, however, the world must decide how to distribute the costs of tremendous challenges that are looming over the horizon. Joergen Oerstroem Moeller, visiting senior research fellow with the Institute of Southeast Asian Study, anticipates the world to be buffeted by the...

Burkina Faso: Cotton Producers Celebrate WTO Ruling Against US Subsidies

October 17, 2007
A new ruling by the World Trade Organization condemns the US system of agricultural subsidies to cotton farmers and could lead to sanctions costing billions, if the payments are not terminated. Many Africans celebrate the ruling; according to estimates by the aid group Oxfam, the end of American subsidies could drive the price of cotton up by as much as 14 percent, leading to a modest increase in...

Globalization With Arab Characteristics

Marcus Noland October 17, 2007
A young workforce can be a great economic asset. Yet Arab states, with booming populations, desperately need to increase employment opportunities for young adults. Foreign investment has stagnated, limited to oil and tourism as firms remain wary of weak intellectual property rights and uncertain political transitions. Meanwhile, state-dominated economies have failed to achieve linkages to outside...

IMF Fuels Critics of Globalization

Bob Davis October 16, 2007
Technology and foreign investment do not distribute their vast benefits in evenhanded ways, suggests a new report from the International Monetary Fund. “The report is an unusual admission by the IMF of the downsides of globalization,” reports journalist Bob Davis for the Wall Street Journal. The IMF also points out that benefits from trade do have a wide distribution, but anti-globalization...

Inequality in India and China: Is Globalization to Blame?

Pranab Bardhan October 15, 2007
Globalization undoubtedly has many complex and unintended consequences. However, Pranab Bardhan, economist at University of California, Berkeley, argues that globalization cannot be credited as either an evil force responsible for rising inequality or a virtuous one behind falling poverty rates in the developing world. Conventional wisdom holds that notable increases in inequality and steep...

Huge Effort Urged on Global Warming

Chrystia Freeland September 28, 2007
Contrary to a recent United Nations report that the fight against global warming will be costly, former US President Bill Clinton argues that a serious and ambitious program will save money and create jobs. For example, businesses investing in new, energy-efficient technology can dramatically decrease their utilities costs. Other analysts have also noted that the costs of future natural disasters...

Children Trafficked From Asia to UK to Work in Cannabis Factories

Nina Lakhani September 27, 2007
In 2004, Britain declassified cannabis, decreasing the penalties for growing or possessing the controlled substance. As fear of punishment faded, demand grew and so did the appeal of producing the drug for greater profits. Organized crime rushed to fill the gap between supply and demand, and with record levels of production, Vietnamese gangs rely on children to tend plants. So declassification...