In The News

Migration: Illegal But Integral to Economy

Sanjay Suri January 25, 2006
Europeans often blame illegal immigrants for a number of social ills, including high rates of crime and unemployment. Yet “people with irregular status” are the invisible bedrock for many social institutions in the developed world, suggests this article in Terraviva Europe. Without the work of illegal immigrants from Africa, Asia and parts of Eastern Europe in fundamental sectors like healthcare...

Educating for the 21st Century – Part II

Orly Friedman January 17, 2006
Orly Friedman visits an experimental boarding school that introduces the tools of globalization to impoverished children. Started by technology entrepreneur Abraham George, Shanti Bhavan aims to be a world-class institution that propels India’s poorest students into the prosperous digital age, giving them access to world news and computer learning software. Despite challenges of running a modern...

How US Immigration Evolved as the Nation Grew and Changed

Cynthia Crossen January 11, 2006
The notion of the US as a “melting pot” that welcomed immigrants of all nationalities is familiar, but does not accurately describe the history of the country’s immigration patterns. Early on, the government encouraged quick populating of the young nation, and European immigrants came in droves. By the 20th century, however, cities teemed with poor, unskilled refugees, and politicians introduced...

Multinational Corporations: A Key to Global Poverty Reduction – Part I

George C. Lodge January 2, 2006
The legitimacy of multinational corporations has been increasingly questioned in recent years. In this two-part series, Harvard professor George C. Lodge and International Finance Corporation economist Craig Wilson argue that multinational corporations (MNCs) have contributed enormously to reducing global poverty. MNCs exist to provide value for their shareholders, but are also in a position...

The Tsunami Report Card

Karl F. Indefurth December 21, 2005
On December 26, 2004, an earthquake of staggering proportions unleashed ocean waves that crashed ashore in Asia and East Africa, killing 225,000 people and displacing 1.7 million more. Quickly, world governments, international organizations and a multitude of non-profits pledged support. Many predicted that unless this effort proved successful, a "second tsunami" of widespread disease...

Ears of Plenty

December 21, 2005
Throughout human history, grains such as maize, rice and wheat provided the sustenance that allowed successive generations to survive and increase their numbers. Out of these three plants, wheat is the oldest and most broadly dispersed. Wheat tells the story of human agricultural practice, to which the growth and wane of human populations are inextricably linked. Technological innovation, from...

Ahmadinejad’s Challenge to the World

Dieter Bednarz December 19, 2005
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expressed more religious fanaticism than any Iranian president since Khomeini’s revolution. His campaign promises included a pledge to close the stock exchange (it violates the Islamic prohibition of gambling) and during a speech before the UN, he claimed enlightenment. While his behavior may seem absurd, his increasingly inflammatory rhetoric worries Western politicians...