In The News

U.S. Defends Its Farm Subsidies Against Rising Foreign Criticism

Elizabeth Becker June 27, 2002
Thanks to record high US farm subsidies, American farmers can produce cheap crops that drive drown prices in foreign markets. Even though the US maintains that its farm subsidies are within WTO limits, countries around the world believe that the subsidies are contributing to the underdevelopment of agriculture-dependent African and Latin American economies. The US contends that it is trade...

Globalization Narrows Gender Gap: World Bank

June 13, 2002
Andrew Mason, an economist with the World Bank, has found that globalization not only reduces poverty and raises income but also helps narrow gender inequalities in education, nutrition, and health. However, he cautions, governments need to continue their efforts to reduce inequalities. Although export promotion has created millions of new jobs for women "at wages higher than in traditional...

Brazil's Prized Exports Rely on Slaves and Scorched Land

Larry Rohter March 25, 2002
Slavery lurks in remote parts of the Brazilian Amazon as laborers are duped into working contracts that exploit them mercilessly. The prime exports of this resource-rich region – exotic woods and beef – have raised many controversies at both national and international levels. Human rights violations and environmental degradation – both difficult to monitor – often go unpunished or are even...

More Aid, More Need: Pledges Still Falling Short

Tim Weiner March 24, 2002
The US is not living up to its aid responsibilities despite growing concerns about global poverty after September 11, says this article in The New York Times. Though President Bush has drawn an explicit link between poverty and terrorism, and is substantially increasing aid to poor countries as a result, US aid remains restricted to specific counties and is still far less than aid from its...

India among 'More Globalised Developing Nations'

Anon. December 6, 2001
“India is among twenty-four ‘more globalised developing countries’ listed by the World Bank which says globalisation has enabled the country to obtain tangible benefits in economic growth and trade.” Nevertheless, not all areas in India have attracted foreign investment. Although India liberalized trade and investment in the early 1990s, many policies are controlled by individual states, which...

Spread of AIDS in Rural China Ignites Protests

Elisabeth Rosenthal November 12, 2001
For the first time, China announced its observance of World AIDS day. However, lack of AIDS awareness and unrest in some provinces prove that China still has a long way to go to address the epidemic. Several provinces in rural China, whose HIV incidence is still undetermined though believed to be very high, have either been ignored or suppressed by the government. Protesters and journalists were...