In The News

Foxconn Union Heralds End of Cheap Era

David Pilling February 12, 2013
The ability to vote is generally suspect in China. But Foxconn, the world’s biggest contract manufacturer of electronics, will allow its million-plus workers to vote for 18,000 representatives, reports Financial Times columnist David Pilling. The Fair Labor Association, based in the US, will monitor the process. “[The] intention may not be to give his workers the wage-bargaining power that often...

Say It With Numbers

Nayan Chanda February 6, 2013
Manufacturers, especially on high-priced items like cars or electronics, are offering a bit more detail on the source countries for their products. More detail reveals the integration of the global economy and how globalization contributes to job growth. A new database from the World Trade Organization and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development – Trade in Value-Added, or TIVA...

Growth Without Equity Roils South Africa

Haroon Bhorat, Morné Oosthuizen, Anne Kamau February 1, 2013
Labor unrest does not attract foreign investment. South Africa must subdue strikes in its mining industry before unrest spreads to other sectors while addressing the challenges of a high unemployment rate and dire poverty, argue researchers Haroon Bhorat, Morné Oosthuizen and Anne Kamau. South Africa is the world’s biggest producer of gold and platinum. The strikes are both reducing gold and...

The Price of Globalization

Nayan Chanda January 23, 2013
The interconnected world is not so different from a small community in that the greed or lack of foresight of a few can bring quick ruin. The US has $16.5 trillion in debt and a reduced revenue stream due to the global recession. Some conservatives demand harsh cuts in exchange for lifting an artificial debt ceiling, devised to control government spending. Delays in approving the debt ceiling...

Conservative Causes Go Global

Clifford Bob January 16, 2013
Global civil society has long been ideologically diverse and hard fought over many years, as demonstrated with the anti-slavery or suffrage movements. Causes with global stature carry greater prominence than local or national efforts, giving supporters access to more allies, resources and shared strategies. And while conservatives support minimal government in many areas, particularly...

Put Doomsday on the Schedule

David Dapice January 7, 2013
Americans, like most citizens all over the world, resent paying taxes, but are fond of government programs that allow health care, education or science to flourish. The US is overextended, living beyond its means, and Congress is divided over how to ease the climbing debt: Liberal Democrats want to tax the rich, while conservative Republicans aim to reduce spending that help citizens. Congress...

Governance Falls Behind Globalization

Ernesto Zedillo December 3, 2012
Many in the world point to the need for mechanisms to monitor and control globalization, particularly after a decade when debt crises in one country spread quickly around the globe. Yet as economic interdependence continues to build, governance is not keeping pace. Ernesto Zedillo is director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, and as YaleGlobal Online marks its 10th anniversary,...