In The News

Google in China: The Big Disconnect

Clive Thompson May 11, 2006
The Chinese are fascinated with the possibilities of the internet. When the head of operations for Google in China gave a lecture at one Chinese university, thousands attended and scalpers sold tickets. Despite strict government controls, the internet and search engines foster learning and a free exchange of ideas – including even China’s long-neglected rural population. Despite censorship, young...

Disappearing Delphi

Rick Popely April 18, 2006
Delphi Corp., the major supplier of auto parts in the US market, plans to close or sell more than two thirds of its 29 US plants. If the plan is approved by bankruptcy court, the company would focus on high-end electronic technology – with the eight remaining US plants making products that require immediate installation. The sell-off could allow the company to end its union contracts with 17,000...

Visa for Cream

Sanjay Suri April 12, 2006
Historically, Britain relied on immigrants from India for factory help and other jobs that the British didn’t want to do. Immigration resulted in a British community of 2 million Indians, many who met with great success. But now the UK has tinkered with its immigration rules to reject poor workers from former colonies Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and elsewhere and target workers with information-...

China Curbs Magazines from Foreign Publishers

Geoffrey A. Fowler April 10, 2006
All kinds of international firms look eagerly to booming China as the world’s largest market, particularly its growing urban class. Competition requires not only preparing a product, but also knowing Chinese regulations. China has long taken steps to control what its citizens can buy – and publishers have discovered that the government will limit lifestyle magazines for Chinese shopping lists....

Businesses Make a Push for High-Skilled Foreign Workers

June Kronholz April 7, 2006
In the immigration bill currently taking up the US Senate's attention, the fate of millions of low-skilled illegal immigrant workers dominates the discourse. The proposal would allow immigrants who arrived in the US before April 2001 to pursue a bureaucratic, but specific 11-year road to citizenship. Immigrants who arrived after the date would have limited options. The US Congress remains...

Climate Change Sparks Scrap for Arctic Resources

Philip Bethge April 7, 2006
A bewildering dispute between Canada and Denmark over the ownership of Hans Island, a configuration of barren rock, could be the beginning of many struggles over territory within the Arctic Circle. Scientists warn of profound environmental changes to come with global warming - melting icecaps, rising floodwaters, species extinction and damage to traditional cultures. The massive Arctic ice sheet...

India Nuclear Deal May Face Hard Sell

Glenn Kessler April 6, 2006
The Bush administration’s surprise deal in 2005 with India, which would recognize the nation’s status as a nuclear power, was motivated by both a desire to reward a democratic future superpower and to counter the rise of China. But the deal, largely constructed through US State Department backchannels and secret negotiations, may suffer because Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her staff...