In The News

Why Can't Europeans Get Along?

Pankaj Ghemawat December 9, 2011
Forging strong trade connections enriched the European economy, but administrative measures alone did not ensure economic or political integration, cautions management professor Pankaj Ghemawat in an essay for Fortune. While short-term intervention is needed, he argues, Europe must also strive for cultural and political cohesion and build greater trust among 27 nations. He contrasts the EU with...

India Needs Western Supermarkets

Salil Tripathi December 2, 2011
India has approved allowing foreign investors to hold majority stakes in multibrand retail. Critics blast the plans – worrying about store closures, job losses, profits going to foreigners, and homogeneity – and they vow protectionist measures in some states. But fast-growing India needs the so-called “big box stores” with their dependable supplies and reduced prices for consumers, argues Salil...

The Three Challenges Facing the Electricity Sector

Jean-Paul Bouttes, François Dassa and Renaud Crassous November 28, 2011
The global demand for energy is climbing, and governments must encourage innovation to keep up, contends a team from EDF, a leading nuclear energy company based in France. Other challenges include limiting greenhouse-gas emissions to stem global warming and promoting sustainability in cities with rapid growth. “On the demand side, technologies exist for a wide range of end-uses: thermal...

Indian Firms Jolted by China's Social Security Plan

Saibal Dasgupta November 10, 2011
The cost for foreign firms doing business in China will climb as the country extends social-security obligations to cover foreign companies and their employees, reports Saibal Dasgupta in the Times of India. The move may lead many firms to reconsider expansion plans in China. Employers will contribute 37 percent of salary and employees 11 percent for benefits including pensions, and health...

Where Did Global Warming Go?

Elisabeth Rosenthal October 31, 2011
As a political issue, climate change has fallen off the US policy agenda due to an economic downturn and dogged insistence by climate-change naysayers that science has not produced enough evidence on whether human activity contributes to global warming. The United States stands as the “one significant outlier” on responding to climate change, suggests an HSBC global research report, while other...

Wary of China, Its Southern Neighbors Court India

Harsh V. Pant October 28, 2011
China’s rapid ascent, along with the flexing of its muscles, has worried neighbors. They chafe at becoming too dependent, and a loose, yet perceptible balancing coalition aimed at curbing China has emerged. With the United States reorganizing its own priorities, India is viewed as an ideal partner for providing strategic balancing, explains Harsh V. Pant, a defense specialist at King’s College....

Winds of Change: Cinema from Muslim Societies

Sheyma Buali October 10, 2011
Categorizing Islamic cinema is not easy, and analysis can prompt more questions than answers, as suggested by Sheyma Buali, for Arab News, in reviewing the Islamic film festival hosted by the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. The festival, “Winds of Change: Cinema from Muslim Societies,” explored the rich historical and cultural context of Islamic films. Films from Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt...