In The News

Qualms Arise Over Outsourcing Of Electronic Medical Records

Amol Sharma, Ben Worthen November 8, 2010
Digitizing health records improves care, reduces errors and saves money in redundant testing or treatment. In an effort to reduce costs, the US health care reform law includes incentives, with billions in government funding, for providers and hospitals to rely on electronic medical records. Only 20 percent of US hospitals now rely on electronic records. Analysts anticipate that hospitals will not...

Needing Students, Maine School Hunts in China

Abby Goodnough November 5, 2010
Growth can deliver economic revival. Though an anti-immigration stance enjoys populist success in some regions of the US, other politicians recognize that immigration contributes a quick budget recharge. Courting foreign students for education programs provides some of immigration's benefits with no permanent ties. A public schools superintendent in Maine hopes to balance his budget by...

How Speculators Are Crippling the Copper Industry

Jens Glüsing, Alexander Jung, Thomas Schulz November 4, 2010
Volatility in copper prices – and commodity prices more generally – is a product of financial speculation. Expansion of internet market trading, ravenous Chinese demand, and large financial firms looking to diversify portfolios contribute to demand. Copper is an essential component for cables, plumbing and electronic devices, and the limited nature of natural resources like copper piques the...

Rare Earth Metals Will Be Mined in Vietnam by the Japanese

Shino Yuasa November 4, 2010
Japan is finalizing plans to mine rare-earth metals in Vietnam, a bid to reduce its dependence on Chinese production accounting for 97 percent of the world’s supply. Rare-earth metals are crucial for many high-tech manufacturing processes, and a recent disruption in Chinese supply rattled Japanese companies. Japan alleges a Chinese ban on exports in retaliation for the arrest of a Chinese fishing...

India and China Take Different Roads to World Leadership – Part I

Shyam Saran November 1, 2010
Many anticipate China and India, with their rapid rise to power through globalization, to adopt global leadership roles. Yet expectations that either nation will lead the way in resolving global problems may be too high and too premature, suggests this YaleGlobal series. Historically a crossroads of culture, India adapts to globalization's modern forms, explains Shyam Saran, former foreign...

Surprising But True, US Exports Are Growing

Edward Gresser October 20, 2010
Global recession struck in late 2008, and high levels of personal and public debt complicated reviving the US economy and consumer spending. Increasing exports is the fastest, most logical alternative for boosting economic growth and reducing unemployment. In January 2010, President Barack Obama set a goal of doubling the nation’s exports in five years – and the nation is on track, selling...

Chilean Rescue Offers Lesson in Globalization

Susan Froetschel October 18, 2010
Global media united in covering the successful rescue of 33 miners, trapped since early August. Chile’s president and major mining companies quickly took charge over a small, near-bankrupt mining company, transforming the rescue into an international competition of sorts. The media reports highlighted unusual international collaboration and exposed the public to grueling work conditions for...