In The News

China Tangled Up in Red, White and Blue

Dingli Shen October 16, 2008
China’s bilateral relationship with the US is a priority for both nations. Foreign investment and trade creates jobs and contributes to stability. “The Chinese view of its government's relations with the United States is primarily based on economic terms and is shaped around the premise that it sees China as a newly developing economy that offers opportunities to American investors to expand...

A Lesson in the “Link”

Nayan Chanda October 16, 2008
Just as one foul ingredient can spoil a recipe, so can one sloppy procedure ruin reputations for any firm and its country. The most recent case: Chinese dairies trying to boost profits with melamine-tainted milk that went into all kinds of products, causing health problems for more than 50,000 children. It’s good business practice for companies to monitor their supply chains, down to the smallest...

The Death of the Washington Consensus?

Kevin Gallagher October 15, 2008
US officials over the past two decades insisted that free trade without limits tend to provide more benefits than costs for American and other consumers. Princeton economist Paul Krugman won the Nobel prize for economics, not for his columns for the New York Times, but for his study of international trade and his stance against trade without limits. Krugman has long insisted that government...

Drawing the Wrong Lessons

Shashi Tharoor October 14, 2008
Some leaders from poor nations gloat about the global credit crisis and point fingers of blame at liberal, open-market policies. “In India, the debate between capitalist globalization and self-reliance required a huge paradigm shift,” writes Shashi Tharoor for the International Herald Tribune, noting that while the West associates capitalism with freedom, nations like India associate it with...

Development Doesn't Require Big Government

William Easterly October 9, 2008
Pain from the US financial crisis is spreading globally, with leadership in developing countries often blaming free-market failures. The free market is under attack worldwide: Honduras’s president deems its laws "demonic" and the Brazilian head of state suggests its speculation causes the "anguish of entire peoples." Economist and author William Easterly traces this strong...

Why the Critics of Globalization Are Mistaken

Jagdish Bhagwati October 8, 2008
The centuries-old process of globalization – people in search of the best locations for their families, the best ideas for organizing daily life – has become an easy target in a more crowded world: workers fear factories and jobs relocating overseas, environmentalists worry about development shifted to countries with minimal enforcement, and savers fret about irresponsible spending and investment...

Pink Floyd's Money Travels Long Way to Mongolia

William Pesek October 6, 2008
Natural resources can be a boon to a nation's economy – just ask landlocked Botswana, which enjoyed tremendous growth, thanks to its diamond deposits. However, abundant minerals, gas, and oil can hinder a country's economic progress, if governments over-invest in such booming industries at the expense of building manufacturing or agricultural sectors. Without a diversified, bustling...