In The News

India's Lower Castes Seek Social Progress in Global Job Market

Emily Wax September 5, 2007
For 3000 years, India operated with a caste system; from birth, Indians understood their status and role in society. Prohibited by law, the caste system remains a source for discrimination in India. By law, the public sector and public universities set aside a percentage of jobs for people born into the lowest castes, and activists encourage similar affirmative-action programs within the private...

Blue Skies for Globalization?

Richard Aboulafia September 4, 2007
At times, global trade seems to make more enemies than friends. Politicians tend to hear from constituents who fear outsourcing and job cuts rather than workers who benefit from foreign investment and trade. International teamwork is essential for complex fields like the aerospace industry, argues Richard Aboulafia in the Star-Telegram. US air carriers account for less than 10 percent of all...

Calls Grow for Foreigners to Have a Say on US Market Rules

Heather Timmons September 1, 2007
Some US homeowners have adjustable rates on their home mortgages. As interest rates rise, they struggle to repay loans and keep the homes. The problem went global after lenders sold those loans: Financial firms packaged mortgages with other types of debt; US credit-rating agencies slapped high rates on the packages; and investors in Asia and Europe purchased the loan packages, assuming that the...

The Tale of Globalization’s Exiles

Richard Lapper August 30, 2007
Media and government reports focus on hedge funds and other mechanisms of finance that move money around the globe. But individuals also shift funds, including small amounts sent in envelopes or by wire, from immigrant workers in wealthy nations to poor relatives back home. For some poor nations, the total of such remittances outweigh foreign aid or revenues earned from leading agricultural...

Bee Decline Threatens Our Dinner and the Countryside

Jimmy Lee Shreeve August 30, 2007
Imagine a food market with fewer apples, nuts, soybeans, asparagus, squash, tomatoes, citrus fruit, strawberries or melons. People may not notice small insects in the course of daily life, but alarm would emerge if species of bees suddenly vanished. Wildflowers and many agricultural plants depend on bees for pollination and production of seed. “It's hard to believe that one small creature...

The Globalization of Giving

Steve Hendershot August 29, 2007
The savviest of corporate leaders know that community giving is a good business strategy. As firms grow and do more business overseas, charitable giving has expanded beyond the home base to markets around the globe. US firms seek to develop wealthier client bases in India, China, Latin America or Eastern Europe. Two examples of recent corporate grants, provided by this ChicagoBusiness.com article...

Chinese Seek to Buy a US Maker of Disk Drives

John Markoff August 27, 2007
The US must confront and reconcile several realities: China has massive reserves of cash and actively pursues foreign investment; second, debt burdens the US government and its citizens, slowing their investment pace; and third, neither government trusts the other with sensitive industries. Reports that a Chinese firm has expressed interest in purchasing Seagate Technology, a US maker of disk...