In The News

Panama Hopes to Sail into “First World” by Enlarging Its Waterway

Duncan Campbell June 21, 2006
Completed in 1914, the Panama Canal connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and is regarded as one of the greatest engineering feats of all time. A proposal by the Panama Canal Authority to create two new “lanes” along the 50-mile canal is touted by Panamanian president Martín Torrijos. The plan will go to referendum in the fall. Average ship size has been increasing and analysts suggest that...

Don't Fear the Future

Gordon Brown June 19, 2006
With growing consumer markets in Asia and the developing world, globalization provides Europe and the US with ample opportunity for economic growth and product innovation. However, many in wealthier nations advocate for “protectionist” agricultural strategy and take an isolationist stance to global trade to secure domestic employment in the labor sector. Gordon Brown, UK chancellor of the...

The Corner Office in Bangalore

Lawrence Orlowski June 19, 2006
Outsourcing of manufacturing and service jobs has led to skyrocketing compensation for chief executives at the expense of shareholder profit, according to authors Lawrence Orlowski and Florian Lengyelion. With a large global pool of executive candidates and the average compensation for foreign CEOs much lower than that of their US counterparts, corporations could save even more by locating the...

Greek Fleet Swells

Robert MacDonald June 16, 2006
Shipping by sea is a cyclical business, reliant on global trade, and shipping magnates pay close attention to global affairs. Freight rates were at record highs from 2003 to 2005, but have slipped since. Recent developments, all interconnected, cause worries for the shippers: China’s move to increase interest rates to curb inflation could slow its economic growth; the massive US deficit could...

Managing Globalization: Selling Globally, Pitching Locally

Daniel Altman June 16, 2006
Critics of globalization claim that the domination of global brands such as Coca-Cola and Nike has squashed local business and culture. Multinational corporations, however, find it more effective to play on local cultures in advertising their products. Technology allows advertisers to create more than 200 separate ads – changing colors of a flag or language of a greeting with a touch of a button...

China Hosts Summit to Rival US

Jonathan Watts June 15, 2006
China hosted an “A-list” gathering of international leaders, with a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Representatives included Chinese Presient Hu Jintao, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The SCO, formed ten years ago, “is designed to promote peace and stability in a region that has become an increasingly important source of oil and...

The Dirt Road to the Information Superhighway

Jens Glüsing June 15, 2006
Admittedly, Microsoft’s inexpensive, pay-as-you-go “Flexgo” personal computers might not be the most efficient way to introduce computer technology to the developing world. However, as evidenced by the explosion of mobile phones in such areas, affordable technology can always find a vast market in developing and underdeveloped regions. As US economist C.K Prahalad pragmatically puts it, “the...