In The News

Hong Kong As a Clue to the Future China

Michael E. DeGolyer January 23, 2006
Since China gained control of Hong Kong in the 1997 handover from Britain, international observers have wondered whether Beijing would allow the island to retain its separate identity. In many ways, Beijing has indeed followed its promise of "one country, two systems," recognizing that Hong Kong's property rights and entrepreneurial spirit do much to fuel the economic growth of...

"Voice of the People"

January 23, 2006
After polling more than 50,000 people from around the world, a World Economic Forum survey, administered by Gallup, "overwhelmingly found that political leaders are dishonest, have too much power and are too easily influenced." The results of the survey, branded the "Voice of the People," were announced just before the start of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in...

Aussies Tackle Global Warming

Alan Goodall January 20, 2006
Amidst rising energy demand and a growing concern about environmental degradation, Australia is emerging as the new leader in the effort to combat global warming in the Asia-Pacific. At a meeting in Sydney last week, Australia along with India, China, South Korea, Japan and the US mapped out practical solutions to eliminate deficiencies of the Kyoto Protocol. The participants – who together...

David's Friend Goliath

Michael Mandelbaum January 20, 2006
Foreign leaders, demonstrators and citizens in opinion polls around the world do not think twice about, criticizing the US as a threat to international stability. Despite such widespread criticism, few attempt unified action to oppose or restrict the world power. Michael Mandelbaum calls this discrepancy the most significant feature of 21st-century international relations and offers two reasons...

Why the US Malaise Over China?

Kenneth Lieberthal January 19, 2006
US-China relations have become wide-ranging, complex, and mature, and Beijing is touting its commitment to peaceful development. Nevertheless, there is pervasive unease in America about China's impact on American vital interests. China scholar and former National Security Council official Kenneth Lieberthal explains five fundamental issues that exacerbate America's sense of malaise...

Export-Led Growth: The Elephant in the Room

Thomas Palley January 17, 2006
Economic experts are professing themselves confounded by continued US prosperity despite trade deficits and rising interest rates. Thomas Palley explains that export-led growth, or the exchange of goods produced in Emerging Market (EM) countries for US dollars, has contributed much to the buoyant economy. Since EM countries have thus far chosen to use the dollars received for their goods to buy...

Caviar Trade Shut Down to Save Sturgeon

CJ Chivers January 17, 2006
Caviar - a delicacy symbolic of wealth - may soon become an even more rarified substance. The secretariat of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species has blocked the global export of wild caviar, or sturgeon eggs. Sturgeon, whose population is waning, are an ancient fish, but damming, pollution, and corruption involving fishing and illegal trade threaten their survival. The ban...