In The News

The Limits of Transparency

Jacqueline Best March 18, 2005
After the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, critics chalked up the catastrophe to a lack of transparency in the region's business practices. The concept has since then become the latest Holy Grail in global finance reform. Yet because of inherent power structures built into the concept, transparency is an unhealthy obsession, argues Jacqueline Best. Besides being an oversimplified solution,...

The Piracy Threat to Japan

March 17, 2005
In this age of global trade, the logical arena for international anti-piracy efforts would be intellectual property. Yet after a recent incident of maritime piracy in the Strait of Malacca, the world may be forced to recognize that the sea buccaneers of yore are not a thing of the past. Though the tsunami significantly reduced piracy in local sea lanes, the Malacca Strait remains one of the world...

Street Protests by Poor Push Bolivia to the Brink

Jo Tuckman March 15, 2005
Bolivia's already faltering economy stands on the cusp of a potentially crippling nation-wide strike. Organizing against economic exploitation at the hands of a minority elite of European descent, ethnically indigenous organizers have already blocked important highways for weeks, disrupting trade in some regions. Leaders of the movement claim that those in power have indiscriminately signed...

Dollar's Fall Silences Africa's Garment Factories

Michael Wines March 14, 2005
The fall of the US dollar has begun to have a real and tangible effect upon southern African economies. In countries like Lesotho, where the struggling economy is dependent upon the garment industry, closing factories have cost thousands of jobs in the past months. Competition from the giant Chinese apparel industry contributes to the sudden squeeze, but the key factor, writes the New York Times...

Indian Diplomacy Energized by Search for Oil

Pramit Mitra March 14, 2005
China and India have faced parallel challenges attendant to their booming economies; the most recent is energy security. As Pramit Mitra writes, India will emerge as the fourth-largest energy consumer by 2010. And like China, in its quest to secure adequate resources, India has forged strategic alliances, several of which may render the United States none-too-pleased. On the plus side, India...

Two Fed Officials Offer Different but Upbeat Views on Debt

Edmund L. Andrews March 11, 2005
The soaring US deficit, estimated at over US$600 billion last year, has been a source of debate among economic analysts. According to The New York Times, the nation's total foreign debt equals more than one-fifth of the total economy. And while many observers fear the increasing indebtedness could eventually lead to global economic disaster, two senior officials at the US Federal Reserve...

Oil Fuels Beijing's New Power Game

Ziad Haider March 11, 2005
As China's industry continues to grow apace, so does its energy needs. In the next quarter-century, China is expected to account for more than one-fifth of growth in world energy demand. As Ziad Haider writes, Beijing's pursuit of fuel resources and safe supply routes may have implications for regional and global geopolitics. Considering competing Western energy demand – and, crucially...