In The News

China Takes Aim at Dollar

Andrew Batson March 25, 2009
China has proposed that a new currency gradually replace the US dollar as the world standard, reports the Wall Street Journal. The proposal from Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of People’s Bank of China, could reflect a desire to straighten out global finances and frustration over dependence on the US – as well as a warning about Chinese impatience over funding immense US debt. China has $2 trillion in...

In Toyota City, Japan, the Good Times Rolled…Away

John M. Glionna March 25, 2009
Many analysts predicted problems with excessive debt and sub-prime mortgages in the US, but few expected that the woes would rapidly spill over into the world’s most successful companies. The global economic recession hits hard at company towns like Toyota City in Japan: “Unlike in Detroit, where years of steady decline preceded the current financial crisis, Toyota City's fortunes went from...

Meltdown Is Causing a Crisis of Confidence in Globalization

Ian Verrender March 20, 2009
Doubts about global connections have emerged in every country, even those that have benefited most from globalization. Recessions, job loss and vanishing savings are not new, but this global crisis struck swiftly, sparing no nation. Many governments look inward, observes Ian Verrender, in the Sydney Morning Herald, and seek to contain their own benefits and restricting any pain from others. “It...

The Road Not Taken

March 20, 2009
The ability of workers to move for jobs, both inside a country and out, promotes business flexibility, the best use of skills and individual prosperity. But home ownership and a lack of universal health insurance have reduced mobility in the US, reports the Economist. People typically escape bad circumstances by moving to new locations, but Americans are trapped in overpriced homes and fear...

A Textile Capital of China Is Hobbled by a Downturn Gone Global

David Barboza March 10, 2009
The world’s largest economy that once thrived on consumption took a sudden turn to thriftiness. But a global slowdown in spending has hurt factory towns in China that once packed US closets at low prices. Thousands of workers have lost jobs and two out of every three textile and apparel factories in China could go out of business, reports David Barboza for the New York Times. “Experts say that...

Despite Rhetoric, Offshoring Won’t Stop

Dinesh C. Sharma March 9, 2009
As economic crisis sweeps the globe, citizens expect their political leaders to create jobs, but it leads to other problems in the process. For example, in the US, President Barack Obama has vowed to end “tax breaks” for companies that ship jobs overseas, causing consternation among some in the Indian IT industry. Indian IT provides services to financial, banking and insurance firms around the...

Rebalancing Sino-US Ties

Nayan Chanda March 9, 2009
Until recently, the global economy relied on production and savings in China and spending from the US. But the imbalanced structure was unsustainable, explains Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal editor, in his column for Businessworld. US spending has come to a grinding halt, paralyzed by job losses and anxiety, and the government approved a massive stimulus package to encourage economic movement. But any...