In The News

Chinese Remake the “Made in Italy” Fashion Label

Rachel Donadio September 16, 2010
An influx of Chinese to Prato transformed the Italian city into a center of low-end garment manufacturing. Trading in on the cachet of “Made in Italy,” Chinese firms increasingly connect to global production chains, quickly and cheaply meeting changing tastes, creating the “fast fashion” now so popular in Europe. Throughout Prato, new signs and specialty stores cater to the immigrants. Organized...

IMF Chief: Crisis Not Over Until Jobs Come Back

Bjoern H. Amland September 16, 2010
Global unemployment rates continue to climb – and the danger of global economic crisis is not past until jobs return, warns Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Only through cooperation can the IMF and the International Labor Oganization “steer globalization in the right direction,” maintains Juan Somavia, director-general for the ILO. Unsustainable...

The Presidency, Chained to the World

Matt Bai September 14, 2010
The US has plenty of problems at home, including high unemployment, a deteriorating infrastructure and a voter base polarized over basics like health care, financial regulation and energy needs. But pressing crises from all parts of the globe repeatedly demand attention and take priority. “[P]owerlessness in the face of economic free fall has emerged as a hallmark of the modern presidency,”...

Light Bulb Factory Closes; End of Era for US Means More Jobs Overseas

Peter Whoriskey September 10, 2010
The original light bulb has a long history with many nations and patents – starting with an English chemist in 1809 and perfected over the years by Scottish, German, American and Russian scientists – before Thomas Edison purchased some patents and devised the long-lasting filaments in 1879 and 1880. His name is associated forever with light bulbs. The last major GE factory making traditional...

Illegal Immigration to US Slows Sharply

Miriam Jordan September 8, 2010
Because of recession and high jobless rates, illegal immigration to the US has contracted sharply, by more than half, in recent years, suggests the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center. “The mortgage crisis and ensuing economic slump have slashed jobs in construction, tourism and other sectors that are the mainstay for low-skilled Latin Americans,” writes Miriam Jordan for the Wall Street Journal. “...

The World Economy Needs Balancing, But How?

David Dapice August 3, 2010
Many nations seek economic relief by promoting exports. But a trade system built on all exports and no imports is an impossible feat to achieve. To lift economies from recession's mire, nations pursue, among other things, domestic rebalancing by curtailing unsustainable, wasteful spending and the borrowing that triggered the global downturn. On the other hand, the target markets for much of...

Europe’s Social Burden

Nayan Chanda July 21, 2010
For more than four decades, Europe’s system of taxation provided its citizens with job security, education, health and retirement benefits that were envied around the globe. But global recession, an aging population and tax avoidance have disrupted the system, explains YaleGlobal editor Nayan Chanda in his regular column for Businessworld. Before the crisis struck, too many politicians tried to...