In The News

The Food Crisis

Martin Walker September 10, 2010
The world’s food supply is based on limited natural resources. Any disruptions in water supplies or weather patterns – exacerbated by growing populations and increased development of land – can quickly lead to food shortages, high prices and unrest. Martin Walker, writing for UPI.com, predicts “pressure on food supplies for decades to come.” Climate change and a fast-mutating fungus Ug99 that...

If Only China Were More Like Japan

John Lee September 8, 2010
Rapid economic growth, an over-reliance on exports, can lead to troublesome bubbles. And national leaders are wise to strengthen institutions that provide economic security against such developments. As China overtakes Japan as the world’s second largest economy, John Lee compares the two nations for Businessweek. During Japan’s heady period of growth followed by a decade of stagnation, Lee...

Banks Back Switch to Renminbi for Trade

Robert Cookson September 1, 2010
As China’s economy continues to grow, the largest banks from around the globe seek favor and rapid profits there. HSBC relocated its chief executive from London to Hong Kong and, along with Citigroup and some other banks, HSBC offers discounts for companies that use the renminbi rather than the dollar for trading. “With renminbi trade settlement volumes expected to increase rapidly, banks are...

US Launched Corporate Globalization and First to End It

Joe Costello September 1, 2010
Globalization, people and ideas mixing through immigration and trade, has enriched the US but also added to complications. “America has been as successful, more so than most, using the principles and practices of this republic's founding, to mix the nationalities of Europe and more fitfully other peoples from across the planet into a relatively healthy concoction,” explains Joe Costello,...

Western Profits Wilt on China's Surging Wages

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard August 31, 2010
As wages rise in China, companies of the West recognize that they cannot pass higher costs of manufacturing electronics or clothing onto their consumers who hold their purses tightly, amidst worries about the recession. “Reliance on Chinese plants is suddenly proving double-edged,” observes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard for the Telegraph. Some companies plan for reduced profits or shifting production...

Joys and Pains of a Global Paradigm Shift

Michael Casey August 27, 2010
In a world with immense wage inequality, two world views emerge, explains Michael Casey for the Wall Street Journal. Attitudes are relative, depending on whether one’s circumstances are improving or declining. Global economic power is in an ongoing shift from high-wage to low-wage nations, he argues, and if indeed deflation is underway, that represents additional hardship for the high-wage...

Time to Sort Out the Long Overdue Doha Round

Hugh Corbet August 26, 2010
Expanding trade has enriched the world, and completing the Doha Round of negotiations could deliver nations – both rich and poor – from stagnation. The round of World Trade Organization negotiations began in 2001 as an effort to ease poverty by reducing trade barriers. But wealthy nations resist ending protections for their agricultural industries. “By offering to reduce agricultural subsidies...