In The News

Going Off to College for Less (Passport Required)

Tamar Lewin December 11, 2008
Higher education has become a global commodity, and students seek out both great bargains and the very best of brand names, reports Tamar Lewin for the New York Times. “Universities worldwide – many of them in Canada and England – are competing for the same pool of affluent, well-qualified students, and more American students are heading overseas not just for a semester abroad, but for their...

That Sinking Feeling: Global Crisis Hits Shipping Industry Hard

Thomas Schulz December 10, 2008
A global recession has hit the shipping industry hard, reducing rates and jobs. Products, from the most sophisticated electronics and cars to raw materials like iron ore, are piling up on docks, as consumers close their wallets. Financing has just about vanished for new ships, and analysts question whether the current crisis is part of a typical boom-and-bust cycle, explains Thomas Schulz in...

The Forgotten Virtues of Free Trade

Frank Trentmann December 1, 2008
As an economic recession sweeps the world, the countries that have benefited most from free trade have now become wary. “Free trade is far from perfect, but the alternatives are worse,” insists Frank Trentmann, professor of history, in an essay for Project Syndicate. “Protectionism is bad for wealth, bad for democracy, and bad for peace.” Nations may attempt to protect a few select industries,...

When Chocolate Is a Way of Life

Jill Santopietro November 20, 2008
The Quichua people of Ecuador are no longer simply cultivators of cacao, transforming their role into manufacturers and owners, by forming their own cooperative known as Kallari. “Chocolate making has always been less common in cacao producing countries than it has been in Europe, where the technology to create chocolate bars was developed and where such a luxury could be more easily afforded,”...

China’s New Foray Into Latin America

David Shambaugh November 17, 2008
The world’s most populous nation is rapidly forming trade, investment, technology, security, and cultural ties with developing nations around the globe and in particular Latin America. Latin America is “no longer content being the ‘backyard’ of the United States,” explains David Shambaugh, director of the China Policy Program with George Washington University and also with the Brookings...

Save Doha to Save the G20 Summit

Ernesto Zedillo November 12, 2008
Political leaders will gather for a G20 summit to address global economic governance. The summit could also be an opportunity “to exorcise the demons of protectionism,” suggests Ernesto Zedillo, director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. Finding agreement on the Doha Round of trade talks, debated for seven years, would send a powerful signal for endorsing open trade. Zedillo...

How 6 Parts Nearly Delayed World's Biggest Airliner

Chana Joffe-Walt November 6, 2008
Manufacturing can’t always keep pace with new products and ideas, and that is the case for some giant ball bearings, a needed part for major aircraft as well as wind turbines, reports Chana Joffe-Walt for National Public Radio. After calling his supplier in Germany, a US engineer working on the Airbus A380 was surprised to learn that delivery of the custom ball bearings would take 18 months and...