In The News

Fuel Subsidies for Some Make Oil More Expensive for All

Keith Bradsher July 28, 2008
Governments try to help out their citizens by subsidizing fuel. But such subsidies also encourage growth in the oil markets and remove incentives to conserve. “The oil company BP, known for thorough statistical analysis of energy markets, estimates that countries with subsidies accounted for 96 percent of the world's increase in oil use last year – growth that has helped drive prices to...

Indian Poise

July 24, 2008
India’s coalition government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh survived a crucial vote of confidence – and that paves the way for final approval of a US-India civil nuclear energy pact. The deal – which still requires approval from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Nuclear Suppliers Group and US Congress – has raised some concerns, both domestic and among neighbors, about India’s...

Indian Investors Enter the Caribbean

Loro Horta July 8, 2008
Following the footsteps of China, Indian firms have been investing in the Caribbean nations, building infrastructure in exchange for the opportunity to purchase natural resources. Foreign direct investments represent a large slice of the Caribbean economic pie; China and India could effectively determine the speed and direction of some nations’ growth, explains analyst Loro Horta, visiting...

Obama Will Give Free Trade a Rough Ride

Tony Parkinson July 1, 2008
Columnist Tony Parkinson argues that Barack Obama’s hostility towards free trade signals a loss of confidence in US trading partners that threatens, in turn, to cause those partners to lose confidence in the United States. The international community is eager to see an end to George Bush’s unilateralist attitude towards national security. Obama’s unilateralist attitude towards trade, however,...

Nestlé Asks EU to Soften Line on GM

Raphael Minder June 30, 2008
The European Union sets trends in trade, agriculture and culture, and so the decision to reject genetically modified food for its markets carries influence beyond European borders. For example, African nations produce crops for export to Europe, and most African countries do not want to risk including genetically modified organisms in their harvests, for fear of being excluded from the lucrative...

Obama Goes Soft on Free Trade

John Nichols June 24, 2008
American workers blame much of their recent economic hardships on free-trade agreements, focusing their enmity on the North American Free Trade Agreement in particular. Barack Obama has sought to harness this enmity in the past, criticizing NAFTA in an effort to court working-class voters during the primary battle with Hillary Clinton. Now that he has secured the Democratic presidential...

Can the US Bring Jobs Back from China?

Pete Engardio June 23, 2008
Despite a decline in the dollar and a spike in oil prices, finding a US manufacturer eager to develop prototypes for new products or compete for contracts is not easy. Not only does the US fail to compete in industries that require ample cheap labor, it also struggles to compete in terms of innovation. “American factories and supplier networks in many industries have withered in the era of...