In The News

The Challengers

January 15, 2008
The world is making way for the ambitions, innovations and confidence of multinational companies based in emerging economies, reports the Economist. Examples include Tata Group, owner of Tata Motors, which just released a tiny fuel-efficient car that costs a mere US $2500; Embraer of Brazil, the world's third-largest aircraft company; and Wipro, Infosys and Tata Consulting Services, which...

Eight Business Technology Trends to Watch

James M. Manyika December 26, 2007
Businesses continue to innovate by applying technology in new ways, suggests a McKinsey Quarterly report that identifies emerging trends. Technology allows businesses to harvest talent inside and outside corporate borders – and rely on consumers for more information and innovation. “Competitive advantage will shift to companies that can master the art of breaking down and recomposing tasks,”...

Subsidies' Harvest of Misery

Jimmy Carter December 10, 2007
A US bill passed during the 1930s Great Depression – paying farmers for crops not grown – no longer makes sense. Instead, current US farm programs hurt the poorest people in the world and small farmers in the US, encouraging “excess production while channeling enormous government payments to the biggest producers,” argues former President Jimmy Carter in an opinion essay for the Washington Post...

A Queue in the Sand

Stanley Reed December 7, 2007
The Middle East is rich with oil money, ready to invest in all kinds of megadeals, reports BusinessWeek. For example, state-owned Abu Dhabi Investment Authority stepped forward to buy a $7.5 billion stake in Citigroup, a bank ailing from the US sub-prime mortgage crisis. Some borrowers purchased homes with loans that offered low rates for only a year or two; as the rates increase, the homeowners...

The “China Honeymoon” Is Over

David Shambaugh December 7, 2007
Foreign investors in any land are put off by any trade and investment practices that discriminate against them. Protectionist practices in China include a lack of respect for intellectual property and market barriers. Changes in political leadership and concern over outsourcing jobs throughout Europe combined with ongoing reports of human-rights violations in the Chinese workplace have strained...

How the Next US President Might Deal With Trade

Edward Gresser December 6, 2007
With lifelong loyalty to a single company no longer the norm, fewer US businesses provide insurance and pensions for their laborers. At the same time, more firms replace US jobs with computers or low-cost labor abroad. As a result, Americans are anxious about jobs – and who will pick up the costs for their health care and retirement. In this context, candidates for US president on the right and...

Foreclosures Hit a Snag for Lenders

Gretchen Morgenson December 4, 2007
Homebuyers in the US borrowed money, some with adjustable-rate mortgages that offered low payments early in the loan’s term. Mortgage companies and banks packaged these loans into huge pools and resold the securities to global investors eager to cash in on the higher payments promised during the later years of the loans. With the loans secured by people’s homes, investors assumed the deals...