In The News

The Future of Globalization

July 27, 2006
The failure of the Doha Round represents the “defeat of the common good by special interest politics,” leaving both the world’s richest and poorest nations at a disadvantage. World Trade Organization members react with the same apathy that led to the breakdown. In the context of robust global economic growth and temptation toward one-on-one trade agreements, apathy led to the breakdown and...

Why Monday’s Collapse of the Doha Round Negotiations Is the Best Outcome for Developing Countries

Walden Bello July 27, 2006
Many mourn failure of the Doha Round as a setback for the citizens of the world’s most impoverished countries, yet author Walden Bello contends that the outcome may be best for the developing economies. Rather than delivering aid, Doha’s unequal provisions could strip farmers of any means to protect their products with tariffs, subjecting them to fierce competition of a global economy. Non-...

Is Globalization Succumbing to Glocalization?

July 26, 2006
When it comes to retail, globalization does not always work as planned. For example, in South Korea, shoppers disdain the American Wal-Mart, yet love E-Mart, a Korean-owned store with all the accoutrements of a sophisticated US store. “Glocalization” – the term that describes the combination of “global standards and local preferences” – is a tempting label to describe why Wal-Mart, the world’s...

South African Business: Going Global

July 26, 2006
Following the fall of apartheid, South African companies had much catching up to do. The isolation of the 1980s, however, did confer some benefits, including self-sufficiency and internal development. Another result was the creation of local conglomerates focusing on diverse industries, or “business octopuses.” Allowed to do business beyond South Africa’s borders, however, these unwieldy...

Hoosier Honda

Douglas Brinkley July 25, 2006
As the largest US auto-makers cut jobs and close factories, foreign car companies expand production in the American heartland, and the expansion wins them friends in towns where not too long ago driving a Japanese car would have been anathema. Foreign firms steer clear of Detroit and head to communities that offer incentives for factories built in their towns; Indiana state officials, for example...

End the Lie, Rejoice in Cheap Imports

Edward M. Graham July 21, 2006
The public is indifferent to trade negotiations, according to Edward Graham, because most people take trade for granted. Politicians have led the way in promoting a massive lie to the public – that the benefits of expanded trade come from expanded exports. Graham points out that import expansion actually provides greater benefits, including long-term improvements in productivity and an increase...

Development Vs. Free Trade

Bernard K. Gordon July 20, 2006
The meeting this week in Geneva may be the last chance to complete the Doha Development Round of talks launched by the World Trade Organization in 2001. While many observers anticipate that the round could be rescued, the stalemate highlights the structural weaknesses of a trade organization taking on a development agenda. The aim of the WTO is to lower trade barriers in the pursuit of expanding...