In The News

China’s New Silk Road: Implications for the US

Shuaihua Wallace Cheng May 28, 2015
China’s response to the so-called US pivot to Asia is to expand influence in Asia. Known as the “One Belt, One Road,” the modern-day Silk Road network “will not only enhance ‘five connections’ – trade, infrastructure, investment, capital and people – it will create a community with ‘shared interests, destiny and responsibilities,’” explains Shuaihua Wallace Cheng, managing director of ICTSD...

The Broken Link Between Global Trade and Emerging Market Growth

Dan Bogler May 26, 2015
Growing global trade is no longer going hand in hand with GDP growth in emerging markets, reports Dan Bogler for Financial Times. Investors have anticipated growth in developing economies, but instead, the pace is in decline since 2010 due to lower commodity prices, the rise in the US dollar value and slowing growth in China. Domestic factors including high debt contribute to the slower pace. “...

Fair Trade for the Global Garment Industry

David Welsh May 22, 2015
Profits and fast-changing styles in the global garment industry depend on low wages, long hours and dangerous workplaces in countries like Cambodia. Writing for the New York Times, David Welsh, country director of the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center in Cambodia writes: “the big brands reap billions of dollars chasing the lowest production costs they can find, moving from one country to another when...

Headwinds as the US Moves Toward Secretive Trade Agreement

David Dapice May 19, 2015
The very notion of global trade would suggest openness – and certainly a lack of secrets. But the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a new kind of agreement, one that pushes deep integration and focuses on regulations for corporations as well as lower tariffs, explains economist David Dapice. Twelve nations including the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico – but not China – are...

Move Over, France – Here Comes China

Wei Gu May 15, 2015
China is shaping tastes in wine as both consumer and supplier. “China has edged ahead of France in the amount of land devoted to vineyards, according to the International Vine and Wine Organization, although France still produces more than four times the volume of wine that China does,” reports Wei Gu for the Wall Street Journal. Spain ranks first in land devoted to vineyards. For now, the world...

The Age of Disruption

Nayan Chanda May 13, 2015
Awareness of new patterns, discoveries and inventions can revolutionize entire industries or economies. Others quickly adapt or struggle. Richard Dobbs, James Manyika and Jonathan Woetzel are authors of “No Ordinary Disruption: The Four Global Forces Breaking All the Trends,” and “By combining data from disparate fields, they make a compelling argument about the disruptive forces that are re-...

China, Pursuing Strategic Interests, Builds Presence in Antarctica

Jane Perlez May 7, 2015
China is extending its global reach under President Xi Jinping, and that includes Antarctica. “He signed a five-year accord with the Australian government that allows Chinese vessels and, in the future, aircraft to resupply for fuel and food before heading south,” reports Jane Perlez for the New York Times. “That will help secure easier access to a region that is believed to have vast oil and...