In The News

Merkel Says Spy Scandal Is Testing EU-US Trade Talks

Stefan Wagstyl November 27, 2013
Relations with the US and a proposed transatlantic free trade agreement are “being put to the test” amid reports of US National Security Agency surveillance, suggests German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “Berlin is pressing the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, to incorporate data safeguards into the negotiations for the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, launched this...

WikiLeaks Publishes Secret Draft Chapter of Trans-Pacific Partnership

Alex Hern, Dominic Rushe November 21, 2013
WikiLeaks, a website that exposes confidential government and corporate documents, has published a chapter on intellectual property rights from a proposed trade agreement negotiated by 12 Pacific Rim nations, most of which are democracies. “The 30,000 word intellectual property chapter contains proposals to increase the term of patents, including medical patents, beyond 20 years, and lower global...

Bridge to Somewhere

Jose W. Fernandez November 20, 2013
The US now aims to apply aid for international development in strategic ways. As the global middle class expands, most growth takes place in Brazil, China, India, North Africa and other emerging economies, with 85 percent of growth anticipated in the Asia Pacific region alone, reports Jose Fernandez for Foreign Affairs. He anticipates countries to become more competitive on expanding “ports,...

Paying the China Price

Nayan Chanda November 15, 2013
Manufacturing that adapts to new technologies and conditions shapes societies and economies. The challenge for India and other countries is competing with China’s low costs. Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal’s editor in his column for Businessworld, describes how business people place manufacturing orders with China and then reap the profits by re-selling readymade goods or assembling components with big...

Snowden and Obama Slow Down Globalization

Irwin M. Stelzer November 13, 2013
Policies and individuals can influence globalization’s pace. Writing for the Weekly Standard, Irwin Stelzer blames former US National Security Agency contract worker Edward Snowden – his release of National Security Agency documents revealing methods and targets – and President Barack Obama for slowing globalization by hampering free trade, capital flows and foreign investment. “Neither [man]...

American Universities Eye Chinese Students

Hassan Siddiq November 12, 2013
Increasing numbers of Chinese choose to study abroad, and nearly half head for US institutions of higher learning. The reasons behind the exponential growth, even at the undergraduate level, are as much financial as “the emphasis on globalization and diversity touted by the universities,” explains Hassan Siddiq for YaleGlobal. US universities have active recruiting programs, and seven of the top...

Abe Team Seeks to Kill Rice Subsidy Program by 2018

Reiji Yoshida November 7, 2013
Despite recent a decline in domestic consumption of rice, Japan ranks eight among rice-consuming countries, but does not figure among the top 10 producing nations, according to the International Rice Research Institute. To increase competition and reduce prices, the Abe administration plans to end government regulations and subsidies by 2018 for farmers who limit paddy usage. “To placate...