In The News

Slowly, But Surely, Trade Erodes Global Poverty

Edward Gresser November 2, 2011
Small, everyday purchases can have far-reaching effects on poverty in distant lands, especially those on the least-developed country list from the United Nations, those with per-capita incomes averaging less than $3 a day. Only a few years ago, the outlook for this group with ineffective governments and stagnant economies was bleak. However, the first decade of the millennium shows marked...

Why Is This Cargo Container Emitting So Much Radiation?

Andrew Curry October 27, 2011
Screening thousands of cargo containers that arrive daily in any global port is nonstop work. Sealed containers can have false walls and doors or removable hinges to carry illegal drugs, immigrants or difficult-to-detect nuclear weapons. In Italy, inspectors routinely check containers carrying scrap metal, efficiently gathered into groups, for radiation. A maximum radiation reading, a million...

Floods Threaten Global Trade Hub

Pavin Chachavalpongpun October 24, 2011
Monsoon rains and typhoons have contributed to record flooding that saturates Thailand. Bangkok is under threat even as authorities try to relieve pressure by reinforcing levees, draining fields and releasing floodwaters into the sea. Most of Thailand is affected with rice fields submerged, food prices climbing, and supply-chain operations of multinational firms like Western Digital and Toyota...

Imagined in America

Thomas L. Friedman October 24, 2011
China and the US are enmeshed in an unsustainable trade relationship with no quick fixes. Often on the losing side, the US considers protectionist measures, such as a bill just approved by the US Senate allowing targeted tariffs if China balks at revaluing its currency. “China is spending tons of money manipulating its currency downward and, in the process, creating domestic inflation and a real...

Biggest US Free-Trade Accord Since ’94 Passed

Eric Martin and William McQuillen October 13, 2011
In an unusual display of agreement, the 112th US Congress approved free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. The South Korea deal alone will remove duties on almost two-thirds of US farm exports and phase out tariffs on virtually all industrial and consumer exports within five years, reports Bloomberg. The US is striving to double US exports by 2015, and trade momentum could...

How Global Trade Can Rein in Health Costs

Dean Baker, Jagdish Bhagwati September 21, 2011
Rising healthcare costs contribute to the ballooning US budget deficits, and the US has thus far resisted public health plans mandating universal coverage. Opening the US market to international competition could offer a means to disciplining the industry and reducing costs, explains economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Dean Baker for CNN Money, adding that “medical care of comparable quality is...

World Needs New Paradigm on Drugs After Failing War

Santiago Sosa September 21, 2011
A war on drugs has failed, concludes the UN Report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. While heroin and cocaine use is on the decline in aging Europe and the US, it’s on the rise elsewhere. In particular, Europe and the US go easy on domestic users, emphasizing supply that ignores the problem’s roots, explains Santiago Sosa for Colombia Reports. Communities that depend on illegal crops...