In The News

Bigger Abroad

February 23, 2011
A growing share of Hollywood’s profits come from overseas markets. Audiences in emerging economies of China, Russia and Brazil determine which films are global blockbusters, reports an article in the Economist. A falling dollar and increased construction of cinemas overseas contribute a growing global audience. Overall, action films starring foreign actors do better than comedies focused on...

Revolutionary Tide Sees New Friends for China

Mei Xinyu February 22, 2011
As Middle East nations are shaken by uprisings, the governments – both those that survive and the emerging powers – will confront a set of new foreign-policy choices. The West’s decades-old alliances with dictators while cheering on democratic movements could make it an unreliable partner for either traditional Arab regimes or newcomers. Many Arab nations will diversify relationships, relying...

What Somali Pirates Reveal About the Global Economy

Matthew Lynn February 18, 2011
Pirates off the coast of Somalia continue to target huge ships passing by the impoverished coast. Matthew Lynn, writing for the Financial Times, regards piracy as a metaphor for the global business economy – the pirates know their customers, reinvent careers, conduct research, and maintain employee loyalty by sharing profits. Somalian fishermen were left without livelihoods after foreign factory...

The Looming Food Crisis

David Dapice February 18, 2011
In wealthy nations as well as in poor ones, consumers express alarm about fast-rising food prices, and their governments are well aware that shortages can quickly translate into unrest and political crisis. Complaints today may be mild compared with those looming ahead unless governments take steps to curb policies that encourage speculation, warns economist David Dapice. Subsidies that divert...

Huawei in Challenge to US

Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Kathrin Hille February 17, 2011
Social media sites – like LinkedIn or Facebook – make it easy for companies to find customers, employees, suppliers and more. But they also help regulators uncover troublesome connections. Such a case – with US regulators perusing LinkedIn and accidentally discovering that China’s telecom giant Huawei had purchased, without government review, interest in a California firm that makes cloud...

Germany Sells Vision for “Green Toys” to World

Melissa Eddy February 9, 2011
Germany leads the world in developing a range of renewable-energy products – and its toymakers are no exception. They are creating products to prepare children for a future requiring new energy sources. Designed to direct children’s focus on energy conservation and sustainability, the green toy “make up only a sliver of the nearly $84 billion international toy market, but their share is growing,...

Grain, Soybeans Rise as Food Riots Spur Demand for US Exports

Jeff Wilson, Whitney McFerron January 28, 2011
Prices for wheat, soybeans, corn and other food staples continue to climb as more counties increase purchases from the US. Rising prices combined with high unemployment rates and governments long run by family dynasties have spurred protests in Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Yemen, Jordan and elsewhere. The United Nations warns that stockpiling crops or restricting food exports could add to the unrest...