In The News

West Urged to “Tell Truth on Globalisation”

John Thornhill March 20, 2006
Western governments must stop blaming China and other developing Asian countries for trade woes and failing to tackle their own economic problems, suggests Chinese diplomat Long Yongtu, speaking at a conference in France. His comments, urging western politicians to tell the truth about the inevitable process of globalization, responded to EU and US criticisms of China’s trade practices,...

Lessons in Learning to Live With Giants

Daniel Altman March 15, 2006
Fledgling soft-drink companies who want to compete with the big three – Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Cadbury-Schwepps – face an uphill battle, even in their home markets. Developing countries embraced companies like Coca-Cola that made substantial contributions, such as building roads from distribution centers. Such infrastructure construction increased product distribution and improved government-...

Globalization Offered Two Ways: à la Carte and Prix Fixe

Daniel Gross March 15, 2006
US property owners love the high prices paid by foreign investors. But the nation can get prickly about some overseas investors: rejecting a Chinese oil company’s bid for Unocal in summer 2005 and an Arab firm’s proposal to manage operations of six US ports this month. Author Daniel Gross labels this tendency as “selective globalization syndrome.” Politicians attack symbolic deals, like the...

Seize Golden Opportunity of Rapid Globalization

Dave Young March 8, 2006
Current debates on China focus on its growing economic strength as a threat to the West. But China, moving from a rural to an urban economy, can also offer opportunity for the West. Over the next five years China will build more than 300 new cities, requiring expertise on infrastructure, financing and environmental protection. With China’s growing influence, the author says, world financial...

German Firms and the Wild West of Globalization

March 7, 2006
Today, any company’s survival depends on its ability to follow the twists and turns of the global economy. Presiding over the game are investors, analysts and fund managers who demand profits. Success can be a Darwinian proposition, with corporate legacy no longer a priority – and three German firms provide case studies on strategies for adapting to rapid globalization and overseas competition...

Globalization Rubs Passions Raw

March 3, 2006
Conflict over the Danish cartoon crisis is a result of tension between the process of globalization and the pull of “nativism.” Globalization involves both the movement of people, goods, capital and ideas around the world, and the impact of the changes wrought by this flow. The effects of such exchanges are more immediate because of real-time communications through cell phones and the internet...

EU Fund to Ease Globalization Pain

James Kanter March 2, 2006
The Global Adjustment Fund is proposed as a new measure to help Europe’s economy absorb the effects of globalization. The fund will assist retraining and relocating workers whose jobs have been eliminated in ways demonstrably tied to global trade dynamics, such as outsourcing. The proposed fund comes as Europeans express increasing alarm at the prospect of foreign economic influence,...