In The News

Health Care Costs to Squeeze Capitalism

Kenneth Rogoff August 21, 2007
Heath-care costs are becoming a higher proportion of national economies in western countries. Former senior official of the IMF, Kenneth Rogoff says when governments provide for health services that constitute one third of national incomes, health-care socialism becomes plain Marxism – based on the principle ‘to each according to his needs”. As the aging population increasingly requires...

Stoking Protectionism

August 20, 2007
Choosing cost-cutting over quality, Chinese firms are finally getting order recalls from some of the biggest US firms. Although China publicly denies quality control problems with exports, domestic markets have faced similar quality issues. However, despite recent high-profile execution of officials in charge of drug safety, China will find it hard to transform its political culture overnight....

Mattel Recalls About 9 Million Toys

Nicholas Casey August 15, 2007
Ingesting lead, even small amounts, can cause irreparable brain damage in young children. So the news that major toy company Mattel has embarked on yet another major recall of toys made in China, because some contain lead paint and others contain small magnets, disturbs both consumers in the West and workers in China. Manufacturers based in China, where speech is censored, are unaccustomed to...

The New Economy – Medical Tourism

Sushma Ramachandran August 14, 2007
India anticipates the medical-tourism sector to expand, with patients around the world seeking low-cost, high-quality treatment. The industry could be worth $2 billion in 2012, about six times its worth in 2004, a study from Ernst and Young projects. Depending on the medical procedure, treatment in India can cost about 12 to 20 percent what the same operation might cost in developed nations. As a...

Why Africa Fears Western Medicine

Harriet A. Washington August 14, 2007
Africa has a history of Western doctors who claim to provide health care while in reality “administrating deadly agents.” The most infamous example is Wouter Basson, who killed hundreds through injecting poisons, but was never convicted. More recently, a Libyan court convicted a foreign physician and five nurses of infecting children with AIDS, before releasing the providers to Bulgaria. Many...

China's New Appetite for Milk Forces Price Rise in Germany

Kate Connolly August 4, 2007
Dairy milk, with all its calcium and protein, is an excellent source of nutrients for growing children. Comments from Chinese officials, urging Chinese children to drink milk, have helped boost demand. But the nation does not have a history of dairy farming and turns to imports, especially from Europe. One third of all milk produced worldwide now goes to China, reports Kate Connolly for the...

Libya’s Release of 6 Prisoners Raises Criticism

Matthew Brunwasser and Elaine Sciolino July 24, 2007
In 1999, Libya accused five nurses and a physician, based in Benghazi, of deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus that causes AIDS. Over the next eight years, the health-care providers, five from Bulgaria and one from Palestine, endured imprisonment, three trials and death sentences. Analysts suggest that the unsanitary conditions in the hospitals infected the children...