In The News

Delhi Should Avoid Lasting Damages to India-US Ties

Rajesh Rajagopalan December 18, 2013
A junior diplomat stationed in New York City was charged by US marshals for underpaying a maid. Standard procedure for such detainees includes a strip search, and India is furious. The United States responds that junior diplomats do not have immunity; Indian leaders contend that the arrest could have been handled more sensitively. The United States and India should not allow the incident to ruin...

The Great Skill Recession

Nayan Chanda December 2, 2013
The world has an unemployment problem. Most modern jobs require technological skills, and technology is supplanting increasing numbers of jobs. How this gap, first raised as a possibility by John Maynard Keynes in 1930, is addressed will shape the economic future of the United States, China, India and other nations, explains Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal editor, in his column for Businessworld....

How Globalization Has Left the 1 Percent Further Ahead

Tavia Grant, Janet McFarland November 28, 2013
Canada is not alone with a widening income divide – a few making great gains while the vast majority struggles with stagnant wages. Analysis from the Globe and Mail points to globalization as the reason. US competition may pressure wages, and the skilled with global appeal are paid more than those with local appeal. “The top 1 per cent of earners [has] seen growing demand for their specialized...

Swiss Voters Reject High-Pay Initiative

Neil MacLucas November 26, 2013
Swiss leaders in government and business vehemently opposed a ballot initiative restricting executive salaries to no more than 12 times that of the lowest paid employee, suggesting the reduced wages would reduce foreign investment, job growth and Swiss competitiveness in recruiting corporate staff. Voters agreed, with two thirds soundly rejecting the measure. “Earlier this year, Swiss voters...

A Global Challenge: Training Engineers for the 21st Century

November 22, 2013
Experts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – the so-called STEM fields – help grow economies. Yet interest in these fields is down in the US and Europe. “Within industrialized countries, scientific and technical courses are deemed to be difficult, uninteresting and not competitive in terms of salary expectations,” reports ParisTech Review. An introduction to the essay points out...

Saudis Bemoan Soaring Labor Costs After Migrant Exodus

November 11, 2013
The old adage applies: Be careful what you wish for. Saudis complained about the high percentage of foreigners in their country, and demanded more jobs for the hundreds of thousands of young Saudis entering the labor market each year. So the government started cracking down on migrants without documentation, diligently enforcing labor laws. Construction, landscape, retail and other willing...

The Danger of High Home Ownership: Greater Unemployment

David G. Blanchflower and Andrew J. Oswald November 4, 2013
Home ownership is a common goal for societies and individuals. Yet statistical patterns suggest that a high rate of “home ownership weakens the vitality of the labour market and slowly grinds out greater rates of joblessness,” report economists David G. Blanchflower and Andrew J. Oswald in a paper for Chatham House. Home ownership may disrupt efficient functioning of the labor market by reducing...