In The News

People on the Move – Part I

Joseph Chamie June 14, 2011
Waves of desperate migrants cross the Mediterranean, fleeing the repression, poverty and war gripping North Africa. Immense inequalities in living standards between the two zones draw migrants to Europe: Global media display stark contrasts between wealthy and poor, and internet sites lay out itineraries for affordable transport, shelter and job contacts. In the first article of a two-part series...

Defenders of the Schengen Zone Face a Battle

Stanley Pignal June 7, 2011
Economic and social unrest in North Africa contribute to increasing illegal immigration to Europe, and extremist parties take advantage of the turmoil to blast European cooperation over open borders. “At the very least, there will be new ways for countries to re-impose temporary border controls within the Schengen zone, which has expanded since its inception in 1995 to include most EU countries...

As China’s Workers Get a Raise, Companies Fret

Keith Bradsher May 31, 2011
Much like bargain-hunting consumers who go online to compare prices, workers around the globe are using Facebook and other social media to compare notes on workplace conditions and salaries, reports Keith Bradsher for the New York Times. The result is double-digit wage hikes, leading to higher prices for shoppers and shrinking profit margins for companies. Apparel factories are concentrated in...

US Sours on Globalization

Nayan Chanda May 25, 2011
One concern trumps all others for Americans: a lack of jobs. Resentment is high about the high unemployment rate, ongoing layoffs, declining wages and rising costs even as multinational corporations earn record profits and hire low-cost labor in emerging markets. More US job openings are in retail and the service sector than manufacturing. Americans target their ire at globalization and market...

513 Migrants in Two Tractor-Trailers

Ioan Grillo May 20, 2011
Mexican police, screening tractor-trailers for illegal cargo with X-rays, detected more than 500 people crammed inside two trucks. US border controls and kidnapping dangers in Mexico force immigrants to turn to smuggling cartels. Each immigrant reportedly paid smugglers $7000 for passage to the US – more than $3.5 million in all. “[A]mid the drug war, Mexico's southern border has become...

From Chiquita to Nike: Labor Activists Drive Corporations Bananas

John Lasker May 19, 2011
Labor activists try to devise innovative campaigns to catch attention of global consumers, exposing the source, labor and procedures behind popular products. Campaigns can range from stickers that explain the labor process to high-profile lawsuits on workers rights. An “effective tactic for supporting workers toiling at the roots of the global supply chain is simply gaining an understanding of...

Sorry, We're Closed

Leo Cendrowicz May 11, 2011
Citizens of 25 European nations can cross those borders freely without delay, thanks to the Schengen Agreement of 1985, which abolished internal borders in lieu of a single external border and applies common rules on visas and border controls. But with unrest in North Africa, illegal immigration to Europe has climbed, and leaders of Italy and France have called for temporary imposition of border...