In The News

Vietnam Is the New China: Globalization's Victors Hunt for the Next Low-Wage Country

Alexander Jung May 16, 2008
Labor has become a scarce commodity in China, and so companies needing workers and seeking high profit margins look to other nations, including Vietnam, Bangladesh or India. A symbiotic system once supplied jobs and eliminated poverty for the Chinese and provided the West with cheap products, report Alexander Jung and Weiland Wagner. But with more stringent labor laws, an economic boom, a...

People of Faith Seek New Dialogue on Immigration

Jim Wallis May 9, 2008
Illegal immigration is a hot-button topic in the US presidential election: Voters in some states key for the US presidential election demand immigration reform; farmers need workers willing to plant or harvest crops on a seasonal basis; communities worry about paying for public services to undocumented workers; and ethnic and religious groups demand compassion. Meanwhile, politicians drag their...

Immigration Issues End a Pennsylvania Grower’s Season

Paul Vitello May 9, 2008
Crackdowns on illegal immigrants have discouraged migrants from seeking farm work throughout the US. Few Americans are willing to take on the seasonal employment that requires long hours in the hot sun. As a result, farmers avoid planting crops, like tomatoes or strawberries that require hand picking. A political climate that resents illegal immigrants contributes to higher food prices and some...

Debt Collection Done From India Appeals to US Agencies

Heather Timmons May 2, 2008
Making calls to remind borrowers about unpaid debts isn’t easy – and so it’s a natural job for outsourcing. With a sluggish US economy, there’s plenty of calls that need to be made, and debt collection represents growth for outsourcing firms, reports Heather Timmons for the New York Times. India has become a favorite source for debt-collection services because of low costs, automated systems and...

Globalization Pushes More Women Into Informal Economy

Ama Achiaa Amankwah April 28, 2008
Gender inequalities have long left African women outside the formal economy, forced to fend for themselves in informal trade while their brothers and husbands secured employment in the civil sector and state-owned enterprises. Yet the liberalization of African state economies and the elimination of many government-supplied jobs have pushed men out of the formal economy to compete with women....

America for Sale: 2 Outcomes When Foreigners Buy Factories

Peter S. Goodman April 16, 2008
The debate over globalization’s effects on the US economy has become a focal point of the presidential campaign. Outsourcing jobs is a major concern of voters, and with good reason. In Michigan alone, as New York Times’ writer Peter Goodman notes, more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost to foreign competition during the last eight years. Yet globalization encourages foreign investment...

IT Workers on the Move With Globalization

Anthony P. D’Costa April 9, 2008
Talented professionals, including information-technology workers, chose to migrate for jobs and high wages. Such workers have often moved from developing countries in Asia and Eastern Europe to the wealthy developed nations, where graying populations and a lack of youth interest in mathematics and other technical subjects, created a need for skilled workers. But a new shift is also on, reports...