In The News

Immigrants Take to US Streets in Show of Strength

Randal C. Archibold May 3, 2006
US Congress is divided about how to control illegal immigration. In 2005, the US House of Representatives approved legislation to increase border security, making illegal immigration a felony along with providing assistance to such immigrants. The US Senate bill would give some illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. The US has about 11 million illegal immigrants. As long as Congress remains...

Moment of Truth

Robert Scheer May 1, 2006
US polls cite illegal immigration a major concern, and politicians are divided over solutions. Yet the personal economic decisions by most US citizens tend to show more concern about low prices than protecting jobs or wages on the whole. Author Robert Scheer labels the so-called immigration “crisis” as fiction. Throughout history, whenever perceptions emerge about national security threats, low...

Shaking Spain Out of Its Siesta

John Ward Anderson April 26, 2006
Globalization and intense competition across borders has made it more challenging for countries to maintain some cultural traditions. In January 2006, the Spanish government enacted regulations requiring that all federal agencies enforce a strict 45-minute lunch break – allowing workers to head home at 6 pm rather than 8 pm. By abolishing the siesta, a 3-hour lunch break once traditional in Spain...

The Silent Globalization of Remittances

Richard Reeves April 26, 2006
When immigrants work in wealth countries like the US, they often send money back home to families. Such remittance income far exceeds foreign aid or direct foreign investment in Central America and the Caribbean region. The World Bank estimates that such foreign exchange is on the rise, with more than $223 billion transferred from rich countries to poor in 2005. The distribution is direct and...

Microsoft's Gates Sees Vietnam Outsourcing Potential

Jason Folkmanis April 25, 2006
Vietnam’s economic growth, combined with a young population and high literacy rate, lures potential investors including the richest man in the world, Bill Gates. However, intellectual-property piracy also tends to run rampant in Vietnam and other nations with young impoverished populations. During a visit to the Communist country that eagerly seeks WTO membership, Gates suggested that Vietnam...

The World: Set Ways; Vive La Dolce Vita

Roger Cohen April 25, 2006
With the accelerating convergence of ideas and commodities, the world has more jobs available. Yet, many Europeans prefer job security to risky endeavors and resist the process of globalization. Pundits expected recent elections to decide the direction for Europe, but voters are polarized. Close results in the Italian election could undermine the credibility of Italy’s next political leadership,...

Political Clout in the Age of Outsourcing

David Leonhardt April 21, 2006
Americans were once nonchalant about outsourcing – until reports emerged about hospitals sending radiology tests to doctors in India, who provided low-cost accurate readings. Commentators and politicians took notice and debated what such outsourcing would mean for health care. Economists from MIT decided to take a closer look and found a single company in India with three radiologists doing such...