In The News

Putting Pollution on Grocery Bills

Elisabeth Rosenthal May 1, 2008
Shoppers like a steady stream of favorite fruits and vegetables year-round. “Consumers in not only the richest nations but also, increasingly, the developing world expect food whenever they crave it, with no concession to season or geography,” writes Elisabeth Rosenthal for the International Herald Tribune. Consumers get what they want with the help of global transportation systems combined with...

The Russians Are Coming: Moscow Investors Go on Shopping Spree for German Companies

Alexander Jung May 1, 2008
Russia – the world’s largest exporter of natural gas and the second largest exporter of oil – is collecting big profits as importing nations scramble for supplies. As a result Russians have the money to invest in foreign markets. “Russian investors have been traveling through Germany for months, buying up companies, eyeing almost every industry,” reports a team of writers with Spiegel Online. “...

Real Message Is Clear

Jennifer Hewett April 30, 2008
China’s boom has filled its coffers with lots of cash. Some nations, including Australia, want to slow the fast pace of China’s foreign investment – taking time to assess consequences. The most recent takeover target is West Australian iron-ore producer Midwest by China's Sinosteel, and the latter could be on the hunt for other iron-ore producers, reports Jennifer Hewett for the Australian...

Baiting the Dragon: German Business Warns of Pushing China too Far

April 29, 2008
Taking a firm stand on human rights can require sacrifice. Like trade itself, boycotts that attempt to influence national behavior are a two-way street: As Europeans ponder boycotting the Beijing Olympics, German business leaders warn that more than 200,000 jobs in that nation depend on Chinese exports. Harsh criticism of China’s policy in Tibet could fuel calls from Chinese citizens to boycott...

Globalization’s Aftershocks

Temma Ehrenfeld April 29, 2008
The new world order born out of the fall of the Soviet Union triggered fundamental changes in the global economy, many out of the reach of government regulation. Italian economist and author Loretta Napoleoni, in an interview with Newsweek, defines this trend of trade in unregulated markets as the rise of “rogue economics” – including black market sales, poaching of fish or rare species, as well...

Games Tensions on Slippery Track

Jason Dean April 28, 2008
Criticism of China’s human-rights record and Tibet policy has provoked an active defense among Chinese people. Without government direction, a strong wave of nationalist sentiment has driven boycotts of Western multinational corporations whose shareholders support the Free Tibet movement, as well as protests outside media outlets deemed to have reported on the issue with bias. In a year that the...

Deadly Greed: The Role of Speculators in the Global Food Crisis

Beat Balzli April 25, 2008
Investors, sensing opportunity in climbing food prices, made record profits in the commodities markets, including wheat, corn, rice and palm oil. “Commodity speculation spread long ago from standard products like oil and gold to anything edible and available for trade on the Chicago Futures Exchange,” write Beat Balzli and Frank Hornig for Spiegel Online. The futures market allowed farmers to...