In The News

US Firm to Control Chinese Bank

Peter S. Goodman June 1, 2004
China's banking industry has long been the focus of reform-oriented economists and policy-makers in Beijing. Corruption, a history of bad loans, and banks' obligations to lend to unprofitable state-owned businesses have caused some observers to call the sector the Achilles heel of China's booming economy. Yet things may be changing. After negotiations that concluded this weekend...

On China's Rise

Ernesto Zedillo May 18, 2004
Ernesto Zedillo, director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and former president of Mexico, recently visited China, where he attended a regionally important Asian economic conference. In this column in Forbes Magazine, he pens his impressions of China's economic development, gathered from public and private meetings with Chinese government officials during his trip. Zedillo...

Globalisation in African continent

Syed Jamaluddin May 18, 2004
A host of factors, including the continent-wide financial, industrial, and political difficulties since the end of the colonial age have reduced economic performance in Africa to often pitiable levels. Despite starting “from behind” and the current obstacles to economic growth, this editorial highlights progress Africa has made, and the future development that can be speeded up by proper...

Immigrants' Cash Floods Homelands

Mary Beth Sheridan May 17, 2004
Remittances that migrants send back home to help their families, have long formed a crucial component of developing countries' income. In El Salvador, for example, remittances total 14% of the country's gross domestic product. Money-transferring technologies have only made this process easier and kept the payments regular. Now a study of Latin American immigrants to the US – legal...

India's Elections Expose Economic Divide

Gareth Price May 11, 2004
Results from India’s national elections disproved pre-poll predictions by ousting the ruling national coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A few weeks ago, the results seemed predictable. The current government, successful in stimulating economic growth for India and promoting better relations with neighboring Pakistan, was expected to return to power. Low voter turnout may have...

Pragmatic Politics

Peter Sturm May 7, 2004
German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's cozy relations with China's leaders are raising some eyebrows in his native land. An annual visitor to China, Kohl has consistently promoted German business interests during his discussions with Beijing. While this may be good for German investors, Kohl's one-issue focus happily ignores China's human rights abuses, says Peter Sturm. Sturm...

Invite China to Join G7 for Everybody's Sake

Kevin Rafferty May 4, 2004
In this op-ed for the Hong Kong-based The Standard, Kevin Rafferty argues for the inclusion of China in the G-7/8 group. Though he acknowledges arguments about China's not having the proper "system" or freely convertible currency that naysayers deem necessary to be in the exclusive club of like-minded economic powers, Rafferty argues that China's awesome economic status and...