In The News

Malaysia Gains from HSBC Jobs Shift

K.P. Lee October 18, 2003
HSBC is the latest in a series of financial institutions that are moving certain functions out of the US and UK and into areas that provide cheaper labor. Malaysia and India have become some of the most attractive relocation sites, given the preponderance of English speakers. Banks, as well as other businesses, are eager to cut costs by moving "call center" and "backroom...

Privatization vs. Democracy

Salah Hemeid October 13, 2003
The chief US Administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, recently announced that Iraq's state-owned industries will be sold off to private investors in an effort to boost the country's struggling economy. The new policy also allows for 100 percent foreign ownership of all industries except for oil, which will remain under government control for the time being. Iraqis view their oil reserves as...

Overseas Job Shift Affects Office Market

Terry Pristin October 8, 2003
The offshore outsourcing trend in the United States has claimed another victim: the market for commercial real estate. As firms transfer more back-office operations to low-wage countries, the already sluggish demand for office space in the US has slumped considerably more. "It's just going to take longer to get the numbers down to palatable percentages," said Dale Anne Reiss,...

Africa's Betting Public Lures Foreign Investors

Marc Lacey October 7, 2003
People across the world's poorest continent are gambling their limited incomes on scratch-off cards and lotto tickets. As countries ease betting restrictions to encourage economic growth, foreign companies have begun investing in Africa's new blossoming industry. "The African market is a relatively small part of the world market," one British investor noted, "but it...

Brown Tries to Put EU on Growth Path

Larry Elliott October 7, 2003
France, Germany, and Britain agree: The EU must embrace capitalism to create new jobs, foster investment, and boost economic performance across the continent. A letter drafted by British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown with his French and German counterparts will seek to persuade Europe to reform its welfare state framework. Europe, the letter argues, needs to implement supply-side...

Competition of Legal Systems

Joachim Jahn October 3, 2003
European Union businesses have a new kind of freedom to look forward to: they can choose their own legal forms. The European Court has ruled that new business owners in EU countries may choose which country’s legal forms they want, effectively allowing them much more freedom in terms of regulation. Critics say the decision will ensure lower regulation standards, since some EU countries have...

Why China Should Not Revalue

Francis Scotland October 2, 2003
China should continue to ignore US calls to revalue its currency. At present, the Chinese currency renminbi or yuan is pegged to the dollar at a rate of 8.4 to 1, a rate which many say makes the Chinese currency significantly undervalued. Nonetheless, the author argues that the Chinese currency peg allows the hyper-stimulative US monetary policy to be exported to the rest of the world economy...