In The News

A Damaged Brand

Moisés Naím October 27, 2002
Privatization, trade liberalization, and deregulation were the buzzwords of the early 1990s. Developing countries happily adopted these terms, but in many cases their actual economic policies differed sharply from the formula. Both the formula and the local policies used in its place have failed, and as a consequence, developing countries have renounced globalization completely. This is tragic...

Occupancy Rates Plunge to Only 11 Percent in Bali

A’an Suryana October 25, 2002
Recent terrorist bombings in Bali have pushed the island to the brink of an economic crisis. With an occupancy rate of 11 percent in the 1,400 hotels, tourism is almost non-existent. Bali derives about 40% of its income from tourism and side services that cater to tourists. But there seems to be little the island can do. Most of the countries from which the victims of the bombing hailed have...

Hathaway Closes Maine Factory, Last Major U.S. Shirt Plant

The Associated Press October 20, 2002
America’s industrial revolution was launched in the early 19th century by men like Francis Cabot Lowell, who set up textile mills with technology copied from Great Britain. Some textile mills still operate in the South, but the closure of the US’s last major shirt maker marks the end of an era in a globalizing world where production is perpetually in search of low-cost labor and rent....

Dark Clouds Hang over Indonesian Tourism after Bali Bomb Blasts

Fitri Wulandari October 14, 2002
Successful, large-scale tourism requires both great attractiveness and a basic guarantee of safety for visitors. Often billed as an island paradise, Bali's economy is now almost completely dependent upon international tourism. But according to Indonesian tourism officials, Saturday's terrorist bombing of a crowded Bali nightclub threatens to destroy the industry. Vacationers from...

World Donors Praise Kabul’s Budget and Development Plans

Carlotta Gall October 14, 2002
With the majority of its institutions and infrastructure in ruins following first civil war and then the war on terror, Afghanistan is urgently seeking international aid that would allow the country to get back on the road towards self-sufficiency. President Karzai and his government estimate the country will need at least $10 billion over the next few years to develop a viable economy. Thus...

RI No Longer Needs IMF Loans, Development Planning Minister Says

October 10, 2002
Indonesian State Minister of National Development Planning, Kwik Kian Gie, says that loans from the International Monetary Fund have helped little in his country's efforts to rebuild its economy. Out of the $43 billion promised to Indonesia, only $9 billion has arrived. And, according to the terms of the loan agreements, that money cannot be touched until the country has exhausted its own...

European Union Set for Historic Expansion

Judy Dempsey October 9, 2002
The European Commission approved an expansion of the European Union that will take the regional bloc from 15 to 25 member countries by 2004. Several former Soviet states are joining the group, but Turkey's accession is still under negotiation. The expansion brings millions of new people into the EU's common market and also compels their national governments to enact EU-required...