In The News

Waste Not, Want Not: Industries Innovate With Trash

Susan Froetschel October 11, 2016
With urbanization and a swelling global middle class come enormous amounts of waste. Many governments and companies respond to this challenge with sustainable solutions including recycling. Organic material – food, in particular – is the largest part of household waste in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Countries are changing laws, allowing redistribution of food or flexibility on expiration...

US to OPEC: Don’t Drill, Baby, Don’t Drill

Keith Johnson October 6, 2016
Economic and political concerns influence US responses to a potential slowdown in oil output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The Trump campaign advocates for more drilling and fewer regulations to increase jobs in America’s oil-producing heartland. Not everyone would benefit: “what’s good for the goose in the oil patch and parts of many red states, may not be good for the...

Global Economic Growth “Sliding Back into the Morass”

Chris Giles October 4, 2016
A report from the Brookings Institution and the Financial Times indicates that global economic growth rates are slowing. The report was published before the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where global economic leaders plan to stress the value of inclusion and global cooperation and other main tenets of globalization. The Brookings-FT Tiger index compares numerous...

A Giant Problem

September 19, 2016
In the age of globalization, giant “superstar companies” such as Apple and Google are skilled at eliminating competition which poses a risk for backlash. The Economist suggests that levels of market concentration in the Americas are especially worrying. Many corporations search out tax havens, evade regulations and collect data from customers. Public trust is wearing thin. The Economist urges...

Is the Bayer-Monsanto Merger Too Big To Succeed?

David Francis September 19, 2016
Bayer, a major pharmaceutical and chemical multinational based in Germany, seeks to expand reach in agriculture and crop science. Its proposed acquisition of Monsanto is “the largest all-cash transaction in history” and a crescendo of “a string of combinations in the industry,” explains David Francis for Foreign Policy. This consolidated corporation would sell approximately one quarter of the...

US Economy: Citizenship for Sale

Kara Scannell September 14, 2016
US cities like Miami are using the EB-5 visa to attract wealthy investors. The program was designed to promote development in areas of need, but Kara Scannell of the Financial Times describes luxury office towers, hotels and retail complexes. “For a $500,000 investment in a project that creates at least 10 jobs in a high-unemployment area, a foreign national can eventually receive a green card...

Africa’s Economic Potential Hit Hard by Gender Inequality

Amy Copley September 12, 2016
A recent United Nations Development Project report shows how increased gender equality in Africa would create economic benefits for the region as a whole – for both men and women. Gender disparities in educational and economic opportunities and health care are persistent. The report suggests that reduced GDP represents billions of dollars of loss, with $104.75 billion in 2014 alone, as a result...