In The News

Foreigners' Sweetener: Buy House, Get a Visa

Nick Timiraos October 21, 2011
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.” So goes the silent call from the Statue of Liberty, symbol of US immigration, in the 1883 poem by Emma Lazarus. But the modern plea is for wealthy immigrants willing to bail the US out of its teeming troubles, including a housing market in decline. Two Senators, including...

Haiti: Tailor-Made for South-South Cooperation

Jonathan Glennie October 20, 2011
With a history of colonization, debt, US trade boycotts and domestic corruption, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Recent natural disasters, including hurricanes, storms and the 2010 earthquake compounded the challenges. Writing for the Guardian, Jonathan Glennie recommends that Haiti explore South-South cooperation, adding that “no amount of aid from the west can make up for...

Chinese Scientist Admits Stealing Trade Secrets in US

October 20, 2011
A Chinese scientist, a permanent resident in the US who worked in the agro industry, has pled guilty to stealing trade secrets on pesticide and food products from two US employers, reports the BBC News. He was charged under the US 1996 Economic Espionage Act. The article suggests that greed or career ambitions can prompt such exchanges as much as patriotism. In the case of biotechnologist Kexue...

Liam Fox's Atlantic Bridge Linked Top Tories and Tea Party Activists

Jamie Doward October 18, 2011
It’s a nation’s worst nightmare – secret foreign meddling in national politics. A British investigation of the charity Atlantic Bridge has led to the resignation of the British defense secretary. Atlantic Bridge, a charity, was also a networking group for conservatives to defend common interests in a globalized economy, linking corporate interests with British cabinet members, US senators and...

US Falls Behind in Global Race for Talent

Bruce Stokes October 17, 2011
The US has long attracted the world’s top talent coming to its shores for study and work and benefited richly from their innovations. Advanced engineering, math and science programs of US universities depend on students from China, India and South Korea: More than a third of the US doctoral-level science and engineering workforce was born outside the United States, reports Bruce Stokes,...

So Many US Manufacturing Jobs, So Few Skilled Workers

Lucia Mutikani October 17, 2011
A disconnect hampers US economic recovery: Manufacturing plants based in the US struggle to fill jobs, even with 14 million Americans searching for work. American students prefer studies in the social sciences, arts and business. Math, engineering, technology and computer science degrees account for less than 10 percent of college diplomas. For jobs that don’t require degrees, vocational...

Beyond the PC

Martin Giles October 14, 2011
Getting computers into more hands over the past two decades spurred innovation: Early in Apple’s history, the late Steve Jobs, 56, encouraged company secretaries to train in computer skills and offer ideas, one Wall Street Journal columnist reminisced. Thus a desktop meeting scheduler was born. Merging smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices – all developed and promoted by Jobs – into...