In The News

SEC Seeks Offshore Cash Disclosure

Helen Thomas September 26, 2011
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is “pushing” companies to disclose to investors their offshore cash holdings, reports Helen Thomas for the Financial Times. Such disclosures could “be relevant and material to understanding a company’s liquidity,” Thomas adds. US regulations require companies to pay taxes of up to 35 percent on income earned overseas and repatriated to the US, providing...

How Global Trade Can Rein in Health Costs

Dean Baker, Jagdish Bhagwati September 21, 2011
Rising healthcare costs contribute to the ballooning US budget deficits, and the US has thus far resisted public health plans mandating universal coverage. Opening the US market to international competition could offer a means to disciplining the industry and reducing costs, explains economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Dean Baker for CNN Money, adding that “medical care of comparable quality is...

World Needs New Paradigm on Drugs After Failing War

Santiago Sosa September 21, 2011
A war on drugs has failed, concludes the UN Report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. While heroin and cocaine use is on the decline in aging Europe and the US, it’s on the rise elsewhere. In particular, Europe and the US go easy on domestic users, emphasizing supply that ignores the problem’s roots, explains Santiago Sosa for Colombia Reports. Communities that depend on illegal crops...

The US Public Wants Disengagement

Bruce Stokes September 14, 2011
The United States has periodically withdrawn into its isolationist shell, particularly after wars. While much of the world looks to the United States to exercise strong leadership, otherwise polarized opinion within the US often finds common ground on at least one issue: expecting leaders to focus less attention on problems overseas. Recent surveys show the US could be heading towards such an...

Unemployment, Inc.: Six Reasons Why America Can't Create Jobs

Mark Trumbull September 12, 2011
High unemployment in the US and a sharp reduction in consumer spending depress economies around the globe. Economists warn that the US economy could be experiencing a structural shift, explains Mark Trumbull for the Christian Science Monitor. He lists six reasons for the long period of high unemployment: companies pushing for higher productivity among workers, while hiring workers on a temporary...

An America Adrift

Paul Kennedy September 9, 2011
The 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is a time of reflection, and historian Paul Kennedy analyzes the American responses and mood of the past decade. After 9/11, the US quickly invaded Afghanistan, putting the Taliban on the run. Then in March 2003, the US invaded Iraq, intent on deposing dictator Saddam Hussein who had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. Kennedy offers anecdotal...

Democratic Hysteria

Pranab Bardhan September 8, 2011
Democracy requires an educated and well-informed citizenry, and to paraphrase former US President Thomas Jefferson, a nation cannot expect to be both ignorant and free, living in a state of civilization. Two intelligent leaders, Barack Obama and Manmohan Singh, are being sidelined by ignorant and passionate debates, observes economist Pranab Bardhan in an essay for Project Syndicate. In a quest...