In The News

Argentina Acts to Protect Local Films

Jude Webber September 7, 2011
More often than not, protectionism represents desperation. The Argentine state film institute has begun imposing fines on foreign film, reports Jude Webber for the Financial Times. The extra fees, to be levied on films shown on more than 161 Argentine screens, are intended to curtail mass releases of Hollywood blockbusters, Webber reports, and collect revenues “to protect national filmmakers.”...

An Amazonian Battle

Joe Leahy August 31, 2011
After slowing of deforestation in recent years, conflict has returned to the Amazon rainforest with increasing fights between conservations and farmers. Farmers are pushing for a law granting amnesty for illegal logging before 2008 and claim that the host of environmental laws that reduced deforestation created uncertainty for investors. Environmentalists are worried about undermining...

Slouching Toward a Double-Dip, For No Good Reason

Robert Reich August 30, 2011
With the US on the verge of another recession, consumers hesitate to spend. The job crisis in the US has reduced revenues, adding to the debt crisis. Yet the US focuses on the wrong priority, slowing spending to ease a debt crisis rather than investing in programs to end the job crisis. Robert Reich, author and former US labor secretary, warns against shallow comparisons that equate US and...

Making the Desert Bloom

August 30, 2011
The North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994 gave Mexico great potential, but the country also became among the hardest hit in the Americas by the global debt crisis, notes the Economist. Some analysts urge ongoing diversification of trade partners to strengthen the economy: “The Inter-American Development Bank, the biggest lender in the region, describes a ‘two speed’ Latin America, in which...

Colombia: Saving Dying Languages

John Otis August 29, 2011
Colombia currently ranks fourth in the world in the number of spoken indigenous languages, after Brazil, Mexico and Peru. Nevertheless, only three of those indigenous languages are spoken by more than 50,000 people, and most of the indigenous languages could vanish by the end of the century, reports John Otis for the GlobalPost. Increasingly more indigenous people choose to learn Spanish over...

Only 3 Percent of What You Buy Is Made in China, But It's the Most Important 3 Percent

Greg Lindsay August 25, 2011
For four decades, corporations have outsourced manufacturing operations to Asia, reducing costs. Shifting manufacturing off-shore eliminated jobs and also “sacrificed the know-how to think of new ways of manufacturing goods,” explains Greg Lindsay for Fast Company. In all, services represent two thirds of the US economy. Manufacturing’s role is small: San Francisco Federal Reserve economists...

Top Indian Technology Firms TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Aegis and Others in US Are Going for Local Hiring

Shruti Sabharwal August 22, 2011
Indian IT firms are seeking to employ more Americans as a result of the high US unemployment rate and criticism of outsourcing. “In response, IT firms are now pulling out all the stops to be seen as job creators with a stake in local economies,” writes Shruti Sabharwal for the Economic Times. Sensitive to charges of stealing jobs, the Indian firms have joined a number of US initiatives: Wipro...