In The News

Beyond Macro Reforms

Luis Alberto Moreno May 11, 2006
Economies throughout Latin America and the Caribbean are flourishing, enjoying steady growth rates along with inflation and fiscal deficits under control. Still, Latin American countries have low incomes and a low share of world trade, struggling to compete with Asian competitors in India, China, Japan and Korea. Luis Alberto Moreno, banking executive and former economic official for Colombia,...

Cuba Plans Offshore Wells Banned in US Waters

Michael Janofsky May 10, 2006
The US and Cuba partitioned the waters of Florida Straits years ago, and the US never expected that Cuba would hurry to develop the underlying oil and gas fields. Cuba might not have immediate need for the energy supplies, but other nations do. So the Cuban government negotiated a partnership with emerging economic giants China and India to drill and extract oil and gas from the large underwater...

How Not to Fight Terrorism

David Cole May 9, 2006
The high-profile trial of Zacarias Moussaoui has concluded, and the result, after four years, is a life sentence – which Moussaoui was prepared to accept when the proceedings began. In the intervening years, the US government sought to prove that Moussaoui was the 20th hijacker set to participate in the 9/11 attacks and blocked his access, with questionable legality, to witnesses and other...

Work in Progress: Prosperity in Home Countries May Not Stem Tide of Migrants to the US

Joel Millman May 9, 2006
Economists and politicians long assumed that increasing jobs in impoverished nations could slow illegal immigration from those countries. Yet one study suggests that increased opportunities in home countries like Mexico or Brazil promote skill development. Many workers still want to apply new skills in the nation that offers the best pay and standard of living. Analysts suggest that the chance to...

Request Stokes Debate Over Yale Student With a Taliban Past

Alan Finder May 8, 2006
Impoverished Afghanistan was racked by war for 10 years after the Soviet invasion in 1979. Sayed Rahmatulla Hashemi’s formal education ended with the fourth grade, and he learned English from aid workers. The brutal Taliban regime soon took control over the nation, and with minimal skills, Hashemi worked as a translator and then diplomat for the Office of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. After...

Sudan-Divestment Laws Draw Attacks From Fund Managers, Business Groups

Jane Spencer May 8, 2006
The UN accuses Sudan’s Khartoum government for the deaths of about 200,000 villagers in the Darfur region, and the US labels the atrocities as genocide. But a recent campaign to convince universities and public pension funds to divest any interests in companies with ties to Sudan has upset some business leaders. Pension-fund managers complain that such divestment policies or laws influence far...

Immigrants Take to US Streets in Show of Strength

Randal C. Archibold May 3, 2006
US Congress is divided about how to control illegal immigration. In 2005, the US House of Representatives approved legislation to increase border security, making illegal immigration a felony along with providing assistance to such immigrants. The US Senate bill would give some illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. The US has about 11 million illegal immigrants. As long as Congress remains...