In The News

Even Labor Unions Can Gain from Free Trade

Tamara Kay December 23, 2003
In the long negotiations before the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), pundits, politicians, and unions alike predicted that NAFTA would bring increased animosity between transnational unions. They would now be competing for the same jobs, the argument went, and so labor solidarity will obviously break down. Instead, says labor scholar Tamara Kay, North America...

Sugar, Textiles Sour on CAFTA Deal

Jane Bussey December 19, 2003
US trade negotiators had no sooner finished closing a deal with four Central American countries when US textile and sugar industry representatives began crying foul. The Central American Free Trade Agreement would result in sugar industry job losses in the US, say its critics, and permit Chinese, Mexican, and Canadian textiles assembled in Central America to enjoy favorable import rules when...

U.S. and Europeans Agree on Sharing of Airline Passenger Data

Philip Shenon December 17, 2003
In a move that averted a trans-Atlantic showdown over privacy rights, the European Union has agreed to allow the US to collect records on all passengers flying from Europe to the US. The Bush administration claims these records are vital to protecting against terrorists entering the country, but European privacy advocates and some countries claimed the policy violated European privacy laws. In...

Deflating Bush's China balloon

William Pesek Jr. December 17, 2003
The Bush Administration is pressuring China to float its currency, the yuan, instead of pegging it to the US dollar. Administration officials argue that the yuan is currently undervalued and is thus hurting the US economy. This week, Alan Greenspan, the US Federal Reserve chairman, said that a rise in the relative value of the yuan would have little effect on US employment, as companies would...

Harvesting Poverty

December 7, 2003
America’s cotton, among other crops, is exported internationally in large amounts each year, despite the fact that it often sells for less than it costs to grow. This is because of the US government’s high agricultural subsidies. Countries such as the US, argues this editorial, unfairly render the crops of poorer countries like Brazil uncompetitive in the global market. Furthermore, wealthy...

An Ohio Town Is Hard Hit as Leading Industry Moves to China

Joseph Kahn December 7, 2003
Like many small industrial towns, Bryan Ohio has a few big employers. When one of them – the Ohio Art Company – decided three years ago to move its signature product line, the "Etch A Sketch" toy, to China, the community felt both the loss of 100 jobs and the loss of a community symbol. Etch A Sketch models used to decorate the town, but no longer. Due to "ineluctable laws of...

Wal-Mart Invades, and Mexico Gladly Surrenders

Tim Weiner December 6, 2003
Wal-Mart, the largest corporation in America, has revenues that exceed the economies of all but 30 of the world's nations. It dominates about 30% of the grocery business in the US, as well as substantial proportions of other industries. Now, its domestic success is being duplicated in Mexico. Wal-Mart employs 100,164 Mexican workers, making it the biggest private employer in the nation....