In The News

Canada's View on Social Issues Is Opening Rifts With the U.S.

Clifford Krauss December 2, 2003
A long running joke among Americans has been that Canada will eventually become the 51st state, so alike are the attitudes and attributes of the two populations. In recent years, however, a chasm has grown between the neighbors with issues such as gay marriage, drug use, and church attendance revealing growing division on fundamental values. Canada has increasingly taken the progressive route,...

Fight for Freedom Logs On

Garrett Glass December 2, 2003
A new class of freedom fighter has emerged in Cuba - the computer hacker. In a country where high prices and government censorship restrict access to the internet, an increasing number of Cubans are using creative methods to explore the internet unhindered. These "informaticos" acquire laptops from friends in foreign countries and modify the hardware and software to get around...

Steel Tariffs Reported On Way Out

David Roeder December 2, 2003
President Bush is likely to avert a trade war by lifting the tariffs he imposed on imported steel in March of 2002. Bush originally established the duties to prevent the loss of steelworkers' jobs. However, keeping the tariffs would likely damage the economy far more by sparking a trade war with the European Union and Japan, both of whom threatened to retaliate by putting $2.3 billion...

Bull in a China Shop?

David Dapice December 1, 2003
As the election calendar heats up in the US, the Republican Bush administration and the Democrats' presidential hopefuls are all fingering China as the culprit behind America's economic woes. A rise in imports from China and a sharp decline in manufacturing jobs are the 'evidence' they point to, says economist David Dapice, but their theories simply don't hold water....

Bush Dropping Steel Tariffs to Avert Trade War

Mike Allen November 30, 2003
In response to a WTO ruling that was finalized three weeks ago, the Bush administration has indicated they are likely to drop the 8-30% steel tariffs imposed in 2002. The US faces a trade war with the European Union and Japan if it keeps the tariffs, which target imports from these nations as well as from South America. EU countries are threatening tariffs on products like Florida citrus fruits...

Difficult Times for Coffee Industry as Demand Falls

Tony Smith November 25, 2003
The international market for coffee is not good for the world's millions of coffee farmers. Facing prices at a 30-year low and production increases that outstrip demand, hundreds of thousands of coffee farm workers in Central America and Brazil are being forced off the land or into production of more profitable, yet harmful, coca production. Some former farmers are moving north to find work...

Winners and Losers at End of the Trade Talks

Andres Oppenheimer November 23, 2003
The signing of the Declaration of Miami last week by the 34 participating nations in the Americas "amounted to a broad agreement that allows countries to participate at their own preferred pace and scope in the negotiations, which are scheduled to end on Jan. 1, 2005," says commentator Andres Oppenheimer. The failure of WTO talks in Cancún had increased domestic pressure on the co-...