In The News

Can the US Bring Jobs Back from China?

Pete Engardio June 23, 2008
Despite a decline in the dollar and a spike in oil prices, finding a US manufacturer eager to develop prototypes for new products or compete for contracts is not easy. Not only does the US fail to compete in industries that require ample cheap labor, it also struggles to compete in terms of innovation. “American factories and supplier networks in many industries have withered in the era of...

Globalized Inflation

Joachim Fels June 20, 2008
Intricate connections between global economies – including trade treaties, exchange rates and foreign investment – prevent individual nations from completely controlling how their individual economies are molded. Low US interest rates have fueled a credit crisis and inflation so drastically as to render ineffective any region’s effort to staunch inflation. The inability of other regions, like...

Time for a Global Town-Hall Meeting?

Jeffrey Garten June 19, 2008
People all over the world don’t have a right to vote in the US, but remain keenly interested in the country’s elections – because what the new president might do or not do often affects their countries and even their daily lives. While no one would suggest granting foreigners the right to influence the US election, that should not prevent Americans from hearing foreign views and concerns in a...

The EU in an Irish Bog

Roger Cohen June 19, 2008
Winston Churchill once observed that the problems with democracy could be understood after talking five minutes with the average voter. Expressing frustrations en masse, voters are impatient, often lashing out at politicians or policies that would serve the long-term interests of society. Such an example is Irish voters’ rejection of renegotiation of the Lisbon Treaty, which would smooth...

Baby Bust!

Kerry Howley June 18, 2008
Wealthy countries tend to have lower birth rates – but now that trend has also emerged in rural areas with low literacy rates and few economic opportunities for women, such as Africa and South Asia. Other countries that once discouraged large families as an effort to eliminate poverty have since reversed course. “After 200 years of exponential population growth, and just four decades after...

Inflation Promises a Belt-Tightening Era

David Dapice June 17, 2008
Oil and food prices are rising – and plenty of economists worry about inflation. With some analysts predicting $200 per barrel oil in the near future and serious consequences down the line, consumers must prepare to get by with less. Much of the economic outlook depends on the ability of the US financial system to handle its growing debt load, explains economist David Dapice in this YaleGlobal...

The Health Care Trap

Richard Smith June 17, 2008
The wealthiest countries spend lavishly on health care. The growing expenditures create entrenched health-care systems that provide an increasing share of employment in those nations. Technological innovation – from development of new drugs to life-saving equipment – in the health-care sector, unlike other industries, tends to make prices rise rather than fall, explains Richard Smith in an essay...