In The News

Wal-Mart in Global Online Push

Jonathan Birchall February 6, 2008
For some companies, the goal is cornering the market. Wal-Mart has announced intentions to offset slowing growth in the world’s leading consumer nation, the US, by promoting internet sales and delivery of groceries and other items throughout Asia and Latin America. For now, Wal-Mart is second only to Amazon, which began selling books online and then expanded to electronics and other products....

Buyers, Not Savers, Caused America’s Deficit

Richard Duncan February 5, 2008
Financial analysts scrutinize Alan Greenspan’s 2007 autobiography, “The Age of Turbulence,” for any clues about the current economic downturn. Analyst and author Richard Duncan takes issue with the chapter in Greenspan’s book on current accounts and debt, noting that that the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve argues, “High savings and unattractive investments at home, occurring at a time...

2008: The Demise of Neoliberal Globalization

Immanuel Wallerstein February 4, 2008
Political philosophers have long debated about whether governments, corporations or other entities are most efficient in delivering services for groups of citizens or world markets. Neoliberal globalization is an old idea for achieving efficiency that gained prominence in the 1980s, according to sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein, and implies that governments should allow corporations to cross...

Beware the Internet's Looming Class Divide

Johann Hari February 1, 2008
Instant knowledge and connections via the internet can allow individuals to make better decisions in almost any sphere. “It is increasingly clear that the internet is going to be a transformative moment in human history as significant as the printing press,” writes columnist Johann Hari for the Independent. While the internet allows for interaction, a researcher warns that the tool – relatively...

A Fear That the Cure Could Be Poison

Edmund L. Andrews February 1, 2008
Central banks like the US Federal Reserve raise interest rates to slow an economy and lower them to stimulate it. But economists admit that a complex global economy, with transactions moving at rapid pace, complicates their task. Economist must wait for data to come in long after an economy reacts to events. For example, economists are yet uncertain about whether or not a recession is underway in...

Europe Looks East – Part I

Shada Islam January 30, 2008
Ever since Marco Polo returned from his voyages with fascinating tales, Europe has been curious about Asia, but distance and the pull of a powerful US economy made it easy to overlook the continent’s economic or strategic importance. As the emerging economies of Asia demonstrate increasing ambition and influence, Europe’s leaders recognize that they must work to build cooperation and full...

The Battle for Food, Oil and Water

Gideon Rachman January 30, 2008
Uncertainty pervades the global economy, and the world’s most powerful leaders, bankers and industrialists admit that the complexities of the global financial system present many unknowns. As bankers study the financial connections, politicians examine the challenges confronting the world’s poorest people, including shortages and rising costs of water, food and energy. Population growth...