In The News

G-8 Vows Greenhouse Gas Curbs; US Escapes Targets

James G. Neuger June 7, 2007
The G-8 summit vows a renewed global push to combat climate change – but declines to set any firm limits for now. The European Union, Japan and Canada promise to halve carbon emissions by 2050, while the US and Russia still balk at setting targets. The Bush administration wants any goals to cover developing nations like China and India. Otherwise “nothing is going to happen in terms of...

US Authorities Net “Top Spammer”

June 6, 2007
US authorities arrested a 27-year-old Seattle man, describing him as one of the world’s top 10 spammers, and charged him with 35 counts including mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Robert Soloway’s arrest marks the first time that officials have used identity-theft laws to prosecute a person for taking over another person’s internet domain name. “Prosecutors allege Mr....

China’s Plan for Global Warming: Wait for the US

Michael Richardson June 5, 2007
China is poised to become the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, surpassing the US. Yet, at this point, while rhetoric from both governments shows growing recognition that climate change could wreak havoc with the global economy, both nations decline to set a mandatory cap on carbon emissions. Instead they claim to rely on improving industrial efficiency to reduce greenhouse emissions....

Chinese Gangs “Behind Fake Drugs”

Jill McGivering June 5, 2007
Criminal Chinese gangs are manufacturing counterfeit drugs on an industrial scale, according to reports from BBC News. The fake drugs are highly sophisticated and are sold throughout Asia, Africa and even Europe. “International health officials warn that anti-malarial drugs are just the tip of the iceberg,” reports BBC News. “There is also growing concern about fake antibiotics and fake anti-...

Globalization's Gains Come With a Price

Bob Davis June 3, 2007
After Mexico opened its economy to foreign trade and investment in the 1990s, low-income workers benefited, but only for a short while. “As trade, foreign investment and technology have spread, the gap between economic haves and have-nots has frequently widened, not only in wealthy countries like the U.S. but in poorer ones like Mexico, Argentina, India and China as well,” reports an article in...

Is Water the Next Oil?

Rohini Nilekani May 31, 2007
Water is more vital for human life than oil – and environmentalists, corporations, communities and governments increasingly recognize its unequal distribution around the globe could lead to severe environmental degradation and intense conflicts in the years ahead. Anyone who cares about water should observe the management of oil during the past century and not repeat the mistakes, argues Rohini...

What Offshoring Wave?

Robert J. Samuelson May 30, 2007
The burst of technology at the turn of the century had pundits predicting that all manner of professional jobs – any position that required creating or handling data that could be transferred online – would move away from Western Europe and the US to India, China and other nations with low wages and plenty of skilled workers. Economists predicted that about one-fifth of jobs in the US could...