In The News

Free Markets Need Free People

Gordon H. Hanson April 23, 2007
Even as US politicians and consumers decry any illegalities associated with immigration, the US economy is hooked on the conveniences that accompany cheap labor. For unskilled workers, illegal immigration is easier and provides more immediate awards than legal immigration, argues Gordon Hanson of the Center on Pacific Economies. Rigid guest-worker policies combined with strict enforcement drive...

A Nationalist United States of America

Terence Chong April 20, 2007
Nation states should have more power than ever before in history. But global problems, from climate change to poverty, challenge the abilities of nation-states. Groups that despise nation-state control take advantage of any vacuum. Leaders of the nation-state no longer have exclusive control of mass communication, and the internet has shifted more power to anyone who can capture mass attention....

Global Effort to Save Endangered Crops Gets $37.5 Million Infusion

Andrew C. Revkin April 20, 2007
The combined pressures of climate change with a growing population could threaten crop diversity and global food supplies. An international effort to save endangered crop seeds, including a global database on plant gene banks, is underway, from Global Crop Diversity Trust and the United Nations Foundation. Weather, neglect and war can eliminate rare strains of barley, coconut, taro, wheat and...

The Establishment Rethinks Globalization

William Greider April 19, 2007
As the US readies for the 2008 presidential election, corporate executives have divided into two camps for advising candidates on how to proceed with globalization: Supporting free trade without limits is Robert Rubin, former treasury secretary under President Clinton, and urging reform of corporate globalization and preservation of a range of skills is Ralph Gomory, a former IBM executive who...

Transcript of Flattening World Challenges Imagination

April 13, 2007
The following is a transcript of Nayan Chanda's interview with Thomas Friedman, author of “The World Is Flat” and foreign-affairs columnist of “The New York Times,” conducted on March 30, 2007. Friedman talks about the latest edition of his bestselling book, provides advice on which categories of jobs can best be protected from outsourcing, and proposes an exit strategy from Iraq for the US...

“Halal” Labels Experiencing a Supermarket Boom

Peter Ziegler April 13, 2007
Religions often provide strict guidelines on food choices and preparation. With more than 1.7 million Muslims spread throughout the world, food products that abide by the rules of Islam, labeled as “halal,” are the fastest growing segment in the food market. The world’s leading meat producers in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, New Zealand, Great Britain and the USA are prepared to...

Who's Monitoring Chinese Food Exports?

Nicholas Zamiska April 13, 2007
Food inspectors have traced to China a contaminated ingredient in pet food that has killed an unknown number of animals. Wheat gluten is a common ingredient in pet food, cereal and pasta. The discovery of batches tainted with a pesticide illegal in the US raises questions about China's growing role in the international agricultural market. In 2006, 12 percent of world fruit and vegetable...