In The News

Last Chance for Bush to Repair Relations With Islamic World

Imam Cahyono November 15, 2006
A trip to Asia leads US President George Bush’s travel agenda after the mid-term election – and gives him a chance to renew US ties with Asia. The invasion of Iraq and the war on terror have distracted US leaders from Asia Pacific affairs and the growing influence of China. US influence in the Asia Pacific region has declined to such a point that many label Bush as a greater threat than tyrant...

Relax, Democrats Might Not Be So Protectionist After All

Edward Gresser November 14, 2006
Pundits worldwide suggest that Democratic control of the US Senate and House of Representatives after the November 7 election spells doom for free trade. But the Democratic Party has a tradition of economic internationalism, beginning with presidents such as Woodrow Wilson who served from 1913 to 1921. The party’s leaders have put forward a domestic agenda that aims at calming the anxiety of...

Good News – The World Is Getting Richer

Robert J. Shiller November 14, 2006
Among 82 nations with data from 2004, the per capita gross domestic product increased, indicating a rising standard of living throughout the world, according to the Penn World Table, from the Center for International Comparisons of Production, Income and Prices, based at the University of Pennsylvania. However, the data also show a widening gap between rich and poor countries. The average real...

A Bigger Economy Doesn't Always Buy Happiness

Eric Weiner November 14, 2006
Economists rely on the size and growth of a nation’s gross domestic product to determine the health of any economy. But the GDP covers the sale of weapons, mindless video games, excessive packaging that ends up in landfills, prescription drugs that treat anxiety or depression, and expenditures for war. Robert Kennedy once said that GDP doesn’t measure "the beauty of our poetry or the...

Unifying the UN

Shaukat Aziz November 9, 2006
An increasingly interconnected world cannot withstand enormous inequality. An overhaul of the UN system is in order or the international body will be marginalized, warn prime ministers from Pakistan, Mozambique and Norway, who were charged by the UN secretary general to offer recommendations on improving policies in three key areas: sustainable development, response to world crises and...

And Now for a Word About Globalization

Jon Talton November 9, 2006
Troubled by violence in Iraq, corruption in politics and uncertainty over the economy, US voters threw Republicans out of power in Congress. With voters increasingly concerned about a loss of manufacturing jobs, Democrats in Congress are expected to impose conditions on any trade agreements – and Republican critics will probably label any changes as “protectionist.” But journalist Jon Talton...

Democratic Resurgence in Washington Is No Cause for Celebration

November 9, 2006
Democrats snatched control of the US Congress from Republicans, the party of President George Bush – and many in the international community, particularly those who opposed the war in Iraq, celebrate new checks on his power, anticipating new solutions to a range of crises around the globe. But observers in the Middle East have reasons for wariness, suggests this editorial from “The Daily Star”...