In The News

Saving the World, One Video Game at a Time

Clive Thompson July 23, 2006
The violence erupting in the Middle East is anything but a game. Desperate to eliminate world crises, philanthropists such as the MacArthur Foundation and academics are teaming up with developers of video games to teach new skills and values, particularly to youth who reject traditional media. For example, “Peacemaker” places its players in decision-making roles vis-à-vis the Israeli-Palestinian...

End the Lie, Rejoice in Cheap Imports

Edward M. Graham July 21, 2006
The public is indifferent to trade negotiations, according to Edward Graham, because most people take trade for granted. Politicians have led the way in promoting a massive lie to the public – that the benefits of expanded trade come from expanded exports. Graham points out that import expansion actually provides greater benefits, including long-term improvements in productivity and an increase...

Gates Won't Fund AIDS Researchers Unless They Pool Data

Marilyn Chase July 21, 2006
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, run by the chairman of the Microsoft Corporation, will deliver $287 million in five-year grants to researchers working to produce an AIDS vaccine. The caveat: Grantees must agree to pool their results. Fragmented and overlapping work in the area of AIDS research has hindered progress toward a vaccination for the virus that affects 40 million people around...

A Driven President Faces a World of Crises

Michael Abramowitz July 20, 2006
From North Korea to Iran, Somalia to Afghanistan and places in between, the US government faces a barrage of conflicts that could hinder the Bush administration’s stated foreign policy goal of democracy building. Committing so many resources in Iraq has limited US flexibility in responding to other crises, and some observers from both political parties in the US express pessimism about the...

Habitual Blindness

Eric Rauchway July 20, 2006
The US is a creature of habit and that means repeating old mistakes, according to author Eric Rauchway. Reaping benefits of industrialization and expansion while devoting few resources to the process, thanks to immigration and foreign capital, the US too often mistakes “habit for virtue.” Rauchway contends that the US deludes itself into acting as though circumstances have changed little since...

Development Vs. Free Trade

Bernard K. Gordon July 20, 2006
The meeting this week in Geneva may be the last chance to complete the Doha Development Round of talks launched by the World Trade Organization in 2001. While many observers anticipate that the round could be rescued, the stalemate highlights the structural weaknesses of a trade organization taking on a development agenda. The aim of the WTO is to lower trade barriers in the pursuit of expanding...

Dare Violate a Copyright in Hong Kong? A Boy Scout May Be Watching Online

Keith Bradsher July 18, 2006
The Hong Kong government has unveiled a plan to use 200,000 young people from organizations like the Boy Scouts and the Girl Guides as watchdogs for internet copyright infringement. Many civil liberties advocates question the use of teenagers in state-sponsored law enforcement. While Hong Kong authorities claim that the program encourages good citizenship among a population with a high rate of...