In The News

Managing Globalization: If It’s Here to Stay, What Do We Do Now?

Daniel Altman February 10, 2006
It has been approximately two decades since the word “globalization” became standard in business and economic discussions. In the beginning, the word described the challenges facing Western companies that had to compete with lower-priced, sometimes better quality imports from countries like Japan, South Korea, and China. Over time, however, the term’s meaning expanded as Asian companies started...

Are Big Oil’s Tanks Running Dry?

February 8, 2006
As President Bush called for the US to reduce its “addiction to oil”, Exxon reported the highest net profit of any US company ever – about $36 billion. A public backlash has greeted the record profits by the oil industry. As early as last October, Congress pressed “Big Oil” to defend itself on charges of profiteering. Anticipating more consumer fury, Democrats and Republicans have united to...

Bonfire of the Pieties

Amir Taheri February 8, 2006
Many commentators have framed the recent furor over Danish newspaper cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a harbinger of a clash of civilizations, a sign that Islam and Western secular and religious traditions are incompatible. But, as author Amir Taheri writes, the violent protests over the cartoons do not reflect true Islamic theology or practice. The rioting is largely the result of...

Economists Price the Ravages of Climate Change

Scheherazade Daneshkhu February 8, 2006
The emerging discipline of environmental economics struggles to persuade people to set aside concrete short-term economic advantages to act against the long-term problem of global environmental change. No individual country can solve the problem on its own, and some economists fear that this means the problem could go unsolved - why should nations risk competitive edge today for a problem with...

Luxury Industry Goes Global, Knock-Offs Follow

Alessandra Galloni February 3, 2006
When Giuseppe Festa, an Italian man who owned a small store in Naples became involved in counterfeiting, he also became a global businessman. Mr. Festa imported watches from Hong Kong through Georgian and Egyptian contacts, paid for the goods through New York and Swiss bank accounts, and distributed them throughout Europe in what amounted to one of the continent’s most successful luxury-goods...

Unpopular Globalization: Why So Many Are Opposed

David Dapice February 2, 2006
The world economy has done well in recent years, yet workers in rich nations remain anxious about how globalization will affect future jobs, wages and benefits. In the US, Ford and General Motors have slashed jobs and closed plants. Plentiful skilled labor in emerging countries raises fears about depressed wages worldwide. More importantly, specific policies and conditions in Europe and the US...

Poor Nations Complain Not All Charity Reaches Victims

Stephanie Strom February 1, 2006
Aby Ibrahim Niger’s health minister late last year voiced dissatisfaction with international aid groups. Now other poor nations and those affected by disaster are also expressing mistrust about NGO reliability - how money is raised versus how it is spent. Leaders, including those from Indonesia and Sri Lanka, charge that NGOs rely on specific crises to collect funds and then spend the money...