In The News

The Box That Makes the World Go Round

Alexander Jung November 29, 2005
When the ocean-freight industry was born, no one predicted how rapidly it would grow as a result of globalization. In particular, the division of labor that is a function of globalization has dramatically affected the industry. China especially serves as the world’s manufacturing center, with the EU and the US being the principle consumers. Between them lies the vast expanse of the high seas,...

Avian Influenza: Pandemic Skeptics Warn Against Crying Wolf

Dennis Normile November 28, 2005
The threat of a bird flu pandemic has only recently received international attention that many believe is necessary to prevent a catastrophic loss of human life. Skeptics are raising their voices, however, asserting that there is no reason to expect a bird flu pandemic spreading amongst human beings in the near future. One skeptic argues that a repeat of the overcrowded trenches of World War I...

Sugar Powers a Revolution on Brazil’s Roads

Tom Phillips November 23, 2005
Brazil has found an alternative to oil that it is touting as the future of fuel. “Alcohol,” a bio-ethanol fuel made from sugar cane, is increasingly powering Brazilian automobiles, and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks of an “energy revolution,” led by his country. Biodiesel, a renewable fuel, is seen as a way to make Brazil,and indeed the world, less dependent on oil. Its manufacture...

Remittances Are Effective Weapon Against Poverty

Norman Lamont November 18, 2005
In a report this week, the World Bank drew attention to the money flow from immigrants back to their countries of origin. The amount of money transferred annually is between two and three times the level of development aid from rich to poor countries. According to the bank, the economic benefits of remittances could outstrip even the benefits of trade liberalization. Yet many governments now...

No Wonder Anti-Free Traders Are Angry

Gregory Clark November 16, 2005
The gospel of free trade has the potential to unfairly restrict the opportunities of developing nations to industrialize. A prevailing view is that workers in developing nations do not have the capacity for sophisticated industry and should focus on producing simple farm and other labor-intensive products for export. Another line of reasoning suggests that unquestioned support for free trade is...

America’s Future is Stuck Overseas

Stuart Anderson November 16, 2005
The numbers are better, but not good. Since hitting a low in 2002, post September 11, the number of foreign graduate students enrolled in the United States has been improving, albeit slowly. The importance of these international students to American technological and economic superiority cannot be understated, as former US immigration official Stuart Anderson writes. Foreign graduates...

Other Nations Hope to Loosen U.S. Grip on Internet

Victoria Shannon November 15, 2005
In countless contexts and from every corner of the world, the internet is hailed as a revolutionary force, breaking down traditional barriers of class and nation with an inexorable flow of information. As its accessibility increases, the internet becomes more and more a tool of democracy and international cooperation. But this leveling playing field cannot smooth over an underlying reality: the...