In The News

Key Pakistani Is Said to Admit Atom Transfers

David Rohde February 2, 2004
Pakistan's official inquiry into the transfer of nuclear technology has yielded its most substantial finding yet. The founder of the country's nuclear weapons program, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, admitted on Sunday that he had worked with Libya, North Korea, and Iran to help develop those countries' nuclear programs. The scientist said he had helped facilitate the transfer of designs...

A False Alarm: Overcoming Globalization's Discontents

Richard N. Cooper January 29, 2004
Jagdish Baghwati believes that globalization is unambiguously a positive phenomenon and aims to prove it in his recent book, "In Defense of Globalization." According to this review, Baghwati's book also aims to enlighten globalization's critics. Baghwati tackles two major criticisms of globalization: that it causes poverty, and that it depresses wages. He cites data that...

Cost Differentials and Labour Flexibility Mean Opportunity for Outsourcing

Edward Alden January 28, 2004
Although the US Senate just passed an amendment to prevent the outsourcing of government work to foreign countries, private-sector business in the US won't be following suit. According to this Financial Times article, sending more blue-collar and white-collar work to India and elsewhere is a smart business play for companies in the US, the UK, and other countries with relatively high labor...

A Rising New Force in World Public Opinion

Immanuel Wallerstein January 28, 2004
The slogan of the World Social Forum reads, "another world is possible" - as in, a world devoid of capitalism and neo-liberal trade policies. From a small group of protesters who successfully scuttled the 1999 WTO meeting in Seattle, the group has quickly grown to global proportions, says social theorist Immanuel Wallerstein. Over 100,000 people attended the most recent WSF meeting in...

Education Is No Protection

Bob Herbert January 26, 2004
Columnist Bob Herbert begins his New York Times op-ed with a critique of a conference held in New York to update executives on the new trend of outsourcing white collar jobs to countries with an educated but cheaper workforce. Such 'upscale outsourcing' is a relatively new phenomenon in much of corporate America. In the current US job market, prospects for white collar jobs already look...

Cuba Ailing? Not Its Biomedical Industry

Tom Fawthrop January 26, 2004
One does not frequently hear of Cuba when discussing today's integrating global economy. Cuba appears isolated, politically and economically, mainly due to trade restrictions placed on it by the US in the 1960's. No wonder, says the author of this Straits Times article, the world is surprised to learn of Cuba's flourishing biotech industry which has contributed much to the field of...

Human Bird Flu Cases Confirmed in Thailand

Nopporn Wong-Anan January 23, 2004
As six Thais tested positive for the bird flu, World Health Organization (WHO) officials raised alarm over a potential epidemic. The flu is believed to be carried by migrating birds, and could infect individuals in several countries. A potential epidemic will not only create a global public health crisis, but impede economic growth and tourism in the Asia- Pacific region. The bird flu outbreak...