In The News

Volkswagen Agrees to Plead Guilty in Diesel-Emissions Scandal

Tom Schoenberg, Christoph Rauwald and David McLaughlin January 16, 2017
Volkswagen has agreed to plead guilty to charges brought by the US Justice Department over its emissions conspiracy. VW admits relying on so-called “defeat device with algorithms that misrepresented emissions during testing. More than 11 million cars worldwide contained these devices, which allowed engines to cheat on carbon emissions tests. This conclusion to the 16-month investigation also...

China Is the De Facto Leader of Globalization

Nathan Gardels January 13, 2017
China is preparing to take a leading role on the world stage as the US president-elect dismisses worries about climate change and the benefits of globalization. The rhetoric about an “America first” policy suggests that the United States could reverse US stances on global trade and climate change. Europe is in disarray, too. Some world leaders are avoiding the World Economic Forum in Davos this...

China Groups Take Out Insurance Against Blocking of Foreign Deals

Henry Sender January 12, 2017
Insurance policies cover risk, and Chinese companies anticipate more protectionism in the United States and Europe and an increasingly uncertain market for foreign investment. Chinese analysts also expect delays and increased fees associated with regulatory reviews. New policies are designed to protect against blocked takeovers in other nations: “several insurance groups, led by Aon, are...

China Launches Freight Train to Britain

Louise Moon January 11, 2017
China started the new year by dispatching the country’s first freight train to the United Kingdom, part of a larger effort to stimulate global trade. The train will depart from the city of Yiwu, a major commodities center, traverse central Asia and continental Europe, and reach its destination in London after almost 12,000 kilometers. “The railway is a major strategic development to assist Xi...

We Can’t Undo Globalization, But Can Improve It

Gary Pinkus, James Manyika and Sree Ramaswamy January 10, 2017
Global flows of trade and investment add economic value, and dismantling systems that rely on globalization would reduce prosperity. “While the impulse to erect trade barriers is understandable given the pain experienced by workers in a range of industries and communities in recent years, it is not the way to create lasting growth and shared prosperity,” notes a Harvard Business Review article. “...

Obama: Reaching Out to Adversaries, Alienating Allies

Uri Friedman January 5, 2017
Following the US abstention from a UN Security Council vote on Israeli settlements and Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech lambasting the policy, President Barack Obama’s foreign policy toward allies has been called into question. Uri Friedman writes in The Atlantic that Obama ran on a platform of embracing US allies as well as extending an open hand to adversarial nations such as Cuba and...

Alaska Airport Is a Big Link for the Global Supply Chain

Will Swagel January 5, 2017
Alaska is sparsely populated with about 750,000 people. Still, the state’s largest city has emerged as a vital link along the global supply chain, and the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport takes full advantage of being within 10 hours by air to 90 percent of the industrialized world. The subarctic airport ranks fourth in the world for cargo and is a “natural place for refueling,”...