In The News

No Big Mac In Lao Idyll

Nayan Chanda June 6, 2011
With careful planning, cities connect with the world and maintain cultural diversity. In his column for Businessworld, Nayan Chanda explores Luang Prabang, the former royal capital of Laos: “The town also shows how pre-industrial economies can be integrated into a world of jet planes and high-speed Internet, while maintaining its old world charm.” Designated a Unesco World Heritage site in 1995,...

US Sours on Globalization

Nayan Chanda May 25, 2011
One concern trumps all others for Americans: a lack of jobs. Resentment is high about the high unemployment rate, ongoing layoffs, declining wages and rising costs even as multinational corporations earn record profits and hire low-cost labor in emerging markets. More US job openings are in retail and the service sector than manufacturing. Americans target their ire at globalization and market...

Europe’s Angry Birds

Nayan Chanda May 9, 2011
European unity is being tested by global recession, fierce international competition and the politics of impatience. Voters in the strongest EU economies are increasingly less keen on bailing out fellow members, like Greece, for economic mismanagement. Right-wing parties with isolationist, anti-immigration and protectionist platforms are gaining traction in Finland, Sweden, Austria, the...

BRICS Turns To Politics

Nayan Chanda April 26, 2011
An economist for a US investment bank developed the acronym BRIC a decade ago, lumping together the solid, fast-growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China and arguing the four would outpace the top six Western economies before 2050. The analysis resonated, fueling confidence among the hot emerging economies, which have since added South Africa to their ranks. The BRICS agenda is...

A Bolt From the Blue Sea

Nayan Chanda March 31, 2011
Japan is the source of advanced technology for multiple industries. Triple tragedies of an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident – with thousands killed, hundreds of thousands displaced and rolling blackouts – immediately revealed many economic interconnections and the vulnerability of the global supply chain, explains Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal editor, in his regular column for Businessworld....

Let’s Avoid Food Riots

Nayan Chanda March 15, 2011
Rather than address the root causes, governments tackle emerging food shortages, climbing prices and angry publics like a carnival game of Whac-a-Mole: Like little moles poking their heads from random holes, crises emerge and leaders whack at them in a frenzied race against time. Food insecurity is the new normal, explains YaleGlobal Editor Nayan Chanda in his regular column for Businessworld,...

Volatility in a Flash

Nayan Chanda March 2, 2011
Multinationals depend on intricate supply chains, with manufacturing plants based around the globe in locales offering low-cost labor and specialized skills, explains Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal editor in his regular column for Businessworld. Chanda points out that “The success and failure of 21st century companies is increasingly determined by the efficiency of their supply chain management.”...