In The News

Chronic Problems, Not Just Crises, Should Be a Global Health Priority

James Chen September 1, 2016
Sudden outbreaks of diseases like Zika or Ebola ignite alarm while chronic medical conditions, many easily prevented, are often ignored or accepted because they seem less urgent. Societies must revise priorities to “unlock the full potential of the developing world, argues James Chen, writing for Stanford Social Innovation Review. “The World Health Organization recently estimated that the global...

Chinese R&D Goes Global

Jacopo Dettoni August 31, 2016
China is transforming from recipient of foreign direct investment to source as its firms set up new research and development operations. Chinese firms have announced nine new overseas research centers during the first half of 2016, reports Financial Times, as compared with the United States, 16 projects; Germany, 10; and Japan, 7. “It comes at a time when Beijing is gradually liberalising its...

G20 Summit: Leaving West to Deal With Crises, China Focuses on Positives

François Godement August 30, 2016
China’s vision for global order and skill at managing global economic affairs will be on display at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou. Other nations attending may expect answers on pressing concerns, from war in the Middle East and the refugee crisis to territorial disputes in the nearby South and East China Seas. “As the host country, China has engineered impeccable rhetoric and goals that are hard to...

Two Faces of Global Trade

Nayan Chanda August 30, 2016
A steel glut in China – due to stimulus funding and weak economic recovery since 2007 – has led to a trade war. China controls half the world’s steel production, and the United States, Europe and others have responded with new duties on steel imports. “Cut-price steel causing unemployment has emerged as a lightning rod for discontent about globalization,” explains Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal...

Apple Must Pay Billions for Tax Breaks in Ireland, EU Orders

James Kanter and Mark Scott August 30, 2016
Countries go to great lengths to attract jobs to their shores, and companies do the same to avoid taxes. The European Commission has ordered Apple, the world’s largest company in terms of market value, to pay €13 billion in back taxes and argues that Ireland’s tax incentives extend an unfair advantage. Apple assigned profits of Irish subsidiaries to a “head office” to reduce taxes, report James...

Tough Question in Climate Change: Who Gets Saved?

Christopher Flavelle August 29, 2016
Governments preparing for climate change already assess which communities can be saved and which cannot. Christopher Flavelle compares Newtok and other remote communities in Alaska with Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana, all trying to escape rising waters. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development ran a National Disaster Resilience Competition intended to raise awareness about climate...

Yemen: The War Canada Can’t Afford to Ignore

Elizabeth Renzetti August 29, 2016
Yemen, a country of 25 million, has become a focal point for a proxy war between rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia. Elizabeth Renzetti, in her Globe and Mail column, urges countries to reconsider supplying arms used in a brutal conflict resulting in thousands of civilian casualties. The median age in Yemen is under 19. A ceasefire ended in August, and Médecins Sans Frontières and many journalists are...