NGO Oxfam has developed a scoring mechanism to evaluate multinational food companies and their effects on the environment, labor and health, reports a New York Times blog. “The goal of the scorecard, called ‘Behind the Brands,’ is to motivate consumers to pressure companies like Nestlé, Kellogg and...
Click here for the article in The New York Times.
With European countries struggling to get a control on debt, the European Commission is taking steps to appoint one person responsible for scrutinizing finances. Rival commissioners could not over-ride disciplinary measures imposed by the commissioner for economics and monetary affairs on nations...
Click here for the article in the Financial Times.
Outsourcing has been tried in every field – from manufacturing to security – relying on specialized companies to provide efficient service or parts at a low price. “There are signs that outsourcing often goes wrong, and that companies are rethinking their approach to it,” reports this article in...
Click here for the article in The Economist.
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...
It’s a strange case of life imitating spreadsheet. The Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) bloc, which was conceived 10 years ago by a Goldman Sachs analyst as a clever acronym for the world’s fast-developing large economies, seems to have...
Elections and turnover in administrations can abruptly shift US foreign policy, as onlookers throughout the Asia Pacific have observed in recent years. The US-Chinese relationship is of global consequence, and this two-part series analyzes reaction to the two-nation summit for any signs of warmth...
LONDON: China’s President Hu Jintao went to Washington seeking “common ground,” but he met with an Obama administration that’s become more hard-nosed in its approach to China than during its previous two years.
The most consequential challenge for...
A powerful recourse for human rights victims is in danger, says Harold Hongju Koh, Professor of International Law at Yale University and former US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. In response to a lawsuit brought by Burmese citizens against the US energy...
Buddhist monk denounces a US corporation: Now you can protest, but not sue. (Photo: The Karen Human Rights Group)
NEW HAVEN: The Bush Administration has jumped into one of the thorniest of legal thickets, and come down on the wrong side. In a...
The Israeli-Palestinian divide is so deep and the world has so many pressing economic and security challenges, it’s no surprise that many foreign-policy experts put the Middle East low on any US priority list. But the longstanding plight of millions of Palestinians in the occupied zones...
Crisis management? The world looks on as Israelis block an aid flotilla and peace talks languish
NEW HAVEN: The flotilla incident off Gaza serves to remind us of the broad spillover effects of the long-simmering conflict between Israel and the...
Stock-market indexes have tumbled like dominos around the globe, exposing vulnerability of intricate economic connections. A crisis in one nation – and the panic – can quickly bounce from one country to the next. A major cause behind the stock-market plunges the world over are US financial...
Foreclosures rise in the US, markets fall worldwide: In an integrated global economy, a massive stock-market sell-off frightens shareholders like these in Mumbai
MEDFORD: The recent meltdown in global stock markets is the first truly global...
