The World Fair Trade Day on May 17 highlights sustainable development and the connections between economic production and the environment globally. Free trade has benefited the developed world and contributed to increasing poverty in the developing world, says the author of this article....
Today, May 17, we celebrate World Fair Trade day, with the theme "Quality that cares". The theme might sound cliche, yet its novelty lies in the concern for producers and the environment -- something often, if not...
US Congress, bitterly partisan, engages in petty bickering and repeatedly fails to resolve any number of pressing crises, let alone craft uplifting legislation for the country and the world. The poor behavior of the legislative body – blocking opponents at any cost – is symptomatic of the fading...
War at home and abroad: US invasion of Iraq precipitated decline of influence abroad (top); Republican opponents of President Obama, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell (below) - inability of a deeply partisan US Congress to agree on taxes and spending...
The owner of the largest steel company in the world is meeting some resistance after making a $22.7 billion bid for its French rival, Arcelor. The proposed takeover by Mittal Steel, owned by an Indian national, Lakshmi N. Mittal, has sparked an intense concern in Europe. Mittal denies suggestions...
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Too many leaders of emerging economies are counting on sizable numbers of young adults to become consumers and fuel growth. But technological advancements could contribute to high rates of unemployment. The term “demographic dividend” is misunderstood, explains Adair Turner for Project Syndicate...
While white-collar American workers fret over the possibility that their jobs will be outsourced and politicians call for more restrictions on offshoring, even some US business owners fear that outsourcing may ultimately be to their detriment. According to a recent study, 80 percent of senior...
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This opinion piece in the Jakarta Post by Gwynne Dyer, a columnist based in London, argues that "since we're going to have to live with it (terrorism) for a long time, we need to get both the numbers and the strategy into perspective." He notes that the numbers – 153 dead in one week...
There's no point in writing about anything but "terrorism" this week, even if there's little useful to be said about the recent rash of attacks and alarms beyond the fact that it was hardly a surprise. After all, why...
Crackdowns on illegal immigrants have discouraged migrants from seeking farm work throughout the US. Few Americans are willing to take on the seasonal employment that requires long hours in the hot sun. As a result, farmers avoid planting crops, like tomatoes or strawberries that require hand...
Click here to read the article in The New York Times.
The last four years has seen many potential economic shocks: the dot-com bust, terrorist attacks, and corporate scandals. Somehow, amidst the turbulence, the global economy has managed to persevere, relatively unscathed. According to Ernesto Zedillo, director of the Yale Center for the Study of...
Imagine it's the early fall of 2000, and you're asked to play futurologist and determine how the world economy will look in four years' time. To make your task easier a soothsayer whispers that the long expansion of the...