Saudi Arabia: the sands run out
Michael T. Klare (LaMonde Diplomatique) Mar 2006
Last month's foiled attack on a Saudi Arabian oil installation demonstrated yet again the world's extreme vulnerability to any check on oil supplies. But what if the Saudi oilfields are running lower on untapped supplies than the kingdom, and the West, have estimated?
U.S. Offshoring: Small Steps to Make It Win-Win
Diana Farrell (McKinsey/EV) Mar 2006
How many U.S. white collar jobs will be lost to offshoring? Not as many as you think: as Diana Farrell explains, offshoring of white collar jobs is a limited problem that can be turned into a win-win with a few small steps.
Think Again: Soft Power
Joseph S. Nye Jr. (Foreign Policy/YaleGlobal) Mar 1, 2006
Fifteen years after its elaboration, the concept's author underlines its increasing relevance.
EU fund to ease globalization pain
IHT Mar 1, 2006
The fund would help assist 35,000 to 50,000 workers a year when jobs are lost to the dynamics of global trade.
The Central Idea
Harry V. Jaffa (WSJ) Mar 1, 2006
From the Claremont Institute: In Iraq as in America, there's more to democracy than majority rule.
Sell me yours, don't touch mine
IHT Mar 2, 2006
It is often the case in international commerce that when a foreign country blocks you from buying their company, it's "protectionism," but when a foreigner comes shopping in your country, it's a potential threat to your "strategic interests." That seems especially true in Europe, where attempts to create a level playing field across the European Union keep running up against chauvinism, unions or simply ignorance.
Trade And the China Card
WP Mar 6, 2006
Globalization scares people. Security threats scare people. By fusing these fears during the Dubai ports flap, demagogues have had a field day. Now, having demonstrated this formula, the demagogues are poised to strike again. Their next target will be arriving soon, in the person of President Hu Jintao of China.
WTO talks: Heading for another Potemkin agreement
IHT Mar 9, 2006
Unless the talks this weekend address the key developing-country demands, it will be time to stop the pretense that the Doha Round is about development and admit that those countries are in the business of survival.
DP World and U.S. Trade: A Zero-Sum Game
Eduardo Porter (NYT) Mar 10, 2006
Some analysts warn that political hostility against foreign companies buying American assets could boomerang against the U.S.
IMF pandemic preparations
IMF Survey Mar 13, 2006
Plus: Enlarged EU: labor, capital; Asia outlook bright; India: reforms and growth; Italy: gloomy outlook; IMF sanctions on Zimbabwe; Friedman: morals, growth; central bank communications; effective use of increased aid
News Analysis: First the un-Clinton, and now the un-Bush
David E. Sanger (NYT/IHT) Mar 14, 2006
The president who made pre-emption and going it alone the watchwords of his first term is quietly turning in a new direction, warning at every opportunity of the dangers of turning the nation inward and isolationist, and making the case for international engagement on issues ranging from national security to global economics.
Trade Deficit Disorder
WSJ Mar 16, 2006
The protectionism caucus is hyperventilating.
Don't blame the wild birds
IHT Mar 19, 2006
The spread of H5N1 did not begin with, or result from the activities of wild birds, but from a very human activity - trade.
Striving For Success: Growth, Globalization and Economic Policy Reform
Anne O. Krueger (IMF) Mar 20, 2006
This conference comes at an auspicious time. It is now fifteen years since Russia and the other transition economies started the lengthy and challenging transformation from central planning to normally functioning market economies. Challenging, yes, and often very difficult for many of those countries and their citizens.
Chinese Charades
WSJ Mar 21, 2006
The crusade to slay the overvalued yuan dragon.
Finding value in Asia
Economist Mar 21, 2006
How a mere hack can help you, for once.
A Floundering WTO - Part II
Balakrishnan Rajagopal (YaleGlobal) Mar 21, 2006
Disunity in the ranks of the developing nations allows developed countries to maintain their trade barriers.
New Paper On Comparing Ag, NAMA Ambition Stirs Controversy In Both Negotiating Groups
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 10, Number 10 Mar 22, 2006
A new Argentine paper on how to compare trade liberalisation in farm products and industrial goods stirred controversy in the WTO negotiating bodies on both agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA) on 20 March.
Plurilateral Services Negotiations Set To Start On 27 March
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 10, Number 10 Mar 22, 2006
The plurilateral approach to the WTO services negotiations is set to move into high gear, with negotiations between groups of demandeur and target countries to start from 27 March. The plurilateral process was jumpstarted with the submission of 22 collective requests for market access starting from 28 February, the target deadline set out in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.
New Zealand, Brazilian Fish Proposals Under Fire
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 10, Number 10 Mar 22, 2006
During sessions of the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules on 15 and 17 March, several Members criticised proposals put forward separately by Brazil and New Zealand for a fisheries-specific amendment to the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.
A Floundering WTO - Part I
Edward Gresser (YaleGlobal) Mar 23, 2006
Without WTO agreement on reforms before April 30th, the hopes of fair trade for developing nations could be postponed indefinitely.
Making the most of the euro
IHT Mar 24, 2006
Europe's economy is showing clear signs of recovery but tensions are building up within the euro zone that could blow the whole project apart.
Democracy isn't "Western."
Amartya Sen (WSJ) Mar 24, 2006
Cultural determinists should look beyond Ancient Greece.
Open Door Policy
WSJ Mar 24, 2006
Memo to the world's new protectionists: Globalization is not irreversible.
North of the Border
Paul Krugman (NYT) Mar 27, 2006
A review of serious, nonpartisan research reveals some uncomfortable facts about the economics of modern immigration.
Waking Up to Globalization
Graham Watson & Karin Riis-Jorgensen (WSJ) Mar 27, 2006
Europe's track record of turning words into deeds isn't good.
A Basket Case
Ramkishen S. Rajan & Tony Cavoli (WSJ) Mar 27, 2006
Singapore's regime is hard to copy.
MD meets SSA leaders
IMF Survey Mar 27, 2006
Plus: ART. IV: Belgium, Ecuador, Finland, Nepal; U.K. policy frameworks; Ghana: quasi-fiscal activities; Africa and Doha Round; euro area product markets; ASI: FDI; prescriptions for financial stability
Philip Bowring: On trade, the U.S. and China need to go global
IHT Mar 28, 2006
It should not be difficult for the United States and China to agree that they both have domestic policy contributions to make to reducing global imbalances.
Realism on China's currency
IHT/NYT Mar 28, 2006
The good news is that Senators Lindsey Graham and Charles Schumer have started to inch away from their misguided attempt to club China for its currency policies. At the end of a fact-finding trip last week, Schumer told reporters he was no longer sure he would push for a vote to impose tariffs on Chinese imports into the United States. "The jury is out," he said. But, he said, "we are more optimistic that this can be worked out than we were in the past."
El Norte
Jagdish Bhagwati (WSJ) Mar 28, 2006
On immigration policy, the middle ground is the promised land.
Fukuyama's Fantasy
Charles Krauthammer (WP) Mar 28, 2006
It was, as the hero tells it, his Road to Damascus moment. There he is, in a hall of 1,500 people he has long considered to be his allies, hearing the speaker treat the Iraq war, nearing the end of its first year, as "a virtually unqualified success." He gasps as the audience enthusiastically applauds. Aghast to discover himself in a sea of comrades so deluded by ideology as to have lost touch with reality, he decides he can no longer be one of them.
Kyoto? No Go.
Pete du Pont (WSJ) Mar 28, 2006
How to combat "global warming" without destroying the economy.
No Globalization, Please - We Are French!
Patrick Sabatier (YaleGlobal) Mar 28, 2006
Populist posturing comes head to head with Chirac's stealth globalization.
Economists seeing light amid gloom of Europe
IHT Mar 29, 2006
Despite the gloomy tone in Europe, the European Central Bank - and much of the business world - appear overwhelmingly inclined to see the brighter side.
Free trade and AIDS drugs
IHT/NYT Mar 29, 2006
It is important that the United States does not restrict the ability of poor people to get generic drugs in the countries of southern Africa.
Protect Our Heritage
Stuart E. Eizenstat & Michael C. Maibach (WSJ) Mar 30, 2006
America's openness to foreign investment is under threat.
Let It Flow
WSJ Mar 30, 2006
Lifting capital controls in China and India is long overdue.
Does Globalization Help or Hurt the World's Poor?
Pranab Bardhan (Scientific American/YaleGlobal) Mar 31, 2006
The answer is not a simple yes or no.