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Globalization
The Economist: Globalisation
Globalisation and health:
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:49:44 -0000
The coming boom in medical travel could help both rich and poorHEALTH care has long seemed one of the most local of all industries. Yet beneath the bandages, globalisation is thriving. The outsourcing of record keeping and the reading of X-rays is already a multi-billion-dollar business. The recruitment of doctors and nurses from the developing world by rich countries is also common, if controversial. The next growth area for the industry is the flow of patients in the other direction—known as “medical tourism”—which is on the threshold of a dramatic boom. Tens of millions of middle-class Americans are uninsured or underinsured and soaring health costs are pushing them and cost-conscious employers and insurers to look abroad for savings (see article). At the same time the best hospitals in Asia and Latin America now rival or surpass many hospitals in the rich world for safety and quality. On one estimate, Americans can save 85% by shopping around and the number who will travel for care is due to rocket from under 1m last year to 10m by 2012—by which time it will deprive American hospitals of some $160 billion of annual business. ...
Globalisation and health care:
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:49:44 -0000
Why put up with expensive, run-of-the-mill health care at home when you can be treated just as well abroad?ROBIN COOK knows how to spot the latest scare in medicine. Mr Cook, a Harvard-trained doctor, is author of over a dozen medical thrillers, including “Coma” and “Outbreak”, which have anticipated pandemics, anthrax attacks and the black market in organs. “Foreign Body”, published this month, is about the next big thing: medical tourism. Central to the plot is the story of Maria Hernandez, a working-class American woman who travels to Delhi to get a hip replacement she could not afford back home. Alas, she and other medical tourists die in mysterious circumstances. Contrast Ms Hernandez’s fate with that of another American health tourist, Robin Steele. Mr Steele, a real patient, recently went to India’s Wockhardt hospital chain for a heart operation. Not only is he in fine shape, but he also enjoyed a holiday afterwards and saved several thousand dollars to boot. ...
Operational risk ratings:
Tue, 12 Aug 2008 06:18:55 -0000
Prospects for business profitability have worsened slightly in Britain and FranceRisk Briefing rates operational risk in 150 markets on a scale of 0-100. The overall scores are an aggregate of underlying scores for ten categories of risk: security; political stability; government effectiveness; legal and regulatory; macroeconomic; foreign trade and payments; financial; tax policy; labour market; and infrastructure. The model is run when events require it, and at least once a quarter for each country. ...
World trade:
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
Trade ministers have come too close to a deal to let the Doha round dieIN MANY examinations, 90% is an excellent score, deserving a prize and a handshake from the headmaster. In Geneva this week, only full marks would do, and the world’s trade ministers failed. No matter that they came closer to a deal than anyone should have expected (see article). No matter that they stuck at it for nine days and several nights, in the longest ministerial meeting in the history of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). No matter, too, that this time they parted in stunned disbelief, heads shaking, rather than in acrimony, recrimination and spite, as at Cancun in 2003. They managed “convergence” on 18 of the 20 topics set before them by Pascal Lamy, the WTO’s director-general, but they stumbled on the 19th, a device for protecting farmers in developing countries against surges in imports. They never reached the 20th, cotton. Failed.You can construct a plausible argument that the collapse of yet another set of talks on the Doha round, which is now coming up to seven years old, is of little importance. While the world’s trade ministers have alternated between talking and not talking to one another about Doha, the world’s businesspeople have carried on regardless: the growth of global commerce has outstripped the hitherto healthy pace of global GDP. Developing countries in particular have continued to open up to imports and foreign investment. You might say that not much was on offer in Geneva anyway: one study put the eventual benefits at maybe $70 billion, a drop in the ocean of the world’s GDP. Global stockmarkets, with so much else on their minds, either didn’t notice or didn’t care. On July 29th, the day the talks broke up, the S&P 500 index rose by 2.3%. ...
Trade talks:
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
After another failed summit, seven years of trade talks may become nine or tenLIKE “watching paint that never dries” is how Sheila Page of the Overseas Development Institute, a London think-tank, describes the experience of following the Doha round of global trade negotiations. Launched in 2001 by the members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the talks seek to cut tariffs and farm subsidies, as well as liberalising trade in services. On July 25th, hopes of an unlikely deal, brokered by Pascal Lamy, the WTO’s relentless director-general, at a summit in Geneva, briefly rose. But on July 29th, after nine days of negotiations, the mix turned gloopy once again.From the start, the round’s chief ambition was to straighten out some of the kinks in agricultural trade. This ancient activity, which accounts for only 8% of world merchandise trade, is the most heavily distorted by misbegotten policies. It is, therefore, in agriculture that an agreement could do the most good. But it was also in agriculture that the agreement came unstuck. ...
Local heroes
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
Sporting labour markets are becoming global. But what about sports themselves?THE weather is perfect, with just enough breeze to freshen a warm June evening. Shea Stadium is bubbling this Friday night, with fans and food vendors, music and pre-game presentations. On the big screen the New York Mets introduce themselves: Jose Reyes, shortstop, from the Dominican Republic…Carlos Beltran, centre fielder, Puerto Rico…Endy Chavez, right fielder, Venezuela…Oliver Perez, pitcher, Mexico.Mets fans have had a frustrating season, with rather fewer wins than losses. By Tuesday, the team’s manager will have been fired. But tonight they leave Shea unusually content. The Mets beat the Texas Rangers 7-1. Mr Perez pitches solidly and bats in two runs. Mr Beltran and Mr Chavez both score one and bat one in. The speedy Mr Reyes scores two and steals his 24th base of the year. ...
IPS Inter Press Service - Globalisation - Is It Working for People?
ECONOMY-INDIA: Market Reforms May Not Materialise
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
TRADE: WTO Prescribes More Liberalisation
Gustavo Capdevila
BOOKS: You're Not on Their Speed Dial
Abra Pollock
World Economic Forum - Latest Stories
Political and Economic Uncertainty in 2008
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:42:00 -0000
Click on the link for more on this story and other news from the World Economic Forum.
The Annual Meeting in Davos 2008
Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:46:00 -0000
Click on the link for more on this story and other news from the World Economic Forum.
The Heritage Foundation Headlines Test
EU Must Express Solidarity With Georgia
Big Labor's Campaign to Mislead Workers
Census Bureau Shows Income Gains
Globalization News
The Commercial Games: How Commercialism is Overrunning the Olympics
Giant Mining Firms Social Responsibility Claims: Rhetoric or Reality?
Dark Side of the Tourist Boom: Cruise Ship Controversies Cross Borders
The Mexican Pacific resort of Zihuatanejo recently cancelled a major new cruise ship terminal, giving a victory to environmental activists and other opponents. However, Mexico remains the worlds Number One cruise ship destination; and with little regulation, allegations of onboard crime, and increasing militarization as regards security while ships are in port, the rapidly expanding industry is facing new challenges.
Steve Suranovic's Blog
How to Make America Stronger
Steve Suranovic Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:11:00 -0000
The failure of the Doha round talks last week is one sign among many that the conventional reciprocal concession approach to trade liberalization is becoming ineffectual. With so many issues on the agenda and so many countries involved, it may now be impossible to reach any meaningful agreement to substantially reduce trade barriers. Perhaps the time is ripe for a new approach. If the American
Tennis and Politics
Steve Suranovic Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:39:00 -0000
People love to watch a battle between fierce competitors and root for their side to win. To the victor goes the spoils. Sport is the modern equivalent of warfare, wherein battles can be waged every day to the delight of the competitors and the audiences. I suspect our desire for the spectacle is something thatâs part of our evolutionary heritage; something so rooted within us that we cannot
Problems with Trade Rhetoric
Steve Suranovic Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:30:00 -0000
Popular opinion is clearly rising up against the idea that free trade is a good thing. For an account of all of the problems associated with free trade, and none of the benefits, see David Sirota's piece in the Huffington Post. This is a good example of how rhetoric is used to raise fears. Notice the language used in this article to describe trade agreements: Tearing down tariffs and
Websites
A World Connected - Looks at the lives of real people who are being affected by the processes of globalization.
AFL-CIO - Global Economy - Viewpoint of the labor union on development policies, workers' rights, CAFTA and FTAA. Includes information on nternational solidarity campaigns.
Meta Description: [ Global Economy ]
Almanac of Policy Issues: International Trade - News, background information, and links on international trade issues, including GATT, NAFTA, and the WTO.
Center for Trade Policy Studies - The mission of the Center is to increase public understanding of the benefits of free trade and the costs of protectionism.
EUROPA - External Trade - News and information about world trade including trade issues and statistics, EU exporters' guide, public dialogue and hot topics. With documents, publications, downloads and archives.
Flora - Archives of the MAI-NOT project, with a selection of anti-globalization links and a discussion forum.
Focus on the Global South - A program of progressive development policy research and practice that works on regional and global policy analysis, micro-macro linking and advocacy work.
Meta Description: [ Focus on the Global South, Sixteen years ago, the Philippines Senate voted to shut down the Subic and Clark military bases, forcing the US to quit what analysts once described as "probably the most important basing complex in the world". In the intervening years, the US' assessment of its interes... ]
Foreign Policy In Focus - Trade - Collection of articles about world trade.
Freedom to Trade Campaign - The Campaign promotes the view that free trade frees people; it is fundamental to eliminating poverty, promoting development and achieving political and economic freedom.
Meta Description: [ IPN\'s Global Freedom to Trade Campaign promotes the belief that freedom to trade is fundamental for development and elimination of poverty in all countries ]
Global Economy Tutorial - A slide show attempting to educate citizens on the global economy and the current global economic crisis based on Z Magazine articles by Robin Hahnel.
Global Issues and Trade Related Issues - Addresses several aspects of the current model for global trading and how developing and developed nations could be affected.
Meta Description: [ This part of the globalissues.org web site looks at the issue of trade and poverty and the relationship between them. International trade has been accompanied by some unfair practices by many nations, undermining human rights. Most wars are fought over access to resources. Some people call the cu... ]
Global Policy Network - Policy and research institutions connected to the world's trade union movements.
Meta Description: [ GPN is committed to helping build a fair, prosperous, and sustainable economy for all the world's people to share. ]
Global Research Business Institute - Based in UK, the GBRI is an educational body conducting outreach to business executives, journalists and civil servants, promoting a greater understanding of globalization and its consequences.
Global Trade Negotiations - News articles, working papers and links to various trade-related resources, such as NGO sites and government positions on trade policy.
Meta Description: [ The Global Trade Negotiations Home Page at the Center for International Development at Harvard University - a centralized information resource on global trade negotiations, the multilateral trade system, and many trade-related resources. ]
Globalisation Guide - Presents the arguments of both those who support as well as oppose globalization.
Meta Description: [ Fireworks Splice HTML ]
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Maigalomania - A briefing by Corporate Europe Observatory critical of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), giving a history, background of major interests, and the role of international organizations.
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OneWorld Trade Campaign - Coverage on trade from the OneWorld partnership network working for sustainable development and human rights worldwide.
Meta Description: [ OneWorld.net ]
Policy Briefings - Catholic Agency for Overseas Development provides several in depth reports on the WTO and Globalization
Meta Description: [ Policy and research: Briefings and research papers on international policies that affect poor communities, including trade, debt, globalisation and multinational corporations. ]
The Business Roundtable: International Trade and Investment - Represents American business interests through developing positions on international trade and investment issues.
The Case for Free Trade and Open Immigration - Online book that makes the case for unilateral free trade and open borders.
The Fair Trade Page - Articles and links about issues of fairness in trade.
The Fairtrade Foundation - Seeks to tackle the exploitation of workers in developing countries by giving consumers the opportunity to buy products that guarantee a better deal to producers. Site includes information resources and a report on coffee farmers and international trade.
Meta Description: [ From the website of the Fairtrade Foundation, home of the FAIRTRADE Mark, the only independent guarantee of a better deal for Third World producers ]
The Institute for Nonviolent Economics - Works to build understanding among the public and among community organizers and activists of the ways by which economic globalization impacts local issues and daily lives.
Thunderlake: Functional Trade Policy Issues - Functional trade policy issues including development, agriculture, environment, labour, finance, investment, and transport.
Meta Description: [ links to functional trade policy issues including development, agriculture, environment, labour, finance, investment, and transport. ]
Thunderlake: Government Trade Policy Agencies - Annotated links to international affairs, and foreign trade and research resources.
Meta Description: [ government trade policy, international affairs, and foreign trade links and research resources. ]
Trade Liberalisation Network - A New Zealand business organisation aimed at encouraging broad public understanding and support for trade.
Trades Union Congress (UK) -Globalisation - Information, articles and education on globalisation issues, from the trade unionist perspective.
U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports - Alliance of sawmill employees and woodland owners united in opposition to Canada's trade practice related to lumber exports.
Meta Description: [ U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports--The objective of the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports is to
restore fair competition to the softwood lumber market by creating open and competitive timber and lumber markets in both the United States and Canada. ]
U.S. Council for International Business - Promotes an open system of world trade, finance, and investment from the perspective of business.
United States International Trade Commission (USITC) - An independent, quasi-judicial federal agency that provides trade policy advice to both the legislative and executive branches of government, determines the impact of imports on U.S. industries, and directs actions against certain, allegedly unfair trade practices, such as patent, trademark, and copyright infringement.
USA Engage - Broad-based coalition representing American business and agriculture.
World Economic Forum - The Davos meeting of political and business leaders aims to create the foremost global partnership of business, political, intellectual and other leaders of civil society to define and discuss the key issues on the global agenda.
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