Labor
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Snapshot,
April 4, 2013
Despite the claims of its champions, the fair-trade movement doesn't help alleviate poverty in developing countries. Even worse, it is just another direct farm subsidy of the kind most conscientious consumers despise. In the long term, the world needs free trade, not fair trade.
Snapshot,
February 27, 2013
There are limits to what governments can do about intellectual property theft. It is time to start considering what the private sector can do. After years of pressure, most multinational corporations agreed to build fair labor practices, worker safety, and environmental measures into their supply chains. They should now do the same with intellectual property protections.
Essay,
Jan/Feb
2013
The amount of resources the American public and private sectors commit to all forms of welfare is massive -- the fifth highest outlay in the world. Yet the American way of distributing that money does less to reduce poverty and inequality than that of virtually any other rich democracy. The United States can, and should, reform its welfare state, and it does not need to resort to European style socialism to do so.
Comment,
May/June
2012
Populations throughout the developed world are aging and shrinking, with dire consequences. Yet decline is not inevitable. Even in the industrialized world, governments can encourage childbearing through policies that let women reconcile work and family.
Essay,
May/June
2012
As Europe emerges from economic crisis, a larger challenge remains: finally turning the eurozone into an optimal currency area, with economies similar enough to sustain a single monetary policy. Getting there will be difficult and expensive, but the future of European integration hangs in the balance.
Essay,
May/June
2012
Unions underwrote the affluence of U.S. workers in the last century. They ensured that manual work paid white-collar wages and gave laborers a voice in politics. But now, unions are declining, and the working and middle classes are paying the price. Reviving labor won’t be easy -- but doing so is critical to preserving America’s economic and social health.
Indian elites are cheering their country’s newfound status and influence. But two recent books reveal the ugly underbelly of India’s success story. A vast gulf has opened up between the rich and the poor, corruption suffuses every aspect of life, and the country’s political leaders lack the vision needed to turn this would-be world power into an actual one.
Comment,
Jan/Feb
2012
Stagnating wages and growing inequality will soon threaten the stability of contemporary liberal democracies and dethrone democratic ideology as it is now understood. What is needed is a new populist ideology that offers a realistic path to healthy middle-class societies and robust democracies.
Response,
Nov/Dec
2011
Is globalization to blame for rising unemployment and income inequality in the United States? Richard Katz and Robert Lawrence argue that other factors are at fault. Perhaps, says Michael Spence -- but the overarching effects of globalization cannot be denied.
Snapshot,
October 24, 2011
The protestors of the Occupy Wall Street complain about the unfairness of the bailout, unemployment, and taxes. But to make the U.S. economy more fair, Washington needs to use the capitalist system, not to destroy it.
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