globalization
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Umbra on Wal-Mart
Dear Umbra, Why is Wal-Mart evil? This is really a request for more information. I have often heard that the company has a weak environmental track record, treats its employees poorly, and generally is Satan incarnate. However, when challenged on this position, I have no data. My opponents argue that shopping in bulk reduces packaging. […]
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A new GMO treaty is about to get tangled up in trade tussles
All but eclipsed by the somber anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety will become international law today with little fanfare. Nonetheless, its entry into force could mark the beginning of a new era in international trade — with potentially sweeping consequences for the environment. Fields of grain […]
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Dead in the Water
Here’s a story of the global economy at its worst and maybe also at its best. Early this month a cry of alarm came over email from my friend Zoltan Lontay in Hungary. The Hungarian news had just announced an enormous fish kill in the Szamos river on that country’s eastern border. A wave of […]
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Protesters make themselves heard in Seattle
SEATTLE, Wash. The metaphor is irresistible. Between 8 and 10 this morning in downtown Seattle, the protesters owned the streets. Later in the day, they vied with police, back and forth; but as the day began the cops were back inside their perimeters, and the few thousand drumming, singing demonstrators were firmly in control. And […]
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Giving Unfair Trade a Shake
Delegates to the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle will be met by as many as 50,000 protesters from all around the world. WTO advocates seek to dismiss the protestors as anti-trade extremists who want to turn back the clock on human progress. In truth, the vast majority of the protestors will be coming from […]
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The Battle in Seattle
Last month The Economist ran a frustrated editorial wondering why environmental groups would picket the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Seattle. The headline read “Why Greens Should Love Trade.” Actually greens see no particular reason either to love or hate trade. They don’t share the religious beliefs of economists, who love trade as […]
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Why tens of thousands are trekking to the Emerald City
SEATTLE, Wash. For twenty years, the fight to globalize the world’s economy has been a rout. The largest transnational corporations expanded their power in every direction — Japanese conglomerates cut down forests across the tropics; American grain companies dictated the price of food; Baywatch found a billion viewers a week. But that rout has suddenly […]
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What I Did on My Summer Vacation
August is prime R&R time for lawmakers, who are kicking back in their home states and pressing the all-important constituent flesh. No such vacation at the Sierra Club, however, where summer means it’s time to drive lawmakers crazy by running ads against them. On the receiving end of the group’s radio spots this time around […]
