Global Trade

Roberto Verzola discusses the emergence of the global information economy as the third wave of globalization, a process that started with colonialism. This in depth analysis looks at how information monopolies are being used to artificially create information scarcity (and high profits) for corporate owners, such as Microsoft. Read More

The old 1960s slogan ''think globally, act locally'' is no longer sufficient as a guiding maxim. Rather, civil society -- popular movements, non-governmental organizations, labor unions, academics, doctors, lawyers, artists and others across the world -- must confront the essential paradox and challenge of the 21st century by developing ways of thinking and acting both locally and globally at the same time. Read More

The best known, most prestigious, and largest keiretsu, is the Mitsubishi Group of companies. Given the size and reach of its diverse activities, and due to the fact that it is more heavily focused in polluting industrial sectors than other keiretsu, the Mitsubishi Group may well be the single most environmentally destructive corporate force on Earth. Read More

During a two-week period in September 1996, U.S. Department of Labor Officials travelled to six countries -- the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India and the Philippines -- as part of a major study of codes of conduct in the garment industry. The outcome was a report, The Apparel Industry and Codes of Conduct: A Solution to the International Child Labor Problem? (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 1996). Read More

In April this year, with much fanfare, US President Bill Clinton announced the introduction of a new ''No Sweatshop'' Code of Conduct for US Apparel and Footwear companies. The code is voluntary, but high profile companies like Nike Inc., Reebok International Ltd. and Liz Claiborne Inc. were among the ten initial signatories. These companies agreed that a set of minimum standards for working conditions in factories would be adhered to in the production of their goods -- wherever that production occurs. Read More

Here is an interview with Laura Jo Foo of the Asian Law Caucus and President of Sweatshop Watch on the issue of a Living Wage. Read More

To outward appearances, Africa's big moment at the Denver Summit of the Eight in June was President Clinton's trade and investment initiative, offering expanded trade concessions to African countries to support further market oriented economic reforms. Read More

This report was produced by two non-governmental organizations in Hong Kong: the Asia Monitor Resource Centre and the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee. During 1995 and again in 1997, we examined workers' rights and working conditions in the factories of five major subcontractors producing sports shoes in China: Yue Yuen, Nority International, KTP Holdings and Wellco. These factories produce shoes for Nike and Reebok. The first two are Taiwanese companies with factories in southern China, while KTP Holdings is a Hong Kong-based company and Wellco is a South Korean-owned company. Read More

According to the World Health Organization, in 25 years tobacco related disease will kill 8.4 million people annually -- more than 3.5 times the number of people it kills today. Most of this increase will occur in developing countries where the Tobacco Industry has been working hard to open markets to promote its product, especially to women and youth, to ensure its profits. Read More

This 1997 report for the Third Trinational Conference in Defense of Public Education, held in Vancouver, Canada, explains Mexico's education crisis in the context of structural adjustment. Read More