The world has inequalities of many kinds, and retirement is no exception. Government-sponsored pensionable retirement programs are popular worldwide, regarded as essential in the wealthiest economies. “Retirement programs are similar in purpose, yet differ considerably in scope, coverage,...
Retiring difficulty: Analysts eye income levels, health habits and lifestyles to determine reasons behind varying life-expectancy rates; seniors in a California facility exercise in chairs, and Japanese elderly work hard to stay in shape
NEW YORK: A...
Politicians are reaping gains by wrapping themselves in flags and directing hostility toward globalization. “Humankind is developing an emerging ‘global consciousness’ – a collective sensitivity to noble thoughts as well as to phobias and ignoble protectionism,” explains Farok Contractor, a...
Invasive species: Opponents of globalization reject foreign influences, cultural or economic – Hindu extremists oppose the celebration of Valentine’s Day, and US workers reject export of jobs.
NEW BRUNSWICK: Nationalistic politicians rising around...
Writing for The Hindu, India’s national newspaper, C. Rangarajan outlines the concept of economic globalization and its problems. One of the concerns of the current period of globalization is its connection to unequal distribution of wealth within and between countries. Looking at ‘developing...
It is very difficult to trace the changes in the distribution of income within countries directly to globalisation. Trade liberalisation need not necessarily come in the way of adopting poverty reduction policies...
Surveys find solid disapproval of adultery in every country, yet technology and social media, modern lifestyles and flexible gender roles, films and news reports about the affairs of politicians and celebrities make the activity more visible worldwide. “Historically, most cultures consider the...
Adultery on trial: From Chinese leader Bo Xilai, with wife Gu Kailai, to a Pakistani commoner, adulterers in some nations face punishment and shameNEW YORK: Adultery, despite near universal disapproval, has become more visible and prevalent...
What really are the pros and cons of globalization? In this article, Johan Norberg, an advocate of globalization, uses the example of Nike in Vietnam to demonstrate the benefits of globalization. According to Norberg, in Vietnam Nike pays its workers three times higher than the minimum wage earned...
Nike. It means victory. It also means a type of expensive gym shoe. In the minds of the anti-globalisation movement, it stands for both at once. Nike stands for the victory of a Western footwear company over the poor and dispossessed....
Individuals increasingly expect the right to be informed and make their own decisions about health care, including control over the timing of death. Close to 800,000 people commit suicide every year, nearly 80 percent in low- and middle-income nations, reports the World Health Organization. As a...
Life and death: All forms of cancer combined are why most patients seek assisted suicide; surgeons use a robot to treat a patient's prostate cancer, and David Goodall, 104, leaves Australia to die in Switzerland with the help of Exit International (...
Brazil has loosened environmental protections and stepped back on international commitments for reducing carbon emissions and deforestation. The Bolsonaro administration in Brazil expresses concern that such protections reduce the country’s sovereignty, transferring value of resources to foreign...
Breaking in the Amazon: The Tucuruí project was the first large-scale hydroelectric project in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest in the 1980s; this summer’s rush to burn rainforest, to expand fields and replace US soy markets due to the trade war, led to...
Frustration and anger run high among protesters over broken promises on "one country, two systems" for Hong Kong. Journalist Mike Chinoy compares the protest movement in Hong Kong with the three decades of unrest in Northern Ireland. Chinoy is author of a biography on Kevin Boyle, a...
Back to the future: Protests that heralded civil strife in Northern Ireland, left, seem to echo in Hong Kong as protesters confront the Beijing-backed government
HONG KONG: The crowds surged through the streets, demanding basic political rights....
