Are global corporations cleaning up their supply chains? The debate over the abysmally low wages paid to workers in emerging economies illustrates the difficulty. There are two conflicting narratives, both tied to China.

Leadership, conviction, and courage have produced a backlash of defeatism, resignation, and ingratitude. The prime minister remains in good company.

There are many reasons to fear that 2012 will be a highly challenging year for the US economy. This is not only because the economic recovery will face considerable headwinds and could be hit by a European financial shock, but also because the US appears to have run out of fiscal and monetary policy space to counter any renewed economic downturn with an additional stimulus.

There should not be an Americas currency bloc

Linda Basch is certainly correct that the entry of so many women into the labour force has been good for the economy, good for society and good for women themselves (I would add that it has been good for men as well). But she is wrong when she implies that full-time mothers have made an unworthy choice.

Exit polls from Britain's parliamentary elections indicate that there was no clear winning party, which might result in Britain having a "hung parliament" in which no party would have a majority.

A exposé purporting to show that Bonn-based Fairtrade International (FLO),the world’s largest labeller of ethical goods, had failed in its oversight of a project in west Africa that supplies Limited Brands-owned Victoria’s Secret.  The project  was paying sub-par wages to children labouring in inhumane conditions and helps drive a wedge between FLO and FairTrade USA.

After Congress passes FTAs with Korea, Columbia and Panama, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) will become the single most important US trade initiative, serving as a building block for a larger Free Trade Area for the Asia Pacific Agreement.