America.gov-Economics & Trade: Introduction

A Spitfire Stands Up for Shareholder Rights

Lea Terhune — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:19:03 GMT

As a shareholder in 80 companies, Evelyn Y. Davis attends dozens of shareholder meetings each year. Her head-turning theatrics at those meetings have made her well known. But they also have spurred serious changes at several companies in how boards of directors are elected and operate.

Big Blue Goes Green, Helps Others Follow

Lea Terhune — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:08:35 GMT

IBM hopes to win business and friends among often warring groups of corporate executives and avowed environmentalists. Its green data center initiative promises to bring down corporate energy costs and the carbon emissions believed to cause global warming.

Scrutiny Makes U.S. Corporate Boards More Accountable

Lea Terhune — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:19:32 GMT

In the past 30 years, the boards of directors of U.S. public companies have become more independent and accountable. American regulators, shareholders and corporations share an ongoing quest to balance managerial power with shareholder rights while ensuring that enterprises remain productive and profitable.

South Asia Faces Food Crisis Despite India’s High Productivity

Lea Terhune — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:13:41 GMT

India’s abundant resources can supply food for India and greater South Asia as well as help global markets weather the food crisis with the right management, experts say. America.gov looks at the challenges facing India as it gears up to produce even more food crops.

Rising Prices, Weak Growth to Dominate Industrial Powers Summit

Lea Terhune — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:42:49 GMT

Leaders of major industrialized countries and Russia will discuss a set of the most serious economic challenges faced in a decade when they meet in July in Japan. Soaring oil and food prices will top the agenda of the Group of Eight (G8) summit.

Equipment Maker Caterpillar Works to Spare Environment

Lea Terhune — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:16:05 GMT

Equipment maker Caterpillar not only profits repeatedly from the same products but also becomes less and less of an environmental burden. With 30-years’ experience in remanufacturing, it has perfected advanced recycling. The remanufacturing division, with 17 plants worldwide, has become Caterpillar’s fastest growing unit.

United States, China Sign Accord on Energy, Environmental Issues

Lea Terhune — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:43:15 GMT

The United States and China sign a framework for cooperation on energy and environmental issues and will launch negotiations on an investment treaty, says U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The framework will center on electricity, air, water, transportation and conservation of forest and wetland ecosystems.

Food Crisis Threatens Economic Progress in Americas

Lea Terhune — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:15:23 GMT

A global food crisis threatens to reverse a decade’s worth of economic progress in Latin America and the Caribbean, analysts say. One way in which the United States is responding is with a task force charged with helping people buy food in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere country hit hardest by the crisis.

Asians Especially Vulnerable to Food Shortages and High Prices

Lea Terhune — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:05:31 GMT

With more than 60 percent of the world’s undernourished people, Asia is especially vulnerable to food shortages. Along with the rising cost of food, natural disasters such as Australia’s drought and Burma’s cyclone are exacerbating crop shortfalls and increasing the dependence of many Asian countries on international food aid.

More Weak Economic Growth Lies Ahead, Economic Forum Predicts

Lea Terhune — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:24:16 GMT

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has signaled that several more quarters of weak economic growth lie ahead for most of its 30 members, and weak economic growth in the United States is effectively dragging down its overall forecast.

Chicago Derives Many Benefits from Green Buildings

Lea Terhune — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:07:35 GMT

Chicago wants to be the nation’s leader in green buildings because they “tread lightly on the earth.” To make it happen, the city has devised a set of incentives and guidelines that encourages builders and homeowners to adopt new technologies and “best practices.”

Grand Coalition Can Back Sustainable Neighborhoods

Lea Terhune — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:50:41 GMT

Opportunities to save resources and mitigate global warming offered by green buildings increase greatly when an entire sustainable neighborhood is planned and designed. For businesses, such neighborhoods can be the biggest economic opportunity they have ever seen, architect Douglas Farr says.

Leon H. Sullivan Summit VIII Billed as “Summit of a Lifetime”

Lea Terhune — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:15:33 GMT

The Leon H. Sullivan Foundation’s June 2-6 summit in Tanzania will explore a variety of themes -- including investment, infrastructure, tourism and conservation -- in the context of U.S.-Africa partnership, according to the foundation’s vice president, Gregory B. Simpkins, who outlines the summit’s agenda.

Sustainable Urbanism Responds to Market Needs

Lea Terhune — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:39:03 GMT

America should re-evaluate its dominant settlement patterns to make substantial progress toward achieving energy efficiency and climate-change mitigation. If you get those patterns right, go wild on green buildings, go wild on hybrid cars and go wild on energy-efficient lighting, architect Douglas Farr says.

Mortgage Markets Boost Home Ownership, U.S. Economy

Lea Terhune — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:30:34 GMT

Owning a home has long been equated with the realization of the "American Dream." The encouragement of homeownership in the United States has been a major factor shaping government economic and tax policies, especially in regard to housing loans or mortgages.

Improved Economies Will Lead to More Visa Waiver Agreements

Lea Terhune — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:44:06 GMT

As more countries improve their economies, they may become eligible to join the visa waiver program that enables their citizens to enter the United States for 90 days for business or pleasure without obtaining a visa. In 2006, more than 15 million people from 27 countries took advantage of the program.

U.S. Economy Grows Out of Competing Interests

Lea Terhune — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:51:57 GMT

The rise of the United States from a set of scattered colonies to the world's largest economy was neither certain nor smooth. The economy has been shaped by diverse economic interests, as Americans struggled to find a regulatory role for government that would limit excesses of power without stifling investment and innovation.

More U.S. Companies Led by Foreign-Born Executives

Lea Terhune — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:14:07 GMT

Of the 100 largest U.S. companies, 14 are now run by foreign-born chiefs, according to Standard & Poor's, the leading provider of independent financial data. But even if a large company has U.S. natives as top leaders, it is likely to have some executives with foreign passports, says professor Fred Foulkes.