In 2001, China became the first centrally-planned economy admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO) — the only global international organization designed to facilitate multilateral trade between its member nations.

Whether or not you believe the science on climate change is irrelevant, says Andrew J. Hoffman, a University of Michigan professor of sustainable enterprise. Whatever you think, it's long past the time to open your eyes to the business implications.

Hope Berman Levin, the regional president for U.S. Bank in Arizona, recently touched on some of the rapid-fire changes that are happening in banking, during a talk at the W. P. Carey School's 26th Annual  Dean's Council of 100 Executive of the Year Luncheon.

Although nonresidential building held up longer than residential activity in the current recession, the nonresidential downturn now has started and is expected to continue into 2010. The timing of the rise and fall of these two construction categories differs.

The world's two economic superpowers — the United States and China — face significant challenges as they confront the future possibilities of trade and a new world economic order.

Two indicators of the severity of the current recession, depth and duration, worsened in the past month. The depth of the decline in inflation-adjusted Gross Domestic Product in the fourth quarter of 2008 was revised by the U.S.

Labor markets in the Western states are among those (a) hardest hit and (b) least affected by the current economic contraction, based on nonagricultural employment figures for January 2009, released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

One of the features of fiscal policy initiatives is that they can be targeted to industries and geographic areas in greatest need.

The Economic Minute is a new feature of Knowledge@W. P. Carey. These brief recaps by W. P. Carey economists, first presented at Economic Club of Phoenix luncheons, are designed to bring you up to date on current conditions nationally and in the West.

We shouldn't expect the stimulus plan presented by Congress to the President to bring an early end to dismal data reports on the health of the economy. Conditions will continue to worsen for at least the next two quarters.