Search

Begin New Search Content Type Policy Brief

7721. Global Banking

Author:
Tom Barry, Martha Honey, and Christian Weller
Publication Date:
05-1998
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
International banking activities frequently result in financial instability and serious economic downturns as financial markets become more open and deregulated. Competition from multinational banks has reduced the availability of credit to small- and medium-sized enterprises, to low- and middle-income consumers, and to farmers. While economies experience financial instabilities and declining credit, governments are losing the means to protect their domestic markets.
Topic:
Economics, Government, International Organization, and International Trade and Finance

7722. Maintaining prosperity in an ageing society

Publication Date:
06-1998
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Population ageing in OECD countries over the coming decades could threaten future growth in prosperity. Governments should take action now across a broad range of economic, financial and social policies to ensure the foundations for maintaining prosperity in an ageing society. While reforms are already underway, much deeper reforms will be needed to meet the challenges of population ageing.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance

7723. Maintaining Prosperity in an Ageing Society

Publication Date:
05-1998
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Population ageing in OECD countries over the coming decades could threaten future growth in prosperity. Governments should take action now across a broad range of economic, financial and social policies to ensure the foundations for maintaining prosperity in an ageing society. While reforms are already underway, much deeper reforms will be needed to meet the challenges of population ageing.
Topic:
Economics, Government, International Cooperation, and International Trade and Finance

7724. The 1998 Per Jacobsson Lecture: Managing the International Economy in an Age of Globalisation

Author:
Peter D. Sutherland
Publication Date:
10-1998
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Overseas Development Council
Abstract:
Good afternoon. Thank you, Sir Jeremy, for that kind introduction. I am honored, not merely to have been selected to deliver this year's Per Jacobsson lecture, but by the presence of so many distinguished guests. I am also delighted that two previous Per Jacobsson lecturers could be here this afternoon, and I would like to recognize them: Jacques de Larosiere, the former Managing Director of the IMF and more recently the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Joseph Yam, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, Government, International Trade and Finance, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

7725. Third Party Arms Transfers: Requirements for the 21st Century

Author:
John D. Macomber and Charles McC. Mathias
Publication Date:
10-1998
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Can the United States collaborate with foreign nations in armaments development and production without jeopardizing US national security? This question - in light of America's global security obligations - demands a satisfactory answer. The economic and political advantages of greater international cooperation are significant. Benefits from cooperation include improved interoperability of weapons and equipment used by US allies and partners in operations with the United States, reduction in production costs, and preservation of a defense industrial base among US allies. Yet, considerations of national security are equally cogent.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Economics
Political Geography:
United States and America

7726. Indian Industry: Growing Pains

Publication Date:
12-1998
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
The provided an overview of the Indian economy. This issue will focus on three key sectors: industry, the financial sector, and agriculture. The three sectors, while seemingly unrelated, are key to India's future. Indian industry is undergoing unprecedented change as a result of the deregulation process begun in 1991, the recent downturn in the domestic economy, and the crisis in Asia. Established industries are being challenged and new ones are emerging.
Topic:
Industrial Policy and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

7727. Renewable Energy Investment and Technology Transfer in Asia

Author:
Tim Forsyth
Publication Date:
10-1998
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
This workshop was arranged by the RIIA under the sponsorship of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan to explore ways of increasing international investment in renewable energy technology in Asia. Enhancing renewable energy investment is clearly relevant to global strategies to mitigate climate change. However, the two debates on climate change policy and renewable energy investment have largely remained separate, and characterized by tendencies to discuss large-scale global flows of energy and investment on the one hand, and local development-oriented practice on the other. The workshop attempted to integrate these two debates, and therefore form part of a growing body of knowledge to inform the current climate change negotiations with practical options available to small and large businesses. The workshop had three main aims: to identify the implications of the Kyoto Protocol for international renewable energy investment; to define technology transfer and identify how it may be increased for renewable energy in South and Southeast Asia; to assess what public and private forms of finance could be sought to ensure the success of renewable energy businesses in South and Southeast Asia. The workshop was attended by some 30 industrialists, financiers and renewable energy specialists from around the world. This paper is a summary of the proceedings. In order to encourage frank exchange, the workshop was held under Chatham House Rule of confidentiality and anonymity, so individual speakers are not named.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Environment, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Asia

7728. Assessing South Africa's Growth Strategy

Author:
Jesmond Blumenfeld
Publication Date:
07-1998
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
As South Africa approaches its second inclusive elections in 1999, the government's economic record will come under increasing scrutiny. Against widespread expectations of a post-apartheid transformation in economic performance, the country's achievements in output, investment and employment have been profoundly disappointing. The adoption of a new, and more market- and investor-friendly, macroeconomic strategy in 1996 boosted confidence by promising major structural and policy reforms, but this has since been undermined by failure to meet most of the strategy's targets. In this Briefing Paper, Jesmond Blumenfeld analyses the origins, content and outcomes of the strategy as well as the economic and political dilemmas that it has created.
Topic:
Economics and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
South Africa and New Delhi

7729. Media Coverage of Parliament

Author:
Ralph Negrine
Publication Date:
07-1998
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
The last decade of the 20th century has apparently seen a profound change in the way in which European media handle their reporting of the political process. It is a process which marks an end to the formality and sense of obligation with which parliamentary debates and the activities of individual politicians have traditionally been treated. It has been paralleled by far-reaching changes in the ways in which politicians seek to influence their electorate. This briefing paper summarizes the findings of a comprehensive study that attempts to quantify what these changes in presentation of news and information might really mean.
Topic:
Government and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

7730. Sierra Leone: Tracing The Genesis Of A Controversy

Author:
Abiodun Alao
Publication Date:
06-1998
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
Prior to the recent controversy over the transfer of arms, little international attention was devoted to Sierra Leone. Even its civil war, which is at the root of the matter, did not attract any significant attention outside West Africa, despite the fact that it had claimed nearly 50,000 lives. Although its enormous diamond deposits have always attracted some interest, this has been limited to private companies and individual entrepreneurs. Many Sierra Leoneans believe that had there been sustained concern about the predicament of their country, the entire arms controversy might have been avoided. This briefing paper does not, however, attempt to delve into the complexities surrounding the sale of arms to Sierra Leone and deals only tangentially with the role of mercenaries that has been the subject of so much scrutiny. Rather, it traces the major events leading to the civil war that began in March 1991, bringing with it immense suffering for this impoverished nation. This is a tale of intrigue and power struggles that has involved most of the West African region, and has allowed unscrupulous actors from as far afield as South Africa, Britain and the United States to dabble in the affairs of this country. It is a salutary lesson in the lack of concern about the fate of small nations in the post-Cold War era.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Democratization, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States and South America