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42. Should Americans Save More?
- Author:
- John H. Makin
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- Alarmists who call for American households to save more point to a steady drop in the conventionally measured U.S. saving rate to about 1 per- cent at the end of last year and to a rise in household debt to a level well over 100 percent of personal disposable income. The current account deficit, our external deficit, measures national dis-saving at close to 6 percent of GDP. The federal government's budget deficit contributes about 4 percentage points to national dis-saving and it, too, is the subject of considerable hand-wringing by those who point to a need for higher U.S. saving at both the household and national levels.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, and Government
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
43. Resurrecting Clear Skies
- Author:
- Ted Gayer
- Publication Date:
- 04-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- After failing to make it out of Senate committee in March, the future of the president's Clear Skies bill is uncertain. While the bill contains some flaws, most of its opponents criticized the virtues of Clear Skies, thus making it more difficult to fix the real problems and to strike a compromise. There is still some hope that the bill will pass later this congressional session. In lieu of Clear Skies, the Environmental Protection Agency recently promulgated two administrative rules to tighten regulations on power plant air pollution. These rules are certain to be litigated and thus delayed. With Clear Skies, we get a greater guarantee that the air quality goals will be met, and we get greater regulatory certainty that leads to lower costs.
- Topic:
- Development, Environment, Government, and Politics
44. Climate Change Science: Time for "Team B"?
- Author:
- Steven F. Hayward
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is currently working on its fourth assessment report. Despite the IPCC's noble intent to generate a scientific consensus, a number of factors have compromised the research and drafting process, assuring that its next assessment report will be just as controversial as previous reports in 1995 and 2001. Efforts to reform this large bureaucratic effort are unlikely to succeed. Perhaps the time has come to consider competition as the means of checking the IPCC's monopoly and generating more reliable climate science.
- Topic:
- Environment, Government, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- United States
45. Post-Election Strategy in Afghanistan
- Author:
- Vance Serchuk
- Publication Date:
- 10-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- On September 18, 2005, Afghanistan held its first democratic parliamentary and provincial elections in more than thirty-five years. The vote marks the successful completion of the transitional political process outlined by the 2001 Bonn Accords, the internationally brokered framework that has guided Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban. The United States and its allies in Kabul can rightly celebrate the passage of this milestone and the remarkable progress that has been achieved over the past four years. At the same time, the end of Bonn is also a natural time to raise questions about the Bush administration's long-term road map for Afghanistan. Two problems with the current American strategy—too much faith in NATO and too little investment in indigenous Afghan institutions—deserve particular attention.
- Topic:
- NATO, Democratization, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, America, Middle East, Taliban, and Kabul
46. The War against Reserves
- Author:
- Frederick W. Kagan
- Publication Date:
- 08-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- U.S. defense policy today rests heavily on two basic assumptions: that the American armed forces will make perfect decisions and take perfect actions, and that the enemy will never surprise us or offer us unexpected opportunities to exploit. These assumptions can be seen in the elimination of reserve forces from all echelons of the military structure and the heavy burden that the current war has placed on the Army Reserves and National Guard. The result of these decisions has been to leave the United States with little ability to react to unforeseen difficulties, either in Iraq or Afghanistan or elsewhere. If this policy continues, it will place American national security in grave jeopardy for years to come.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Government, and War
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, and America
47. The Democrats and Defense
- Author:
- Thomas Donnelly
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- To those who follow the politics of national security and defense, it came as no surprise recently when Senator Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) put herself in the vanguard of Democrats calling for a substantial increase in the size of the active-duty army. Hillary—the one-named superstar of Democratic politics— actually has been working hard over the past few years to burnish her credentials on these issues, particularly in regard to Iraq. She seems to grasp what many in her party still cannot: in the post-9/11 world, the job of an American president is to be a wartime commander in chief.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Iraq and America
48. The Battle over the Draft
- Author:
- Leon Aron
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- On December 29, 2004, Russia's minister of defense, Sergei Ivanov, announced plans to eliminate draft deferments for college students. Predictably, the popular reaction was so uniformly negative and furious that the abolition of deferments has been postponed—but not eliminated from the Kremlin's agenda.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Government, and War
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
49. The Fed: Pulling on a Rubber Band
- Author:
- John H. Makin
- Publication Date:
- 12-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- On December 13 the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the federal funds rate, the principal tool for setting monetary policy, by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent. At the same time, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors greatly simplified what had been a tortured statement explaining the basis for their actions and the factors that will govern future actions. The statement was remarkably brief: Despite elevated energy prices and hurricanerelated disruptions, the expansion in economic activity appears solid. Core inflation has stayed relatively low in recent months and longer-term inflation expectations remain contained. Nevertheless, possible increases in resource utilization as well as elevated energy prices have the potential to add to inflation pressures. The Committee judges that some further measured policy firming is likely to be needed to keep the risks to the attainment of both sustainable economic growth and price stability roughly in balance. In any event, the Committee will respond to changes in economic prospects as needed to foster these objectives. (emphasis added).
- Topic:
- Economics, Emerging Markets, Government, and International Trade and Finance
50. Why the Dollar Is Rising . . . Again
- Author:
- John H. Makin
- Publication Date:
- 11-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- Let's begin with a riddle: Why is the dollar like a Republican president? Answer: Because the dollar faces incessant predictions of imminent collapse, but in the end it wins out over weaker alternatives.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance