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12. The Russian Federation
- Author:
- Fiona Hill, Clifford G. Gaddy, Dmitry Ivanov, and Igor Danchenko
- Publication Date:
- 10-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Energy is at the heart of Russia's remarkable change of fortune over the past seven years. Emerging from a state of virtual bankruptcy in August 1998, the country now enjoys large surpluses, has inverted its debt burden with the outside world, and has racked up successive years of economic growth and low inflation. This dramatic turnaround is directly related to Russia's status as the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas—the country has benefited tremendously from soaring prices on the world market.
- Topic:
- Development, Emerging Markets, and Energy Policy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Asia
13. Untangling China's Quest for Oil through State-backed Financial Deals
- Author:
- Erica Downs and Peter C. Evans
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The efforts of China's national oil companies to secure upstream oil assets abroad have attracted attention from U.S. officials and policymakers. Congress has taken notice, as indicated by the request of the Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Resources Committee Richard W. Pombo—triggered by the bid made by China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd. for Unocal in 2005—for a study by the Department of Energy of the economic and national security implications of China's energy demand. The report, released in February 2006, concludes that the foreign investments of China's national oil companies do not pose an economic challenge to the U.S. However, one issue the report mentions only in passing that merits further attention is how the Chinese government's financial support for some of these investments can undermine an open and competitive world oil market.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, and Energy Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and Asia
14. Who Lives Downtown
- Author:
- Eugenie L. Birch
- Publication Date:
- 11-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Over the past few decades, public and private officials have tried to re-invent their downtowns with a variety of tactics. One of the most popular—and arguably most successful—strategies of recent years has been downtown residential development. In this effort, creating a vibrant, “24-hour” downtown has become the mantra for injecting life into struggling main streets and business districts.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Demographics, Economics, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- New York, Asia, Los Angeles, and Chicago
15. U.S. Trade Policy Toward China: Discrimination and its Implications
- Author:
- Rachel McCulloch and Chad P. Bown
- Publication Date:
- 06-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- The bilateral relationship with China has become a major focus of U.S. trade policy. This paper examines recent U.S. policy toward imports from China, highlighting important explicitly and implicitly discriminatory elements. Discriminatory restrictions on U.S. trade with China protect competing domestic industries as well as non-Chinese foreign suppliers with an established presence in the U.S. market. Unlike discriminatory U.S. treatment of Japan in the 1980s, in which "gray-area" measures like voluntary export restraints were prominent, most U.S. actions toward China are fully consistent with current WTO rules, including the special terms of China's 2001 WTO accession. However, as with earlier discriminatory actions directed primarily at Japan, U.S. trade policy toward China is likely to have complex effects on global trade flows and may produce outcomes far different from those intended.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, and Asia
16. Well Being and Unemployment in Russian in the 1990's: Can Society's Suffering Be Individuals' Solace?
- Author:
- Andrew; Gaddy Eggers
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- This paper studies the effect of regional unemployment rates on subjective well-being in post-Soviet Russia. Research conducted in Europe and the United States has documented that higher unemployment rates lead to lower reported life-satisfaction. By contrast, our Russian study finds a small but significant effect in the other direction. We estimate that du ring the period of our study (1995-2001), each percentage point increase in the local unemployment rate was correlated with the average well-being of people in the region increasing by an amount equivalent to moving 2% of the population up one level in life satisfaction measured on a five-point scale. Our intuition is that the so-called comparison effect drives this result: when individuals observe their peers suffering in a troubled economy, they lower their standards of what is good enough. All else equal, they thus perceive themselves to be better off in worse times. In highlighting the dependence of subjective well-being scores on expectations and reference groups, we sound a note of caution against using happiness data from economies in crisis to draw macroeconomic policy conclusions.
- Topic:
- Economics and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, Asia, and Soviet Union
17. Risks and Rights: The Causes, Consequences, and Challenges of Development-Induced Displacement
- Author:
- W. Courtland Robinson
- Publication Date:
- 05-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- While it may have as many meanings as people who invoke its name, development generally has positive, though perhaps ambiguous, connotations. Uneven development is a bad thing and sustainable development is a good thing but, for the most part, under- developed countries and communities seek to become more developed, whether that is through improving health and livelihoods, expanding educational opportunities, or building infrastructure. But, as the citations above suggest, development does not benefit everyone equally and for some—indeed, for millions of people around the world—development has cost them their homes, their livelihoods, their health, and even their very lives. The suffering of those displaced by development projects can be as severe, and the numbers as large, as those displaced either internally or internationally by conflict and violence. What follows is an examination of the often-overlooked phenomenon of development-induced displacement, its causes, consequences and challenges for the international community.
- Topic:
- Development, Human Welfare, and Migration
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Asia
18. China and Southeast Asia: The Difference of a Decade
- Author:
- Catharin Dalpino and Juo-yu Lin
- Publication Date:
- 04-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Over a span of several years, China's relations with the nations of Southeast Asia have shifted in quiet increments. The accumulated effect, however, has been profound. A concerted diplomatic effort to woo countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which now includes all countries in the region excepting East Timor, has reaped multiple benefits for Beijing. It is beginning to alter the political balance in the region as alignments with extra-regional powers are shifting, however subtly. In some aspects, the change is more dramatic. Economic relations have expanded rapidly; for example, trade between China and Southeast Asia is seventeen times larger today than it was twenty-five years ago.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- China, Beijing, Asia, and Southeast Asia
19. Cross-Strait Relations: A Time for Careful Management
- Author:
- Richard Bush
- Publication Date:
- 04-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- On the face of it, relations between China and Taiwan have improved significantly since the saber-rattling of 1999 and 2000. Economic relations have never been better. Two-way trade is around $40 billion annually, and the Mainland has become Taiwan's largest export market, displacing the United States. Taiwan companies continue to invest in the PRC at record rates, in order to keep their products competitive through cheaper Chinese labor. The product mix of Taiwan factories on the mainland is shifting from items like shoes and toys to high-end goods like semi-conductors and notebook computers. As machinery moves, so do people, and the number of Taiwan people living most of the time in the PRC is hundreds of thousands. With this growing economic interaction come shared interests and better mutual understanding. Neither side would benefit from conflict, and both know it. The chance of growing tensions seems low.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, Taiwan, and Asia
20. The Second Term of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa: The Dual Problems of Performance and Capacity
- Author:
- Wilson Wong
- Publication Date:
- 04-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- In the more than five years since Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty, it has suffered economical, social, and political decline. The root cause of this decline, and the key variable for the next five years, is institutional weakness. Specifically, the Hong Kong government must address the dual problems of poor performance and low capacity in order to reverse the decline and get Hong Kong back on track for economic growth and institutional development.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Asia