Search

Begin New Search Topic Economics Political Geography Europe

911. The Italian Stabilization of 1947: Domestic and International Factors

Author:
Juan Carlos Martinez Oliva
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
Abstract:
The paper examines the 1947 monetary stabilization in Italy, tracing the domestic and international political dynamics that allowed ideas and theoretical concepts developed within the Bank of Italy to be applied in a successful action to subdue spiraling inflation. The combination of events and circumstances necessary for the good outcome in a critical juncture of Italian economic history was the fruit of the efforts made by Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi in both the domestic and international political arenas and of the collaboration he received from Luigi Einaudi and Donato Menichella. The Government's economic action in this crucial episode constitutes perhaps the first outstanding example of cooperation between politicians and experts in the annals of the Italian Republic.
Topic:
Economics and Government
Political Geography:
Europe and Italy

912. Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2007

Author:
Nanna Hvidt and Hans Mouritzen
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This is an outline of Danish foreign policy 2006 provided by the Permanent Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Throughout 2006, developments caused by globalisation posed huge challenges to Denmark. The cartoons crisis and the conflict in Lebanon were the most obvious ones. Confronted with these challenges, Denmark managed to pursue a pro-active foreign policy. Interrelated issues such as energy security, climate change, failed states and weapons of mass destruction became increasingly important. These issues must be addressed with different instruments ranging from diplomacy and multilateral cooperation to trade policy and development cooperation. They illustrate the need for new tools in foreign policy such as public diplomacy, which has gained further importance in the globalised and network-based system of international relations. In addition, the need for horizontal coordination has increased. The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a major globalisation study in 2006, recommending how Denmark can cope with the challenges of globalisation.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:
Europe and Denmark

913. The Muslim Presence in France and the United States: Its Consequences for Secularism

Author:
Jocelyne Cesari
Publication Date:
08-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
French Politics, Culture Society
Institution:
Conference Group on French Politics Society
Abstract:
All too often, the question of Muslim minorities in Europe and America is discussed solely in socioeconomic terms or with a simplistic focus on the Islamic religion and its purported incompatibility with democracy. This article focuses instead on the secularism of Western host societies as a major factor in the integration of Muslim minorities. It compares French and American secularism and argues that while French-style secularism has contributed to present tensions between French Muslims and the French state, American secularism has facilitated the integration of Muslims in the United States-even after 9/11.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Europe

914. Why has Swedish Inflation been Persistently Low?

Author:
Felix Hufner
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Average inflation in Sweden has been one of the lowest among European countries since the mid- 1990s. Three supply-side factors help to explain this phenomenon, all related in some sense to increased global integration. First, a shift towards imports from low-cost producing countries has resulted in falling import prices. Second, deregulation and increased product market competition with foreign companies entering the market has led to price falls in some sectors, notably in retailing. Third, wage growth has lagged productivity and kept unit labour costs down. This paper reviews these factors and analyzes the policy options for the central bank.
Topic:
Economics, Labor Issues, Monetary Policy, and Inflation
Political Geography:
Europe, Sweden, and Scandinavia

915. European Banks in the Developing World

Author:
Jan Toporowski
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
This paper looks at the recent expansion of European banks in the developing countries. It argues that no specific European influence is apparent in emerging markets, other than a declining financial interest in former colonies. Actual developments in emerging markets are determined by domestic factors, financial liberalisation, and capital account liberalisation. The sole exception is provided by monetary unions of France and Portugal with former colonies. These highlight the drying up of local money markets as local banking becomes a branch activity of global banks. This is a paradoxical result, since financial liberalisation is usually supposed to result in financial development. It also suggests financial liberalisation may not be the best way of supporting the under-banked small and medium enterprise sector in developing countries.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe

916. Decoding the Rise of Euroskepticism in Turkey

Author:
Mehmet Bardakçı
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Since 2004 there has been a dramatic drop in the support expressed by the Turkish public for the EU and the Turkish membership. Many factors were at work for this downward trend of Turkish people's perceptions of the EU including the Cyprus policy, the Armenian genocide claims, the EU's treatment of Turkey as a special case, vocal objections raised by the EU leaders as well as the public to Turkey's EU membership, the economic costs of the accession process, nationalist backlash as a result of the resumption of PKK terrorism, mutual rise in negative perceptions of the Muslim and Western world at large in the post-September 11 process. Therefore, amid growing anti-European sentiments in domestic politics it became increasingly difficult for the ruling AKP to sustain the EU reform agenda.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Armenia

917. Understanding the 'Absorption Capacity' of the European Union

Author:
Sercan Gidişoğlu
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
This article offers an analysis of the large inventory of definitions proposed for 'the EU's capacity to absorb new members', by the EU institutions as well as scholars and Brussels-based public affairs companies. It also makes a comparison between 1993, when the term 'absorption capacity' (AC) is used for the first time in an official text, and the period from 2005 on, when this term reappeared frequently in European terminology and came to be defined with more precision. AC mainly refers to the capacity of the EU to absorb new members while functioning efficiently and maintaining the momentum of European integration. It has three main components: economic, political, and institutional absorption capacities. However, despite some consensus on its usage, the term remains ill-defined and misleading. To remedy this problem, the Commission recently replaced the term with the phrase 'integration capacity'. Nevertheless, further efforts should be made to clarify this concept, which is still being used in official texts without enough precision.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Europe and Brussels

918. Non-Working Time, Income Inequality and Quality of Life Comparisons: The Case of the U.S. vs. the Netherlands

Author:
Ellen Verbake and Thomas A. DiPrete
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
The distribution of well-being in society and comparisons of well-being across societies depend both on the amount of inequality at the national level and also on the national average level of well-being. Comparisons between the U.S. and western Europe show that inequality is greater in the U.S. but that average GDP/capita is also greater in the U.S., and most Americans have higher standards of living than do Western Europeans at comparable locations in their national income distributions. What is less well-known is that (depending on the country) much or all of this gap arises from differences in the level of working hours in the U.S. and in Western Europe. Crossnational comparisons of well-being have typically relied on the methodology of generalized Lorenz curves (GLC), but this approach privileges disposable income and cash transfers while ignoring other aspects of welfare state and labor market structure that potentially affect the distribution of well-being in a society. We take an alternative approach that focuses on the value of time use and the different distributions of work and family time that are generated by each country's labor market and social welfare institutions. We show that reasonable estimates of the greater contribution to well-being from non-market activities such as the raising of children or longer vacations overturn claims in the literature that the U.S. offers greater well-being to more of its citizens than do Western European countries.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
United States, America, Europe, and Netherlands

919. Non-Working Time, Income Inequality, and Quality of Life Comparisons: The Case of the U.S. vs. the Netherlands

Author:
Ellen Verbakel and Thomas DiPrete
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University
Abstract:
The distribution of well-being in society and comparisons of well-being across societies depend both on the amount of inequality at the national level and also on the national average level of well-being. Comparisons between the U.S. and western Europe show that inequality is greater in the U.S. but that average GDP/capita is also greater in the U.S., and most Americans have higher standards of living than do Western Europeans at comparable locations in their national income distributions. What is less well-known is that (depending on the country) much or all of this gap arises from differences in the level of working hours in the U.S. and in Western Europe. Cross-national comparisons of well-being have typically relied on the methodology of generalized Lorenz curves (GLC), but this approach privileges disposable income and cash transfers while ignoring other aspects of welfare state and labor market structure that potentially affect the distribution of well-being in a society. We take an alternative approach that focuses on the value of time use and the different distributions of work and family time that are generated by each country's labor market and social welfare institutions. We show that reasonable estimates of the greater contribution to well-being from non-market activities such as the raising of children or longer vacations overturn claims in the literature that the U.S. offers greater well-being to more of its citizens than do Western European countries.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Netherlands

920. A New Bi-continental Approach to Transatlantic Defence Cooperation

Author:
Michele Nones
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The prospect of transatlantic cooperation in the field of defence systems depends on reaching an acceptable point of equilibrium. Without it, Europe would find the strategic, political, economic, and industrial risks of total American predominance in this field (with the consequent loss of technical and production expertise) unacceptable. The reduction of the gap between Europe and the United States depends on the integration of the European defence market. This must not be seen as a risk for transatlantic collaboration, but as an opportunity. Building up a transatlantic market could also improve the efficiency of the American market by increasing competition. This collaboration, based not on bilateral, national, or multilateral agreements, but instead on bi-continental cooperation, is the challenge that Europe and the United States must face and meet together.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
United States, America, and Europe