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1492. Whatever Happened to Canada?
- Author:
- David N. Biette
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Wilson Center
- Abstract:
- Recently an older acquaintance of mine, aware that I worked on Canadian issues, asked me, “What ever happened to Canada? We used to hear so much about what Canada did around the world and now we don't hear anything.”
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Government
- Political Geography:
- North America
1493. Corporate Governance in Canada and the United States: A Comparative View
- Author:
- Edward J. Waitzer and Jay W. Lorsch
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Wilson Center
- Abstract:
- Drawing on expertise from both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, the One Issue,Two Voices series is designed to stimulate dialogue on policy issues that have a significant impact on the bilateral relationship. This fifth issue in the series provides an up-to-date snapshot of how corporate governance practices differ between Canada and the United States. Authors Jay Lorsch of the Harvard Business School and Edward Waitzer of the Canadian law firm Stikeman Elliott are leading experts on corporate governance.Together they give us a comparison of the way our countries have responded to changes mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) passed by the U.S. government in 2002.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Economics, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States, Canada, and North America
1494. The Unbearable Lightness of Regulatory Costs
- Author:
- Frank Ackerman
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
- Abstract:
- Will unbearable regulatory costs ruin the US economy? This specter haunts official Washington, just as fears of communism once did. Once again, the prevailing rhetoric suggests, an implacable enemy of free enterprise puts our prosperity at risk. Like anti-communism in its heyday, anti-command-and-control-ism serves to narrow debate, promoting the unregulated laissez-faire economy as the sole acceptable goal and standard for public policy. Fears of the purported costs of regulation have been used to justify a sweeping reorganization of regulatory practice, in which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is empowered to, and often enough does, reject regulations from other agencies on the basis of intricate, conjectural, economic calculations.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Environment, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States and North America
1495. The Missing Links between Foreign Investment and Development: Lessons from Costa Rica and Mexico
- Author:
- Kevin Gallagher and Eva Paus
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
- Abstract:
- A developing country will derive long-lasting development benefits from FDI only, if there is the right coincidence between its location-specific assets and TNCs\' global interests, and the right match between the country\'s national linkage capability and TNCs\' strategic interest in domestic sourcing. We argue that Costa Rica and Mexico have been very successful in attracting high-tech FDI due to the cumulative results of past development policies, proximity to the U.S., and trade arrangements. However, a combination of pervasive market failures, government inaction, and changes in TNC strategies explains why the two countries have not been able to reap lasting benefits from high-tech FDI. We conclude that pro-active government policies have to be an integral part of any FDI-linked development strategy. Pro-action is needed to attract FDI, to promote indigenous linkage capability, and to enhance key location-specific assets on an on-going basis in the context of a coordinated policy framework.
- Topic:
- Economics and Markets
- Political Geography:
- Central America, North America, and Mexico
1496. Immigration and Insecurity: Post-9/11 Fear in the United States
- Author:
- John Tirman
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- MIT Center for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The attacks of September 11, 2001, transformed the landscape of global security, none more than borders and immigration. The topography of citizenship, belonging, and suspicion instantly changed for Arab and Muslim communities in the United States. They drew the sharp attention of U.S. law enforcement and intelligence services, and that continues. But the public's focus has swung south to scrutinize the U.S.-Mexican border as a source of insecurity. For the most part, the alarms about immigrants as threats are exaggerated. And the policy choices driven by these concerns—much larger border security measures in particular—are costly in a globalized economy and unnecessary for security in any case.
- Topic:
- Security, Migration, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States, Arab Countries, North America, and Mexico
1497. Budgets to Make America Safer
- Author:
- Cindy Williams
- Publication Date:
- 06-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- MIT Center for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Since September 2001, federal budgets for national security have climbed more than 50 percent in real terms. Unfortunately, much of the added money reflects “business as usual” rather than programs aimed at making the nation safer from today's threats. Compared with past decades, national security spending makes up a relatively small share of the U.S. economy. Nevertheless, with the federal debt growing rapidly and as large numbers of baby boomers approach retirement age, many observers expect future federal budgets to be tight. Thus it is critically important to ensure that national security funds go to projects that make the nation more secure. This article examines broad changes in national security budgets since September 2001. It first reviews the three categories of federal spending for national security. It then examines how budgets in those categories have changed since September 2001. It ends with a look at alternatives that seem more relevant in an era of international mass-casualty terrorism.
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- America and North America
1498. The Asian Economic Revolution and Canadian Trade Policy
- Author:
- John Whalley
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- This paper discusses the broad orientation of Canada's trade policy relative to two major historical phases of development based on a secure national market behind the National Policy from 1879 until the 1930s, and progressive integration with the United States (US) through Bilateral Agreements (1930s), the Auto Pact (1965), the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (1987) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (1994). Currently, Canada exports approximately 85% to the US, but imports from China account for 8% and are growing at over 20% a year. Sharply unbalanced (surplus) trade with the US is counterbalanced by unbalanced deficit trade with China. A scenario of elevated growth in Asia (principally China, India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN) poses challenges of relative disintegration from North America and growing global integration centered on Asia. Seemingly a series of implications follow; including positioning Canada within the emerging network of regional agreements in Asia, more resourcebased and Western Canada focused trade and infrastructure development, and responding to capital market integration with Asia. Broader issues include the potential adjustments facing Central Canada as Asian imports of manufactures displace both imported manufactures from the US and domestic production are raised.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Canada, Asia, and North America
1499. China and the Depreciating U.S. Dollar
- Author:
- Richard C. K. Burdekin
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Over the past five years, U.S. exports to China have been dwarfed by imports from that country, with the resulting trade deficit igniting a bout of China bashing reminiscent of the Japan bashing of the 1980s. A major culprit in the trade imbalance, according to many U.S. analysts and policymakers, is China's currency: the renminbi, they say, is too cheap relative to the dollar. Some are calling for high tariffs on Chinese goods or for further exchange-rate adjustment that would revalue the renminbi significantly upward, making Chinese goods less competitive. But with just 10.4 percent of total U.S. trade attributed to China in the first half of 2005, it is unrealistic that any renminbi exchange-rate adjustment could rein in the burgeoning U.S. trade deficit. And if the adjustment were drastic the United States could be the big loser: driving China out of the market for U.S. treasuries would most likely have calamitous consequences, not only for the dollar but for U.S. credit markets and for the U.S. economy in general.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- United States, Asia, and North America
1500. Launching an "Opportunity Partnership" in the Americas
- Author:
- Roger F. Noriega
- Publication Date:
- 01-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Abstract:
- The United States has gone around the world seeking to address challenges to our security and prosperity, but a significant opportunity is readily available closer to home. Helping this country's fastest growing trade partners and top energy suppliers right here in the Western hemisphere achieve and institutionalize open, competitive economies will produce a century's worth of prosperity for the United States and its natural partners. Like-minded governments in the Americas should work together to launch an "Opportunity Partnership" that would sustain a reform agenda and alleviate the region's chronic poverty by empowering the poor both economically and politically.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- South America and North America