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4501. Beware the Soft-Line Ideologues

Author:
David Frum and Richard Perle
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
When discussing foreign policy and the war on terror, the press often divides officials into two groups: hard-liners and pragmatists. “Hard-liners” are actually far more pragmatic and realize that the war on terrorism requires vigorous, decisive action; in contrast, the policies promoted by “pragmatists” are grounded in ideological dependence upon failing international organizations and denial of the realities of the post–September 11 world.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Democratization, and Economics

4502. Finding Better Ways to Achieve Cleaner Air

Author:
Joel Schwartz
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Though air quality continues to improve, those gains have come at the cost of a regulatory system that also devotes enormous resources to creating and enforcing administrative requirements, rather than reducing pollution. The National Research Council recently issued a report evaluating U.S. air quality management and recommending reforms. Unfortunately, the report focuses on symptoms and fails to address fundamental problems with air quality law and regulation. The public's interest is in sufficiently clean air achieved at the least possible cost. But getting to this ideal will require overcoming special interests that benefit from a centralized, administratively complex regulatory system.
Topic:
Economics, Environment, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States

4503. The Decline of the Communists

Author:
Leon Aron
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Overlooked in the victory of the pro-Kremlin party, United Russia, in the Duma election last December and President Vladimir Putin's overwhelming victory in the presidential election three months later was a milestone in Russia's post-Soviet political history: the precipitous decline of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF). The single largest faction in the Duma between 1995 and 2003, the KPRF was reduced to 12 percent of the party-list vote in the Duma poll while the Communist candidate for the presidency, who received 40 percent in the 1996 election and 24 percent in 2000, ended up with 14 percent.
Topic:
Economics, International Organization, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

4504. Privatizing Pensions

Author:
Leon Aron
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Perhaps more than any other structural market reform unfolding today in Russia, pension privatization epitomizes both the enormous progress achieved over the past decade and the equally huge obstacles still ahead on the road to "civilized" liberal capitalism. The reform highlights and tests the quality of key institutions and instruments central to such a system: transparency and liquidity of banks and mutual funds, probity and competence of state regulatory agencies, and stability of equity and bond markets.
Topic:
Economics, International Organization, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

4505. The Putin Restoration

Author:
Leon Aron
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The Revolution had, indeed, two distinct phases: one in which the sole aim of the French nation seemed to be to make a clean sweep of the past; and a second, in which attempts were made to salvage fragments from the wreckage of the old order. For many of the laws and administrative methods which were suppressed in 1789 reappeared a few years later, much as some rivers after going underground re-emerge at another point, in new surroundings.
Topic:
Democratization, Economics, and Emerging Markets
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Asia, and France

4506. The Duma Election

Author:
Leon Aron
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The December 7, 2003, election to the Russian parliament, the State Duma, has been portrayed in the U.S. media as mostly a product of the Kremlin's machinations. Its "administrative resources"--most importantly, its control of national television channels--are said to be almost entirely responsible for the winning performance of the "party of power," United Russia, which garnered 37 percent of the party-list vote among twenty-three parties and blocs on the ballot.
Topic:
Democratization, Economics, and Emerging Markets
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

4507. The Transatlantic Economy in 2020: A Partnership for the Future?

Author:
Frances G. Burwell, W. Bowman Cutter, Paula Stern, and Peter S. Rashish
Publication Date:
11-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The United States and the European Union maintain the world's largest and most significant economic relationship, which in turn is a foundation supporting the transatlantic political partnership. By some estimates, the transatlantic economy — including two-way trade and foreign affiliate sales — totals $2.5 trillion and is responsible for 14 million jobs in the United States and Europe. It is not just the scale of the transactions, however; the transatlantic economy is deeply interconnected through impressive levels of foreign direct investment in both directions. Together, the United States and the EU have been key players in managing the global economy through the World Trade Organization, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund. They have been responsible for the major accomplishments in international trade liberalization of the last 40 years, and have spurred the adoption of global standards in a wide range of sectors.
Topic:
Economics, International Cooperation, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

4508. Do Economic Sanctions Work? Lessons from ILSA Other Sanctions Regimes

Author:
Stuart E. Eizenstat
Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The 1990s saw a cascade of contentious sanctions legislation. Congress passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, including an amendment to the Sovereign Immunities Act, which permits lawsuits against governments on the terrorism list – a major step in denying foreign governments normal immunity from suit in U.S. courts. The Iran–Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) was also passed in 1996, with the goal of discouraging third–country companies from investing in Iran or Libya. This sparked outrage from European countries, which objected to the act's “extra–territorial” reach, and from the European Union (EU) institutionally, which responded with a law barring any European company from complying with the legislation (and with similar provisions regarding Cuban trade under the controversial Helms–Burton Act).
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

4509. Supporting the High-Technology Entrepreneur: Support Network Geographies for Semiconductor, Telecommunications Equipment, and Biotechnology Start-Ups

Author:
Martin Kenney and Donald Patton
Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:
Using a unique database derived from U.S. initial public stock offering prospecti, the authors examine the location of four actors (the firm's lawyers, the venture capitalists on the board of directors, the other members of the board of directors, and the lead investment banker) of the entrepreneurial support network for start-up firms in three high-technology industries: semiconductors, telecommunications equipment, and biotechnology. We demonstrate that the economic geography of the biotechnology support network differs significantly from the networks in semiconductors and telecommunications equipment. Our results suggest that generalization about the economic geography of high-technology industries drawn from a single industry study can be misleading. We find that biotechnology has a far more dispersed network structure than the two electronics-related industries. We suggest that the case of biotechnology suggests that if the source of seeds for new firms is highly dispersed, then an industry may not experience the path dependent clustering suggested by geographers and economists. Also, we argue that contrary to common belief biotechnology and its support network does not exhibit as great clustering as does either semiconductors or telecommunications equipment. Suggesting that for economic development planners, it may be easy to encourage biotechnology start-ups, but the synergies from the industry may not be as powerful as in other high-technology fields.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States

4510. Building Venture Capital Industries: Understanding the U.S. and Israeli Experience

Author:
Martin Kenney, Gil Avnimelech, and Morris Teubal
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:
During the growth phase of every venture capita (VC) business cycle, it seems as though both local and national governments in various countries initiate policies aimed at establishing VC industries as part of a high-technology economic development strategy. It is remarkable how each time there seems to be a proliferation of ill-advised policies that are usually reminiscent of the ones tried during the previous phase. Not surprisingly, in a distressingly large number of cases, the “new” policies to foster VC meet with minimal success or fail outright. While the causes of failure are undoubtedly multiple, there is ample room for believing that often the policies were based on a simplistic or incomplete understanding of the roots and dynamics that have led to the development of self-sustaining national VC industries. This paper uses historically informed case studies of Israel and the U.S. to develop an appreciative model of how the VC industries in these two nations came into being. Our model and understanding of this process is deliberately evolutionary and systemic. We believe that this perspective is the only one capable of providing both scholars and policy-makers with a grounded understanding of the emergence and development of the VC industries in these two nations.
Topic:
Economics, Government, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States and Israel