The Bush administration's announcement of an 'Advanced Energy Initiative' poses challenges for the international climate change agenda as well as the US domestic energy policy agenda. The proposal is politically significant because it has altered the terms of reference in the domestic discourse about US energy and climate policy. However, while it proposes proportionately large increases in the funding levels of some programmes, it also suggests only marginal changes in several current programmes and proposes reductions or even the elimination of others.
More than half way into the decade, it is clear that the ambitious goal to make the EU the 'most competitive economy' by 2010 will be missed. This contribution shows that investing more in education would be the key in terms of employment, a central element in the Lisbon goal. Improving the skills of the EU's population would have, inter alia, a direct impact on the employment rate. Reaching the Lisbon goal of an employment rate of 70% would be possible even without labour market reforms if the average level of qualification of the EU were to reach the benchmarks in this area (which in turn are very close to the values reached by the best performing member states).
Following seven years of painstaking and demanding negotiations, European bankers and regulators breathed a sigh of relief when the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) finally got through the European Parliament on 28 September 2005, and was formally approved by the Council of Ministers of the 25 EU member states on 11 October 2005. The new CRD will finally apply the complex, risk-sensitive Basel II capital adequacy rules to some 8,000 European banks and some 2,000 investments firms in two stages, the first in January 2007 and the second one year later.
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, and Government
Optimum Currency Area (OCA) approaches turn to be inadequate in the analysis of the new regional monetary integration schemes that have sprung up among developing and emerging market economies. Instead, in accordance with the concept of 'original sin' (Eichengreen et al.) we argue that regional monetary South-South integration schemes that, unlike North-South arrangements, involve none of the international reserve currencies, have specific monetary constraints and implications which need to be duly considered. A first comparative analysis of three cases of monetary South-South cooperation in South Africa (CMA), East Asia (ASEAN) and Latin America (Mercosur) shows that these can indeed provide macroeconomic stability gains but that this strongly depends on the existence of economic hierarchies within these integration schemes.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Foreign Exchange, and Third World
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The World Bank attempts to improve health in poor countries by providing advice in health financing and infrastructure development, as well as grants and loans to poor countries. This is a formidable mission given that the greatest difficulty poor countries have in carrying out public health programs is their lack of infrastructural, managerial and clinical capacity. Its efforts to this end have been diluted by irresponsible forays into disease control financing without a commensurate increase in institutional competence with only limited technical staff capacity. Instead of deferring to the World Health Organization for technical advice on malaria control, Bank staff members have promoted ineffectual malaria prevention and treatment, causing countries to move away from best practices in disease control. The Bank has been criticized in the Lancet medical journal, and its senior staff claim that changes have been made. This working paper reviews the most recent performance from the Bank, which demonstrates the continuing failure of its malaria work. The Bank should stick to its core mission of funding health systems and get out of the disease control business.
Topic:
International Relations, Debt, Economics, and Third World
Roger Bate, Kathryn Boateng, Lorraine Mooney, and Richard Tren
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
There are many factors which hamper health care delivery in the developing world. These factors include tariffs, taxes, corruption, such as bribes and other local price inflators on medicines and medical products. Non-tariff barriers, such as lengthy registration periods for medicines and onerous requirements to clear customs, also restrict the availability of medication in the developing world. According to the World Health Organization, approximately one-third of the world's population lacks access to essential medicine and proper medical treatment. Drawing upon extensive evidence from surveys and accounts from the field, this paper examines the impact of tariffs, taxes and other markups on imported medicines and medical products provided to lesser developed countries by pharmaceutical companies, not-for-profit groups, for-profit corporations, multilateral and bilateral aid and health agencies. The paper discusses how these regulatory barriers affect access to medication. The authors conclude that although efforts to reform the current system of government revenue generation through tariffs collection may meet resistance in many developing countries, especially those featuring systemic corruption and those with domestic production, governments which take steps to eliminate tariffs could in fact expedite health care delivery and consequently improve the well-being of their people.
Senator John Edwards was the Democratic 2004 nominee for Vice President (Senator John Kerry's running mate) and a one-term former Democratic Senator from North Carolina. He defeated the incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in North Carolina's 1998 Senate election. Senator Edwards is now the Director of the Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Senator Edwards addressed the Asia Society on The Future of US-China Relations as part of the series entitled "American Political Leaders on the Future of US Relations with Asia". Senator Edwards addressed the Asia Society on October 31st, and gave this interview to Nermeen Shaikh following his speech.
Topic:
Economics and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, China, America, Asia, and North Carolina
VISHAKHA DESAI: Good evening. And welcome to the Asia Society. Most of you know me but in case you don't, I'm Vishakha Desai, and I have the honor of being the president of this wonderful organization. It's my great pleasure and honor to welcome all of you for a very special evening with Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa, who is going to be talking to us about sustaining economic growth while combating social challenges in Asia. I must say, this topic of growth and social challenges was very much something that we discussed almost all day today because we had another highly successful business conference on India's financial markets. And one thing that kept coming up is how the idea of sustaining growth is going to actually balance out with the ideas of working with social as well as public health challenges and education challenges in places like India and China.
Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi is the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He previously served as Director-General of the World Trade Organization (September 2002 to August 2005).
I would first like to thank Dr. Desai, Ambassador Holbrooke and the Asia Society for inviting me to speak tonight. I remember well the very enjoyable evening I had with President Desai and Vice President Metzl in Seoul last July. I remain grateful for the exchange of insightful and informed views. Today, I have a few topics that I want to discuss. But first, I would like to say a few words about the Asia Society and its unique contributions to Asia-US relations.