Search

Begin New Search Topic Markets Publication Year within 25 Years

891. Why Interest Rates Are Rising

Author:
John H. Makin
Publication Date:
07-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The bond “conundrum” that Alan Greenspan spoke of toward the end of his tenure at the Federal Reserve is disappearing. Chairman Greenspan was drawing attention to unusually low longterm interest rates worldwide on bonds.1 More recently, however, in less than a month interest rates on U.S. ten-year notes have risen by 60 basis points with no change in expected inflation. The shift is all the more unusual because of its abruptness and relative magnitude: in statistical terms, it is a rise of three standard deviations in “real” (inflation-adjusted) rates in a market that has been quiet over the past five years. Moreover, the few “surprise” moves since the tech-stock bubble burst in 2000 have mostly been in a downward direction.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States

892. The Remarkable American Consumer

Author:
John H. Makin
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The American consumer is a very persistent spending machine. It is American consumption growth running at higher than 4 percent annualized— well above its long-term average—that has kept the economy comfortably out of recession for the past six months as the housing slowdown has subtracted more than a percentage point from growth. Even with a substantial additional drag on the U.S. economy from other areas—inventory liquidation, weakening net exports, and rapidly rising gasoline prices—the American consumer's spending surge has still been enough to keep GDP growth in positive territory.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and America

893. Weaker Capital Spending Cuts Growth Forecast

Author:
John H. Makin
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
On Friday, April 13, the Wall Street Journal's lead story on the unlucky U.S. economy was “Economy Enemy No. 1: Soft Capital Spending.” The nation's leading business newspaper was acknowledging a six-month slowdown in capital spending that has, along with the drag from the housing sector, been lowering U.S. growth.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States

894. Recession in 2007?

Author:
John H. Makin
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
To the dismay and amazement of optimistic market players, not to mention Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, early in March former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan publicly assessed the probability of a recession this year to be one in three. This was a shock to those who had been carefully avoiding use of the “r word” while intensifying problems in the subprime mortgage market heralded the news that the housing correction, which had been declared “over” in January, was instead moving into a second, more intense, and unpleasant phase. Weaker investment (capital spending was actually a drag on fourth quarter growth) and an 8.7 percent drop in January durable goods orders further undercut hope for sustained general growth. The Fed's own economic outlook has looked to firmer capital spending as part of an economic recovery scenario.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Government, and Markets

895. Risk and Return in Subprime Mortgages

Author:
John H. Makin
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The slowdown in the housing sector that began early in 2006 subtracted over a percentage point from GDP growth during the second half of last year. Now, in 2007, analysts have declared that the worst of the housing slowdown is over. However, early in February, more serious problems emerged in the subprime mortgage market, the rapid growth of which supported the later stages of the housing boom in 2005 and 2006. Subprime mortgages are risky loans to weak borrowers who usually have to borrow the down payment on a home purchase, leaving them with mortgage obligations equal to 100 percent of the purchase price.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Markets

896. The Truth about the Drug Ads

Author:
John E. Calfee
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Looming on the horizon is a political battle over direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs.The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) is up for renewal, as it has been every five years since 1997. First passed in 1992, PDUFA authorizes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to collect fees from pharmaceutical companies submitting new drugs for approval, as well as a separate annual fee for each prescription drug on the market. (Before PDUFA, taxpayers alone funded FDA product reviews.) Because user fees cover most salaries of FDA drug regulators, the pharmaceutical industry, Congressional leaders, and the FDA itself all support renewal. But this time around, Congress is expected to tack on provisions dealing with drug safety and other matters, especially DTCA.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, Government, and Markets

897. Building on the Past, Imagining the Future: Competency Based Growth Strategies in a Global Digital Age

Author:
John Zysman, Dan Breznitz, Niels Christian Nielsen, and Derek Wong
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:
The policy objective for governments is classic and enduring: sustain the growth of employment and productivity to assure expanding real incomes of the citizens. Success requires that “under free and fair market conditions, the community (firms and populace) can produce goods and services that meet the test of international markets while simultaneously expanding the real income of its citizens.” Yet, the logic of competition and value creation in global markets has evolved. Consequently, old strategies of simply supporting the competitiveness of particular national flag firms or chasing smokestacks are clearly obsolete, but merely investing in R or education is not sufficient, and doing nothing is a formula for decline. Regions have to conceive new strategies to find distinctive advantages to support employment and productive activity. Those strategies will need to target competencies, not particular firms or specific sectors. We argue, first, that basic shifts in global markets have altered for firms the logic of value creation and the character of competition. Second, we contend that this changed value logic also alters the policy choices and growth strategies for places, be they regions or nations or simply communities. The focus of and foundation for policy analysis must be the domains of competency that underpin diverse activities of firms and are central to competitive advantage in sectors. Finally, we argue that there are no magic strategy bullets, but rather an array of options and choices. Successful strategies will emerge by building on the past while imagining the future.
Topic:
Development, Government, Markets, and Political Economy

898. The Significance of Transport Costs in Africa

Author:
Wim Naudé and Marianne Matthee
Publication Date:
08-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The success of Africa's exports, as well as its spatial development, depends on lowering transport costs. In this Policy Brief, we address a number of pertinent questions on transport costs in Africa, such as 'what are transport costs?', 'do transport costs matter for trade?', 'how important are transport costs in practice?', and 'why are Africa's transport costs so high?' We present a case study of the firm location decisions of exporters in South Africa to illustrate the significance in particular of domestic transport costs for manufactured exports. The message from this Policy Brief is that Africa's international transport costs are significantly higher than that of other regions, and its domestic transport costs could be just as significant. Moreover we show how domestic transport costs influence the location, the quantity, and the diversity of manufactured exports. Various policy options to reduce transport costs in Africa are discussed.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
Africa

899. The Emergence of a New 'Socialist' Market Labour Regime in China

Author:
Gunter Schucher and Jutta Hebel
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
China's transition to a market economy has been a process of basic institutional changes and institution building. The institutional change from a socialist labour regime (SLR) as one of the backbones upholding the traditional leninist system to a new 'socialist' market labour regime (SMLR) became particularly important for the success of economic and political reforms. This analysis is based on the analytical framework of regimes and makes use of the idea of path dependence. An ensemble of institutions, mutually interconnected and influencing each other, forms the regime and shapes its trajectory. Six institutions are identified to constitute the employment regime: (1) the system of social control, (2) the production system, (3) the system of industrial relations, (4) the welfare system, (5) the family order, and (6) the educational system. The SMLR is still characterised by its socialist past and differs from other varieties of transformation labour regimes and bears little resemblance to labour regimes in Western market economies.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Markets
Political Geography:
China and Asia

900. Economic Growth and Poverty: Does Formalisation of Informal Enterprises Matter?

Author:
Robert Kappel and Esther Ishengoma
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
The informal sector (IS) plays a significant role in developing countries viz. the provision of employment, income and supplying ignored markets. However, working and employment conditions within the sector are still poor. Its expansion and changing structures have thus drawn the attention of scholars and international policy makers to the factors hindering its formalisation. Among the factors addressed are the high costs of formalisation and the lack of incentives for operating in the formal sector. A variety of approaches have been adopted by different stakeholders to overcome these factors. This paper assesses these approaches along with the factors related to informality-formality trade-off and the issue of formalisation as a solution for firms' growth. By focussing on the problems faced by informal enterprises and the literature which addresses the options for accelerating the formalisation of informal enterprises, the paper will briefly summarise the weaknesses of these approaches.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Politics, and Poverty