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362. Plunder! How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives, and Bankrupting the Nation
- Author:
- Chris Edwards
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Cato Journal
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that there are more union members in the public sector than in the private sector in the United States. Thirty-nine percent of state and local government workers are members of unions, compared to just 7 percent of private sector workers. What problems are caused by the high level of public sector unionism?
- Topic:
- Monetary Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
363. Renminbi Undervaluation, China's Surplus, and the US Trade Deficit
- Author:
- William R. Cline
- Publication Date:
- 08-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)
- Abstract:
- On June 21, 2010, in the run-up to the G-20 meeting in Toronto, China announced that it would shift to a more flexible exchange rate policy. From mid-June to July 30 the yuan rose 0.8 percent against the dollar. In contrast, the currency had remained fixed (at about 6.83 yuan to the dollar) from September 2008 to early June 2010. Pressure not only from the United States and the European Union but also from Russia, Brazil, and India as well as the IMF seems likely to have played a role in China's decision, although concerns about domestic inflation may also have been a factor.
- Topic:
- Economics and Monetary Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States and China
364. The response to the global crisis and investment protection: evidence
- Author:
- Kathryn Gordon and Joachim Pohl
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- In March 2009, Columbia FDI Perspectives carried an early analysis of investment policies in response to the financial crisis that began in early 2008. At that time, the authors, Anne van Aaken and Jürgen Kuntz, found “clear evidence of widespread discrimination directed at foreign actors” in the emergency response to the crisis.
- Topic:
- Economics, Global Recession, Monetary Policy, Foreign Direct Investment, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Colombia
365. Foreign direct investment and U.S. national security: CFIUS under the Obama Administration
- Author:
- Mark E. Plotkin and David N. Fagan
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- There was considerable public scrutiny of the Obama Administration's performance in its inaugural year, but comparatively little focus on one of the Administration's key processes governing the flow of investment into the United States — namely, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Yet, this is a frequent question we receive from foreign investors -- has the change in the administration affected CFIUS?
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Monetary Policy, Foreign Direct Investment, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States
366. Inward FDI in Peru and its policy context
- Author:
- Benjamin Chavez and Jaime Dupuy
- Publication Date:
- 08-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- Peru has shifted from being a small FDI player in the Latin America and Caribbean region in the 1990s to being the sixth largest FDI host country in 2008. With inflows of US$ 6.9 and US$ 4.8 billions in 2008 and 2009, respectively, Peru has managed to contain the impact of the financial crisis on inward FDI (IFDI). The main determinants of the improved FDI performance were: a stable economic and FDI policy since 1992;) vast natural resources; strong gross domestic product (GDP) and market growth; and an export-oriented economy, especially during the past decade. In recent years, Peru has become one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America and a diversified commercial hub for IFDI in the region.
- Topic:
- Economics, Monetary Policy, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Latin America, Caribbean, and Peru
367. Pakistan\'s Roller-Coaster Economy: Tax Evasion Stifles Growth
- Author:
- S. Akbar Zaidi
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Over the last sixty years, Pakistan\'s economy has seen severe ups and downs. Once considered a model for other developing nations, Pakistan has been unable to sustain solid growth. Furthermore, a third of its population now lives below the poverty line, and its literacy rate is abysmally low. Pakistan\'s economic instability stems in large part from low government revenue resulting from the elite\'s use of tax evasions, loopholes, and exemptions. Fewer than three million of Pakistan\'s 175 million citizens pay any income taxes, and the country\'s tax-to-GDP ratio is only 9 percent. Tax evasion means fewer resources are available for essential social services. Pakistan spends too much on defense and too little on development: It has spent twice as much on defense during peacetime as it has on education and health combined. The government knows how to increase its revenue through tax reform, but the rich and powerful have resisted such measures for fear of lowering their own incomes. Without sufficient revenue the government will continue to be burdened with an unsustainable debt. It needs to end tax exemptions for the wealthy and develop broader, long-term economic plans for sustain able growth. In the past, the United States and other Western nations have come to Pakistan\'s rescue by paying off debts and funding development initiatives. Pakistan\'s elite has no reason to support reform as long as these bailouts come with no conditions attached.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Monetary Policy
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and United States
368. The Environment and Corporate Governance in Zimbabwe
- Author:
- Hany Besada and arolina Werner
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
- Abstract:
- Formerly one of Africa's most promising economies, Zimbabwe has begun a process of economic reconstruction after decades of political turmoil and economic mismanagement. The advent of a national unity government in February 2009 launched a new but still tentative era of political stability. The government has a daunting political and economic agenda. Top priorities include restoring the rule of law, demonstrating fiscal responsibility, and putting in place macroeconomic and structural reforms to win the confidence of domestic and international investors.
- Topic:
- Economics and Monetary Policy
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Zimbabwe
369. Iran's Subsidies Conundrum
- Author:
- Semira Nikou
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Iran has subsidized petroleum products, basic foodstuffs, medical goods and utilities since 1980, first to manage hardships during the eight-year war with Iraq, and then to prevent political and economic challenges after the war. Since the 1990s, three presidents have tried to cut back subsidies that are now estimated to cost Iran between $70 billion and $100 billion annually. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won parliamentary approval for a controversial plan to phase out subsides by 2015. Under the plan, universal price controls are to be replaced with small cash payments to families and direct support of industries. Some economists are concerned that lifting price controls will trigger dramatic rises in inflation and unemployment. The cutbacks come at a time the government already faces serious economic troubles and tougher international sanctions. For the public, the change is likely to produce the most economic disruption since the revolution. Economic reforms have triggered unrest in the past. If reform succeeds, however, the program could help reduce waste, shrink state outlays and enhance efficiency and productivity.
- Topic:
- Economics, Labor Issues, and Monetary Policy
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Iran, and Middle East
370. Alternatives to the Fed?
- Author:
- Bennett T. McCallum
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Cato Journal
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- I must begin by saying that I have been extremely disappointed— the word “appalled” may be more accurate—by several developments over the last two years involving the Federal Reserve. It was, I believe, appropriate that the Fed would respond with expansionary monetary policy in the face of a major macroeconomic downturn, which it did. But it did not have to do so by means of operations that incorporated major excursions into credit policy, as well as monetary policy, and thereby into the unauthorized exercise of fiscal policy. By engaging in such operations on a very large scale, the Fed's actions are almost certain to have detrimental effects on the Fed's independence—and thereby on its resulting ability to focus attention on what should be its principal objective, namely, price level stability. Furthermore, the Fed has not been moving quickly—if at all—to explain and correct this situation.
- Topic:
- Monetary Policy