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7141. Maintaining Prosperity in an Ageing Society

Publication Date:
05-1998
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Population ageing in OECD countries over the coming decades could threaten future growth in prosperity. Governments should take action now across a broad range of economic, financial and social policies to ensure the foundations for maintaining prosperity in an ageing society. While reforms are already underway, much deeper reforms will be needed to meet the challenges of population ageing.
Topic:
Economics, Government, International Cooperation, and International Trade and Finance

7142. Strategies for EU-Integration

Publication Date:
04-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
The decision to enlarge the European Union to applicant countries in Central and Eastern Europe is by far the most important instrument to secure the process of democratic and market economic reform in the new, post-Cold War Europe. To implement and manage this decision is indeed a challenge to both the existing members of the Union and the applicants. In principle, the roadmap is clear. Together with the acquis communautaire , the 1993 Copenhagen criteria outline the main framework for the way to full membership. The Union has further developed its enlargement strategy in the Agenda 2000 presented in July 1997.
Topic:
Economics and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Maryland

7143. Time to Reinvent APEC

Author:
Edward Lincoln and Kenneth Flamm
Publication Date:
11-1997
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, provides an opportunity for 18 countries with strong trade and investment ties to discuss a wide range of economic issues. APEC has scored two tangible achievements to date: a sweeping but vaguely worded 1994 pledge by its member states to open up to free trade and investment by 2010 and 2020, and a central role in the negotiation of the 1996 Information Technology Agreement (ITA). However, APEC is in danger of fading. When this year's summit begins on November 19, the United States must push for major reform of the APEC bargaining process if the organization is to have any chance of realizing its ambitious trade reform targets.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, Emerging Markets, International Organization, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States and Asia

7144. Cato Institute's 15th Annual Monetary Conference

Author:
Anna J. Schwartz, Stanley Fischer, Jerry L. Jordan, Leland B. Yeager, Francisco Gil-Diaz, Roberto Salinas-Leon, A. James Meigs, Lawrence Kudlow, William A. Niskanen, Michael Prowse, and Bert Ely
Publication Date:
10-1997
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
On Tuesday, October 15, 1997 the Cato Institute continued its 15 year tradition of exploring pressing and timely issues in international fiscal policy with its meeting Money and Capital Flows in a Global Economy. Speakers including Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan; First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Stanley Fisher; and the Bank of Mexico's Vice Governor, Francisco Gil-Díaz, convened to sort through the pressing issues relevant to global capital flows that face the world economy.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, North America, Mexico, and Nagasaki

7145. Mixed Signals

Author:
Peter A. Hall and Robert J. Franzese Jr.
Publication Date:
09-1997
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
Abstract:
Plans for European Monetary Union are based on the conventional postulate that increasing the independence of the central bank can reduce inflation without any real economic effects. However, the theoretical and empirical bases for this claim rest on models of the economy that make unrealistic information assumptions and omit institutional variables other than the central bank. When the signaling problems between the central bank or other actors in the political economy are considered, we find that the character of wage bargaining conditions the impact of central bank independence by rendering the signals between the bank and the bargainers more or less effective. Greater independence can reduce inflation without major employment effects where bargaining is coordinated, but it brings higher levels of unemployment where bargaining is uncoordinated. Thus, currency unions like the EMU may require higher levels of unemployment to control inflation than their proponents envisage; they will have costs as well as benefits, costs which will be distributed unevenly among and within the member nations based on the changes induced in the status of the bank and of wage coordination.
Topic:
Economics, Government, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe

7146. Sankin Kotai: Institutionalized Trust as the Foundation for Economic Development in the Tokugawa Era

Author:
Jennifer Amyx
Publication Date:
06-1997
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
This article focuses on the sankin kotai, or alternate attendance, system instituted in Japan during the Tokugawa period. Most traditional accounts of the sankin kotai system–which included an important hostage element–portray it as a product of Tokugawa statecraft devised primarily for the coercion and exploitation of daimyo, or territorial lords, and control over a feudal order. In addition, these accounts tend to take the distinctive stability of this era for granted. Given the chaos and bloodshed of the "warring states" period which preceded it, however, the phenomenon of 267 years of peace deserves a stronger explanation.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Japan, Israel, and East Asia

7147. Persistent Poverty in Developing Countries: Determining the Causes and Closing the Gaps

Author:
Moeen Qureshi, Meghan O'Sullivan, Michael Walton, Carol Graham, Moises Naim, Jacques Attali, and Nancy Bearg Dyke
Publication Date:
12-1997
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
As we start the final countdown to the new century, about one fourth of the world's population—1.3 billion people—live in absolute poverty, while almost another third are very poor by every measure. The blight of poverty thus continues to challenge the international community. Despite globalization, expanding markets, years of anti–poverty efforts and the hopes kindled in the embers of the Cold War, the number of the poor in the world has risen and continues to rise with population growth. The manifestations of extreme poverty and the growing gap between rich and poor, both within and between countries, pose an undeniable threat to the prospects for peace and security and raise concerns about inequity. Given the continued trend toward global interconnectedness, finding solutions to persistent poverty has assumed an unprecedented urgency. However, this pressing international issue is barely visible on the agendas of the industrialized nations, whose interests are affected and whose attention and resources will continue to be indispensable in the fight against poverty. To be sure, there has been progress in poverty reduction, particularly in the last decade as globalization, spreading capitalism and markets, and technological advancement have combined to reduce the percentage of people living in poverty and to create new middle classes. Infant mortality has been cut in half; life expectancy, on average, has increased by a decade. But recent developments in East Asia are a reminder that, even where development and poverty reduction have occurred, the possibility for reversal exists. And the persistently huge numbers of poor and pockets of extreme poverty testify to the unevenness of globalization and the need for new strategies and reinvigorated attention to the problem of poverty. The Aspen Institute International Peace and Security Program convened the conference on “Persistent Poverty in Developing Countries: Determining the Causes and Closing the Gaps” December 14, 1997, to discuss the current trends that affect poverty and suggest ideas for the most effective strategies for poverty eradication in the 21st century. Meeting in Broadway, England, the 24 experienced and highly respected participants from all regions of the world represented diverse professional and cultural perspectives that enriched the discussion.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, Globalization, International Political Economy, and Third World
Political Geography:
United States

7148. Powering Asia: Is Gas the Answer?

Author:
John A. Riggs
Publication Date:
11-1997
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
The 14th Aspen PacRim Energy Workshop directed attention to continued strong prospects for growth in electric demand, and thus increased need for major additions to generation capacity. In particular, the meeting focused on the potential role of natural gas/LNG in the fuel mix for new generation capacity in the region. This Moderator's summary represents my views only in attempting to capture key points of the discussion; any errors or distortions are mine alone.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
Asia

7149. Global Advance of Electronic Commerce

Author:
David Bollier and Charles M. Firestone
Publication Date:
08-1997
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
As use of the Internet has grown by leaps and bounds, it is clear that electronic commerce will proliferate rapidly in the years ahead. The number of Internet domains in the United States is more than 1.3 million. Most major companies now have Web sites, if only to market themselves, and many others are exploiting intranets to improve internal operations. As many as 163 million personal computers worldwide will have access to the Internet by the year 2000. As television and telephony migrate onto the Internet, wireless communication explodes, and countless other new applications attract users, one of the biggest challenges is understanding the economic and social logic driving change.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, International Political Economy, Science and Technology, and Sovereignty
Political Geography:
United States

7150. Fast Track to Where? The Future of Free Trade

Author:
Pat Choate and Stuart Eizenstat
Publication Date:
09-1997
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
September 29, 1997 Dr. LESLIE GELB: Good evening. Welcome to another in a series of Council on Foreign Relations great debates, which have been put together, advised, supported by a group of folks that I'd like to mention because they've worked with us so hard over the last couple of years doing these great debate programs, trying to bring more of the issues to you in the debating format and doing these policy impact hearings, these old-style congressional hearings where we try to prepare very carefully, to lay out a complicated set of facts and some policy alternatives.
Topic:
Economics and Politics
Political Geography:
United States