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1182. From Activism to Artivism: New Forms of Youth Activism in the Aftermath of 20 February Movement.
- Author:
- Mohamed El Hachimi
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Abstract:
- Like many countries of the MENA region, Morocco has witnessed one of the most vigorous and dynamic youth protest in its modern history during the so-called Arab uprisings. To face this unprecedented form of youth political action, the strategy of the State consisted in containing youth protest by a twofold policy: conducting constitutional reform and trying to de-legitimize the radicals. The Policy Brief analyses what impact this strategy may have had on youth activism in Morocco. It focuses on the way the Moroccan youth movement(s) is adapting to the response of the regime. In this regard, it shows that while the youth movement(s) did not change its strategic objective (parliamentary monarchy) it is progressively changing the means to achieve it.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Politics, Youth Culture, Popular Revolt, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and North Africa
1183. Does the Level of Public Debt Matter?
- Author:
- Susan Schadler
- Publication Date:
- 04-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Research on links between the level of a country’s public debt and its broader economic developments has been heatedly debated in the economic literature. Two strands of the research stand out — one linking the level of debt to a country’s GDP growth rate and the other examining the debt level as an EWI of economic crises. As a broad generalization, research at the moment favors the view that high levels of debt are not a cause, in and of themselves, of low growth nor are they particularly good predictors of impending economic or even debt crises. In principle, the empirical findings have obvious implications for policy makers confronting the question of how to fashion policies (and fiscal policy in particular) when a country has a high debt burden. The IMF, as both a contributor to the literature and an adviser concerned with preventing or dealing with debt crises, has a particularly important stake in navigating the findings. Whether in its surveillance (routine annual advice to all member countries) or the construction of its lending programs to support countries in or near crisis, the IMF must answer the question “how much does the level of debt matter?” Despite the empirical research that casts doubt on the importance of debt, the level of debt figures prominently in the algebra of debt sustainability and the IMF’s real world policy advice. This policy brief examines the nexus of the relatively strong conclusions coming from the academic research and the IMF’s policy advice. It addresses the following question: given that the broad conclusion from the academic literature is that the level of debt itself is not systematically bad for growth or stability, why does the debt level seem to figure rather prominently in the IMF’s policy advice and conditionality?
- Topic:
- Debt, Development, Economics, International Monetary Fund, Financial Crisis, GDP, and Global Markets
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
1184. Developing the Blue Economy in Caribbean and Other Small States
- Author:
- Cyrus Rustomjee
- Publication Date:
- 03-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- The world’s oceans are crucial to human life. They cover 71 percent of the earth’s surface and contain 97 percent of the earth’s water (Oceanic Institute 2016); provide vital ecosystem services; serve as a growing source of renewable energy and make crucial contributions to global food production and food security, through the provision of food, minerals and nutrients. Fish provide 4.3 billion people with about 15 percent of their intake of animal protein (UN Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] 2014b). Over 3.1 billion people live within 100 km of the ocean or sea in about 150 coastal and island nations (FAO 2014a), and global ocean economic activity is estimated to be US$3–5 trillion (FAO 2014b). Oceans and seas serve as waterways for global trade, with more than 90 percent of global trade carried by sea (International Maritime Organization 2012). Some 880 million people depend on the fisheries and aquaculture sector for their livelihoods (ibid.). Recognition of the services and resources provided by oceans has accelerated in recent years, spurred by the opportunities and challenges posed by a rapidly growing global population, increasing global demand for food and energy, advances in technology, and changes in patterns of global trade and human consumption. Developed countries have expanded fisheries, tourism and other oceanic and maritime industries; extended mineral exploration and extraction; and scaled up ocean-related scientific, technological and industrial research. Using increased knowledge of marine biodiversity, they have developed new value chains in pharmaceuticals, health care and aquaculture; and many have established integrated national ocean economy strategies, bringing together the regulatory, environmental, spatial, policy, institutional, industrial and other factors influencing their ability to exploit maritime resources.
- Topic:
- Environment, Political Economy, Maritime Commerce, Biosecurity, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- Caribbean and Global Focus
1185. Have Macroeconomic Rules of the Game Changed? Some Clues from the Phillips Curve
- Author:
- Samuel Howorth, Domenico Lombardi, and Pierre Siklos
- Publication Date:
- 02-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Students of macroeconomics will have heard about the central role played by the so-called Phillips curve in both theoretical and empirical analyses for almost 70 years. In 1958, A. W. Phillips reported an inverse relationship between changes in wages and the unemployment rate (Phillips 1958). The progeny of his thinking led to a revolution both in policy making and in the development of theoretical links between the real and nominal macroeconomic variables. Names such as Samuelson, Solow, Phelps, Friedman, Lucas and Sargent became associated with refinements and enhancements of the core finding reported by Phillips. Indeed, all of these economists went on to become Nobel laureates in economics, although not exclusively because of their contributions to the analysis of what has since been called the Phillips curve. Indeed, the concept is so influential that it spawned several different versions of the trade-off used to guide policy makers as a menu for the choices they face when deciding whether the gains from lower inflation are offset by the economic costs of higher unemployment. Initially, expectations of individuals or firms were ignored. This briefly gave policy makers the impression that they could simply select an inflation-unemployment combination and implement the necessary policy mix to achieve the desired outcome. Once a role for expectations was incorporated, debate centred on how forward-looking individuals are. The more forward-looking, the less likely it was that policy makers would be able to “exploit” the trade-off because, unless wages rose in purchasing-power terms, the gains from lower unemployment would, at best, be temporary once workers realized that the higher inflation, at unchanged wages, actually drives real wages down. Indeed, the pendulum swung all the way to the conclusion — reached by the 1970s and early 1980s — that the Phillips curve was illusory and there was no trade-off policy makers could exploit.
- Topic:
- Economics, Human Welfare, International Political Economy, Labor Issues, and Global Markets
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
1186. Growth, Innovation and COP 21: The Case for New Investment In Innovation Infrastructure
- Author:
- Céline Bak
- Publication Date:
- 03-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- On the way to Washington, DC, for a September 2015 visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping stopped in Seattle, WA, to sign an agreement aimed at combatting climate change by increasing the business ties between Chinese and US clean technology companies (South China News 2015). Five US states signed the agreement on commerce between China and clean-tech businesses from California, Iowa, Michigan, Oregon and Washington. On the same day, Bill Gates’s energy company, TerraPower, signed an agreement with the China National Nuclear Corporation for joint cooperation on next-generation renewable and fusion nuclear power. In early 2015, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund invested in General Fusion, a Canadian company based in Vancouver, to advance its energy innovation.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Science and Technology, Treaties and Agreements, and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- China
1187. Uncovering the Implications of the Paris Agreement: Climate Change as a Catalyst for Transformative Sustainability in Cities
- Author:
- Sarah Birch
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Leaders, negotiators and scientists returned home from the recent United Nations climate change negotiations in Paris with a new mandate: to explore pathways to a world that warms no more than 1.5°C; to finance climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries at a meaningful pace and scale; and, ultimately, to create real policy tools that can deliver prosperity that is not so fundamentally tied to burning fossil carbon. The Paris Agreement is historic in that it is universal (both industrialized and less-developed nations have agreed to the text), a heavy focus is placed on transparency and reporting of progress, and opportunities to periodically reevaluate and ratchet up ambition are built into the process. The ultimate power of this agreement, however, is not in its technicalities and legal implications. Rather, the Paris Agreement represents the manifestation of collective ambition, creating and demonstrating shared norms around the reality of climate change and the responsibility to act. This international process of negotiation and commitment is triggering a wave of conversations about how to reach these ambitious greenhouse gas reduction and adaptation targets. This will require a rapid and fundamental transformation of all sectors, including the design of urban spaces and the ways in which we produce and consume energy.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Treaties and Agreements, United Nations, and Regulation
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
1188. Assessing the Governance Practices of Sustainability Reporting
- Author:
- Jason Thistlewaite and Melissa Menzies
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- To promote climate change risk mitigation in financial markets, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) recently proposed the creation of a Climate Disclosure Task Force, coordinated through the G20, to develop standards for companies to disclose their exposure to climate change risks. With more than 400 existing disclosure schemes that employ a range of different standards to measure climate change risks and corporate sustainability, this task will be challenging. But the diversity of schemes also represents an opportunity to assess which practices are effective at improving corporate accountability for sustainability performance, as well as efficient at producing comparable reports that do not unfairly burden reporting organizations. This brief identifies the key categories of governance practices that must be addressed, how these divergent practices challenge end-users, and how the establishment of criteria that define effective and efficient reporting is a critical first step for the FSB and its Climate Disclosure Task Force.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Resources, Governance, G20, Regulation, and Financial Markets
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
1189. Australia’s Asylum and Migration Policy: Lessons to Apply to the European Refugee Crisis
- Author:
- Damian Wnukowski
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Australia has a long history of immigration, including accepting refugees. Over the years, it has developed mechanisms and instruments that aim not only to help people in need but also to provide for the country’s stability and prosperity. However, in recent years some elements of Australia’s refugee policy, especially its approach towards the so-called boat people, have come under fire. Nevertheless, the solutions implemented by Australia should be part of the EU’s efforts to find ones useful for dealing with its current migration crisis.
- Topic:
- Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, Refugee Issues, Immigration, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Australia
1190. EU Pressure Insufficient to Gain U.S. Visa Waiver for Poles
- Author:
- Marek Wasinski
- Publication Date:
- 04-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- In a communication of 12 April, the European Commission assessed the potential political and economic consequences of suspending visa exemption for U.S. citizens. Lacking pressure from individual EU Member States, the Commission discouraged such a move and gave the EU Council and European Parliament three months to take an official position. It seems almost certain that the measure of applying pressure on a non-EU country will not be used to help Poland and four other Member States obtain visa-free travel to the United States or other countries with a similar restriction. However, if current trends continue, Poland should join the U.S. Visa Waiver Programme in five years.
- Topic:
- Economics, Politics, European Union, and Citizenship
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe