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Begin New Search Publishing Institution American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research Publication Year within 25 Years

241. 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

242. 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

243. The Wealth of Modern Nations

Author:
John H. Makin
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Top economic policymakers from China and the United States met in Beijing in mid-December 2006 for the first round of what has been called the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED). There is a lot more at stake than the level of China's currency when the world's premier economic sprinter—China—meets with the world's premier economic long-distance runner—America. The fundamental issue at hand is the creation and preservation of wealth of two nations, each of which has much to teach the other. The right outcome from the dialogue would provide a substantial boost to the global economy in coming years, while the wrong outcome would threaten the continuation of global prosperity.
Topic:
International Relations and Economics
Political Geography:
United States, China, Beijing, and Asia

244. The Soviet Collapse: Grain and Oil

Author:
Yegor Gaidar
Publication Date:
04-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
In the summer of 2002, after the Russian government introduced the flat income tax, completed fiscal reforms, created the Stabilization Fund, and introduced land reform in Russia, I had a premonition that the window of opportunity for further reforms would be closing for a number of years. I was correct in my prediction.
Topic:
Economics, Energy Policy, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Asia, and Soviet Union

245. Foreign Aid

Author:
Kevin A. Hassett
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The financial-aid system for college students is in a state of disarray. Federal aid and programs administered through the tax code are bureaucratic and include unfair provisions. Congress should stop using programs with a track record of little success and start using those that will give students the opportunities—and financial aid—they deserve.
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, Education, and Government

246. 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

247. Iraq in Books, Part II

Author:
Michael Rubin
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The following article is the second of two installments by Michael Rubin in AEI's On the Issues series. The two articles originally appeared as a review essay in the Spring 2007 edition of Middle Eastern Quarterly.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, and Education
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East

248. Iraq in Books, Part I

Author:
Michael Rubin
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The following article is the first of two installments by Michael Rubin in AEI's On the Issues series. The two articles originally appeared as a review essay in the Spring 2007 edition of Middle Eastern Quarterly.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, and Education
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East

249. Education, Intelligence, and America's Future

Author:
Charles Murray
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
In January, W. H. Brady Scholar Charles Murray stepped back from current education debates about reauthorization of the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act and education funding in the president's budget to ask more fundamental questions about the goals that should shape American education in the future. This On the Issues is adapted from essays published in the Wall Street Journal on January 16, 17, and 18, 2007.
Topic:
Development, Education, and Government
Political Geography:
United States and America

250. Scenes from the Climate Inquisition

Author:
Kenneth P. Green and Steven F. Hayward
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
On February 2, an AEI research project on climate-change policy that we have been organizing was the target of a journalistic hit piece in Britain's largest left-wing newspaper, the Guardian. The article's allegation—that we tried to bribe scientists to criticize the work of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—is easy to refute. More troubling than the article is the growing worldwide effort to silence anyone with doubts about the catastrophic warming scenario that Al Gore and other climate extremists are putting forth.
Topic:
International Relations, Environment, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Britain and United States