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1. U.S. seaport expansion — Dual-language instruction in the U.S. — Capital controls in the region

Author:
Kurt J. Nagle
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Americas Quarterly
Institution:
Council of the Americas
Abstract:
Infrastructure: U.S. Seaport Expansion BY KURT J. NAGLE U.S. seaports are in an enhancement and expansion mode. While the widening of the Panama Canal may serve as the catalyst for some of the anticipated $9.2 billion in annual facilities investment in the foreseeable future, this is only part of the story. Several other factors are propelling this huge investment of private capital into U.S. ports. One is the rebounding domestic economy: the value of U.S. exports has risen 70 percent and imports have increased by 53 percent since the first half of 2009. Another driver is the increasing overseas demand for U.S. exports, particularly among the growing middle class in Latin America and parts of Asia. In fact, in the next decade, total U.S. exports are projected to surpass imports for the first time in a generation. Yet another consideration is that manufacturing operations are returning to North America, a development known as “nearsourcing.” With rising labor costs overseas, a narrowing labor differential at home and long transit times to market, a Michigan-based AlixPartners survey conducted in 2012 found that 9 percent of manufacturing executives have already taken steps to “near-source” their operations, and 33 percent plan to do so within the next three years.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
United States, California, and North America

2. Bridging the Gap in Urban Health and Poverty Research

Author:
Mojgan Sami
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Urban health tends to be perceived as measures ensuring access to fresh food, parks, sidewalks and good air quality. In the last decade, donors such as The California Endowment have initiated place-based plans to “build healthy communities” through participatory action planning. While these endeavors are steps in the right direction, the overall approach to healthy urban development tends to narrowly focus on the physical and built environment, and does not pay adequate attention to the social determinants of health, or what the World Health Organization calls “causes behind the causes” of health (WHO 2008). In part, the challenge lies in the difficulty of understanding the complexity of social reality and the diverse social constructions of health and poverty that exist in multi-cultural cities throughout the world. To control for such complexity, planners tend to favor quantitative, standardized approaches to research whereby they can generalize impacts and solutions to a wider population. However, by overly de-contextualizing urban health research, planners miss the opportunity of obtaining deeper understanding and insight into the age-old problems that have plagued cities from the beginning of the planning profession; namely, inequity and inequality (Hall 2002).
Topic:
Development, Health, Poverty, and Food
Political Geography:
California

3. High-Speed Rail: The Wrong Road for America

Author:
Randal O'Toole
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
In the face of high energy prices and concerns about global warming, environmentalists and planners offer high-speed rail as an environmentally friendly alternative to driving and air travel. California, Florida, the Midwest, and other parts of the country are actively considering specific high-speed rail plans.
Topic:
Development and Environment
Political Geography:
United States, California, and Florida

4. Briefly Noted

Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
This section contains a round-up of recent notable books in the field of international affairs.
Topic:
Development and Human Rights
Political Geography:
California

5. Climate Alarm: Disasters increase as climate change bites

Author:
John Magrath
Publication Date:
11-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Climatic disasters are on the increase as the Earth warms up – in line with scientific observations and computer simulations that model future climate. 2007 has been a year of climatic crises, especially floods, often of an unprecedented nature. They included Africa's worst floods in three decades, unprecedented flooding in Mexico, massive floods in South Asia and heat waves and forest fires in Europe, Australia, and California. By mid November the United Nations had launched 15 'flash appeals', the greatest ever number in one year. All but one were in response to climatic disasters.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, California, and Australia

6. The Third California: The Golden State's New Frontier

Author:
Joel Kotkin and William H. Frey
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
For most Americans, California evokes coastal images, the sunny beaches of south or the spectacular urban vistas of San Francisco Bay. Yet within California itself, the state's focus is shifting increasingly beyond the narrow strip of land between the coast- line and its first line of mountain ranges.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Environment
Political Geography:
United States, America, and California

7. Diversity Spreads Out: Metropolitan Shifts in Hispanic, Asian, and Black Populations Since 2000

Author:
William H. Frey
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The idea of America as an ethnic “melting pot” gained currency at the turn of the 20th century, amid an unprecedented wave of European immigrants to the United States. At the turn of the 21st century, the melting pot ideal persists, but encompasses a more racially and ethnically diverse group of Americans, both native and foreign born. In particular, the higher growth rates of the nation's minority populations versus its white population animate this distinctly American concept.
Topic:
Civil Society, Demographics, Development, and Migration
Political Geography:
New York, Asia, California, Chicago, and Phoenix

8. Taxing Development: The Law and Economics of Traffic Impact Fees

Author:
Edward P. Stringham, Benjamin Powell, and Jack Estill
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
Should developers be charged fees for negatively impacting residents? New development often uses existing (or requires new) infrastructure including roads, sewers, refuse collection, parks, fire, police, and schools. When developers provide this infrastructure to users for “free,” who should pay? Over the past fifty years governments have increasingly charged new development impact fees for imposing costs on communities. California is one of the leaders in the development of impact fees. The modern Pigovian idea is that government can set a fee at the value of the impact to internalize externalities and encourage the economically efficient amount of development. While developers can often provide the necessary infrastructure within their own developments as part of the construction process, additional impacts from new development may spill over into existing communities that necessitate additional capital improvements. Local government can hypothetically charge the development a fee that is equal to this impact, thereby internalizing this externality. If the exact value of the external impact is known and implemented as a fee, this process can encourage the economically efficient amount of development. Despite the increasing popularity of development impact fees, several issues make the government's “economically efficient” solution easier said than done.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Economics, and Education
Political Geography:
California