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42. Korea, Colombia, Panama: Pending Trade Accords Offer Economic and Strategic Gains for the United States
- Author:
- Mauricio Cá¡rdenas and Joshua Meltzer
- Publication Date:
- 07-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- A trio of trade agreements now pending before Congress would benefit the United States both economically and strategically. Carefully developed accords with South Korea, Colombia and Panama will boost U.S. exports significantly, especially in the key automotive, agricultural and commercial services sectors. Among the other benefits are: increased U.S. competitiveness enhancement of U.S. diplomatic and economic postures in East Asia and Latin America new investment opportunities better enforcement of labor regulation and improved transparency in these trading partners' regulatory systems.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, and Labor Issues
- Political Geography:
- Kenya, United States, Israel, Colombia, and Latin America
43. Decoupling Trade from Politics: The EU and Region-Building in the Andes
- Author:
- Miguel Haubrich Seco
- Publication Date:
- 07-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- In its external relations, the EU advances regional cooperation as a successful means of achieving peace and prosperity. In doing so, the EU promotes its own model as the most successful case of regional integration. A wide-reaching set of instruments, spanning from trade to political dialogue and aid, is used to promote regional cooperation and integration. Noneheless, regional organisations supported by the EU are far from accomplishing their set objectives. Using as a test case the Andean Community, the oldest Latin American regional organisation and a prominent case of EU support for regional integration, this paper examines the reasons behind the EU's lack of impact in promoting regional integration. Stemming from this analysis, the paper proposes a recalibration of EU policy by decoupling trade relations from political engagement and by increasing support for physical and visible integration as opposed to formal institutions detached from the perceived needs of the public.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Latin America
44. The Impact of Global Crises, Trade Finance and Aid on Export Flows: A Developing Country Perspective
- Author:
- Jose Brambila-Macias, Isabella Massa, and Matthew J. Salois
- Publication Date:
- 11-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- In this paper, we use a mixed-effects trade gravity model on a sample of 83 developing countries over the period 1990-2007 to assess the impact of trade finance and foreign aid on bilateral export flows. In addition to traditional variables, we also include a banking crises variable and a global economic downturns variable among the regressors. Differences across developing regions are taken into account. Our results suggest that: (i) trade finance has a positive and significant impact on bilateral export flows in all developing regions except Latin America; (ii) foreign aid matters in all regions; (iii) global economic downturns exert a negative and significant impact on export flows in all developing countries, and especially in Latin American and Sub-Saharan African economies; (iv) banking crises appear to have no significant impact in most developing regions.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Foreign Aid, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Latin America
45. Brazil and the United States: The Need for Strategic Engagement
- Author:
- Luigi R. Einaudi
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- Washington's identification of Brazil with Latin America and the Third World hampers its appreciation of Brazil's power and importance to the United States. It is true that Brazil is geographically part of Latin America, and it is also true that Brazil, a founder of the Group of 77, was, with India, among the original leaders of the “Third World.” But Brazil is Brazil—as large and every bit as unique as the United States or China. Brazil, for many years the seat of the Portuguese empire, is the world's largest Portuguese-speaking country. It never had the large settled Amerindian populations that became a repressed underclass in the Andes and Mesoamerica; Brazilians today are as diverse as their North American cousins but growing faster.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- United States, Brazil, and Latin America
46. U.S.-Mexico Homeland Defense: A Compatible Interface
- Author:
- Victor E. Renuart, Jr. and Biff Baker
- Publication Date:
- 02-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- The United States and Mexico share a common history shaped by military incursions during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The bond between the American and Mexican people, however, has continued to grow closer over time despite occasional negative rhetoric from politicians in Washington, DC, and Mexico City. At local and state levels, relations solidified through the closely knit fabric of our border towns, intermarriage between families on each side of the border, and the development of infrastructure (to include water, wastewater, and gas and electricity utilities) that serves communities to the north and south. At the national level, our relationship became closer due to economic growth resulting from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which now accounts for almost $1 billion (U.S. dollars) in trade per day between the two countries.
- Topic:
- Security, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- United States, America, Washington, Latin America, North America, and Mexico
47. The International Financial Crisis: Eight Lessons for and from Latin America
- Author:
- Liliana Rojas-Suarez
- Publication Date:
- 01-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- The international financial crisis of 2008–09 exposed the strengths and weaknesses of the current paradigm of development in Latin America, a paradigm based on liberalized capital accounts and significantly improved macroeconomic conditions. This paper presents lessons derived from the crisis, not only for the region itself, but also for other developing countries that might seek economic growth in the context of greater integration to the international capital markets. Some of the lessons are not new but have been reinforced by the crisis, such as Latin America's imperative need for export diversification (not only in products but in partners). Other lessons break with longstanding myths about the region, such as its inability to undertake counter-cyclical policies—at least on the monetary side. Yet other lessons reflect new developments in the current growth paradigm, such as a renewed assessment of (1) the relative roles of foreign and domestic banks in shielding the financial system against external shocks and (2) the potential costs of adopting blanket international financial regulations that do not account for a country's degree of development. Taken together, the lessons in this paper bring a new sense of optimism for growth in Latin America.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Latin America
48. ¿Es el crecimiento económico suficiente para apoyar la democracia? Lecciones del caso chileno
- Author:
- Pedro Aravena Lavin
- Publication Date:
- 08-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Global and Area Studies
- Abstract:
- This article analyzes the support for democracy in Chile from an economic, institutional and political perspective. It uses data from Latinobarómetro for the period 1996–2007 and a statistical method of estimation, “ordered logit,” in order to answer the question of why support for Chilean democracy is not connected with economic growth. The analysis generates three key results of interest. First, regardless of the fact that GDP per capita does not have any effect on the level of support for democracy, it does affect individuals' perceptions of economic performance, since the variable “economic situation” is one of the most explanatory variable of the model. Second, the analysis demonstrates the importance of the degree of confidence in the Congress at the moment that perceptions of democracy are evaluated. Third, “political ideology” is the most useful variable in explaining support for democracy, a fact which suggests that the adherents of the right wing do not support the democratic system. This is the most reliable reason for the moderate level of support for democracy in Chile.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Latin America and Chile
49. On the Economics of Regional Powers: Comparing China, India, Brazil, and South Africa
- Author:
- Robert Kappel
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Global and Area Studies
- Abstract:
- As the conception of and debates on regional powers have been led by political science, this paper aims to contribute to the discussion from an economics perspective. Based on the discussion of different concepts of economic power—such as those of Schumpeter, Perroux, Predöhl, or Kindleberger—concepts of technological leadership, and the global value chain approaches, the paper develops a research framework for the economics of regional powers. This framework is then tested using descriptive statistics as well as regressions analysis, with a focus on the four regional powers Brazil, China, India, and South Africa. As economic power is relational, the relationship of regional powers to other nations in the region is analyzed.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Africa, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, and Latin America
50. Mining for facts: PacRim Cayman LLC v. El Salvador
- Author:
- Alexandre de Gramont
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- In his recent article, “Thinking twice about a gold rush: Pacific Rim v. El Salvador” (Columbia FDI Perspectives, No. 23, May 24, 2010), Professor Gus Van Harten uses the PacRim v. El Salvador arbitration, pending at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), as the basis for asserting a number of criticisms against the overall system of arbitration under investment treaties.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Latin America