Number of results to display per page
Search Results
382. Canada's Fiscal Reforms
- Author:
- Chris Edwards
- Publication Date:
- 04-2013
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Cato Journal
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Two decades ago Canada suffered a deep recession and teetered on the brink of a debt crisis caused by rising government spending. The Wall Street Journal said that growing debt was making Canada an "honorary member of the third world" with the "northern peso" as its currency. However, Canada reversed course and cut government spending, balanced its budget, and enacted pro-market reforms. It reduced trade barriers, privatized businesses, and slashed its corporate tax rate. The economy boomed, unemployment plunged, and the formerly weak Canadian dollar soared to reach parity with the U.S. dollar. The Canadian reforms were hugely successful. Today, the United States is in as bad or worse fiscal shape than Canada was in. U.S. leaders need to make major fiscal and economic reforms, and they can learn many lessons from Canadian efforts to restrain government and create a more competitive economy.
- Topic:
- Reform
- Political Geography:
- United States and Canada
383. Curbing Campaign Cash: Henry Ford, Truman Newberry, and the Politics of Progressive Reform
- Author:
- John Samples
- Publication Date:
- 04-2013
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Cato Journal
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- No one has yet written a detailed history of campaign finance regulation, even limited to the United States. In 1988, Robert E. Mutch published Campaigns, Congress, and Courts: The Making of Federal Campaign Finance Law. He then embarked on research seeking to fill out that story in the late 19th century. My own The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform combines public choice analysis with political theory in a way that historians might not recognize. Ray La Raja's excellent Small Change: Money, Political Parties, and Campaign Finance Reform Examines a larger historical tableau from a political science perspective. Paula Baker is apparently at work on a broader history of campaign finance and its regulation. This work began as a case study in that project and grew into a book. I look forward to the broader history, but I am happy to have this work.
- Topic:
- Reform
- Political Geography:
- Europe
384. Cuba After Communism
- Author:
- Julia E. Sweig and Michael J. Bustamante
- Publication Date:
- 07-2013
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Foreign Affairs
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Cuba has entered a new era of economic reform that defies easy comparison to post-Communist transitions elsewhere. Washington should take the initiative and establish a new diplomatic and economic modus vivendi with Havana.
- Topic:
- Economics and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Washington and Cuba
385. Virtuality, Perception and Reality in Myanmar's Democratic Reform
- Author:
- Victoria Christensen
- Publication Date:
- 08-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- Since the summer of 2011, the country of Myanmar has been experiencing rapid democratic reform. Headlines lauding these positive changes have become common-place in the international media. However, experts and academics who have been involved in the decade-long campaign to bring peace and democracy to Myanmar remain divided over how sincere these changes are. Some accuse the Government of carrying out “window-dressing” reforms to please the Western governments and enable the lifting of sanctions. They argue that the Government has a vested interest in maintaining the reins of power and that there is no incentive to make true democratic reforms. During a speech in Oslo in June 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmarese Pro-democracy leader described the recent reforms as positive but warned against blind faith in the process and pointed out the main challenges that remain unresolved – namely the ethnic issues and the ongoing imprisonment of political prisoners.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Human Rights, Political Economy, Governance, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Geneva, United States, China, Tehran, Korea, and Southeast Asia
386. Launching the third arrow of Abenomics
- Publication Date:
- 06-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxford Economics
- Abstract:
- Shinzo Abe was elected Prime Minister of Japan last December on a programme intended to end two decades of deflation and lost growth in Japan. His regime, dubbed 'Abenomics', consists of three arrows: a monetary stimulus, a fiscal stimulus and structural reform. The first two are well under way. The third has yet to be fired. But following his party's victory in July's Upper House election, Mr Abe has all the backing he will need – or ever get – to forcefully launch the third arrow of Abenomics. This scenario alert examines the potential upsides for the Japanese economy if Abenomics succeeds. Although the economy will not return to the 4%+ growth rates seen in the 1980s, it could secure growth in the 2-3% range. This would be a major improvement on its dismal performance of less than 1% average real growth a year since 1993.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Monetary Policy, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Japan and Syria
387. Güney Avrupa'da Ekonomik Kriz ve Toplumsal Hareketler
- Author:
- Burak Cop
- Publication Date:
- 02-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Global Political Trends Center
- Abstract:
- The southern European countries are those who have been affected the most by the EU sovereign debt crisis. However, compared with Greece and Spain, Italy and Portugal are in relatively better positions in terms of their debt/GDP rate and unemployment figures. There has been a strong popular reaction against the austerity measures in Greece, a country where leftist parties and trade unions have been traditionally strong. Due to the miserable conditions of the economy, the Greek government has been prevented from taking the publics demands into account. It is important to note that the political situation in Greece is very unstable leading to the potential relaxing of the austerity measures. There is no such instability in Spain and Portugal, making the probability of the relaxation of austerity measures unlikely, especially in Spain. Italy has the same potential for political instability as does Greece, and given that it is a country with relatively better conditions, in comparison with the others, some relaxation of the austerity measures may be expected if the centre-left coalition comes to power.
- Topic:
- Debt, Economics, Global Recession, Financial Crisis, Governance, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Greece, and Spain
388. Money for Structural Reforms in the Eurozone:making sense of contractual Arrangements
- Author:
- Xavier Vanden Bosch
- Publication Date:
- 05-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- Both the Commission's proposal for a 'Competitiveness and Convergence Instrument' and the 'contractual arrangement' presented by President Van Rompuy share a common concept: associating EU money with national structural reforms under a binding arrangement.
- Topic:
- Economics, Markets, Regional Cooperation, Labor Issues, Monetary Policy, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Europe
389. Individual Freedoms in Turkey
- Author:
- Marc Pierini
- Publication Date:
- 09-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has witnessed economic success and launched major reforms, in particular writing a new constitution, negotiating with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, passing four judicial reform packages, and installing an ombudsman. In sharp contrast, the AKP's exclusive reliance on its election victories for legitimacy and increasingly authoritarian practices in the fields of freedom of cultural expression and coexistence of different lifestyles are at odds with its stated objective of establishing an advanced democracy. Popular discontent with these practices and unending restrictions on media freedom resulted in major protests in May and June 2013.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Ethnic Conflict, Human Rights, Islam, Governance, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia, Turkey, and Kurdistan
390. The EU Beyond the Crisis: The Unavoidable Challenge of Legitimacy
- Author:
- Richard Youngs
- Publication Date:
- 10-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- The euro crisis has mobilized the masses and unleashed vitally important debates about changing the model of European integration, both economically and politically. Yet, as European governments deepen economic cooperation and the crisis appears to have calmed, European Union (EU) member states feel increasingly confident that fundamental political changes are not necessary. This is a dangerously short-sighted calculation. To build a truly democratic EU, citizens need to have a greater voice in decision making.
- Topic:
- Debt, Economics, Markets, Regional Cooperation, Monetary Policy, Financial Crisis, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Europe