| Posted March 30, 2007.
American Economy | Globalization | Intellectual Property | Labor & Employment | Science, Technology & Innovation | Trade
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2007 State New Economy Index: Benchmarking Economic Transformation
in the States
Atkinson, Robert D.; Correa, Daniel K.
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Information Technology
and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), February 2007, online
edition, 92p
State-by-state analysis of how state economies are transforming
from an old industrial economic model based on “smokestack chasing”
in which economic development success is measured by the number
of big company relocations rather than in the creation and retention
of high value-added, high-wage jobs. Fulltext
B1/02-07
The Bush Economy
International Economy, Winter 2007, v 21 #1, pp52-55
An interview with Columbia University's professor of
economics Richard H. Clarida, Bush Treasury's former point man
for economic policy, talks on deficits, rate spreads, and inflation
risks. He predicts that the nation's economy will continue to
grow below trend. Fulltext B2/02-07
Business Tax Issues in 2007
Brumbaugh, David L.
Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, No. RL33890,
February 21, 2007, 13p
“In recent years, business tax legislation has tended to focus
on broad, structural issues and economic performance in general.
For example, the 2003 tax cuts for capital gains and dividends
were, in part, an incremental movement towards eliminating the
double-taxation of corporate income that is a structural feature
of the current </a>U.S. business tax system. Also, these
and other business tax cuts -- for example, temporary "bonus"
depreciation -- were designed to provide a fiscal stimulus to
spur an economy that remained sluggish after the 2001 recession.
And in 2004, Congress enacted a set of business tax cuts that
were generally aimed at boosting U.S. competitiveness through
their impact on international trade and investment. Early indications
are that consideration of business tax policy in 2007 may focus
on more narrow, sector-specific issues.” Fulltext
B3/02-07
Recession in 2007?
Makin, John H.
Economic Outlook, April 2007, online edition, 4p
"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...
" In this article John H. Makinb discusses the reasons
for an impending US economic recession. He is a former consultant
to the U.S. Treasury, the Congressional Budget Office, and the
International Monetary Fund, John Makin specializes in international
finance and financial markets (stocks, bonds, and currencies including
the Euro and the U.S. dollar). Fulltext
B4/02-07
Determinants of Business Success: An Examination
of Asian-Owned Businesses in the United States
Robb, Alicia M.; Fairlie, Robert W.,
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Discussion Paper No.
2566, January 2007, 59p
“Using confidential and restricted-access microdata from the U.S.
Census Bureau, we find that Asian-owned businesses are 16.9 percent
less likely to close, 20.6 percent more likely to have profits
of at least $10,000, and 27.2 percent more likely to hire employees
than white-owned businesses in the United States. Asian firms
also have mean annual sales that are roughly 60 percent higher
than the mean sales of white firms. Using regression estimates
and a special non-linear decomposition technique, we explore the
role that class resources, such as financial capital and human
capital, play in contributing to the relative success of Asian
businesses. We find that Asian-owned businesses are more successful
than white-owned businesses for two main reasons – Asian owners
have high levels of human capital and their businesses have substantial
startup capital. Startup capital and education alone explain from
65 percent to the entire gap in business outcomes between Asians
and whites. Using the detailed information on both the owner and
the firm available in the CBO, we estimate the explanatory power
of several additional factors.” Fulltext B5/02-07
Is the World Becoming Immune from America?
International Economy, Winter2007, v 21 #1, pp18-31
Historically, U.S. slowdowns and recessions have led to
global slowdowns and recessions. Is that still true today? The
article presents the opinions of several economists regarding
the extent of the economic influence of the U.S. on world markets
and economic conditions. Fulltext B6/02-07
The Two Faces of Financial Globalization
Finance & Development, March 2007, v44, #1, online edition
This issue of F&D explores different aspects
and offers different points of view of financial globalization—the
phenomenon of rising cross-border financial flows—its macroeconomic
effects and its implications for growth and financial stability:
- Financial Globalization:
Beyond the Blame Game
Kose, M. Ayhan; Prasad, Eswar; Rogoff, Kenneth;
Wei, Shang-Jin
"Financial globalization is often blamed for
the string of damaging economic crises that rocked a number of
emerging market countries in the late 1980s and 1990s. This article
gets beyond the polemics and offer point to provide a framework
for analyzing the growing body of studies about the costs and
benefits of financial globalization." M.
Ayhan Kose is an Economist and Shang-Jin Wei is a Division Chief
in the IMF's Research Department. Eswar Prasad is the Nandlal
P. Tolani Senior Professor of Trade Policy at Cornell University.
Kenneth Rogoff is the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy
and Professor of Economics at Harvard University.
- The Paradox of Capital
Prasad, Eswar; Rajan, Raghuram,
Subramanian, Arvind
"According to standard economic theory, financial capital
should flow from richer to poorer countries in search of unexploited
investment opportunities, improving employment and income in the
poorer countries. But in fact capital has been flowing in the
opposite direction. The authors examine the reasons for this paradox
and look at whether foreign capital really promotes growth in
developing countries." Eswar
Prasad is the Nandlal P. Tolani Senior Professor of Trade Policy
at Cornell University; Raghuram Rajan is the Eric Gleacher Distinguished
Service Professor at the Graduate School of Business, University
of Chicago; and Arvind Subramanian is Assistant Director in the
Research Department of the IMF
Point of View:
- Converting
a Tiger
Reddy, Yaga Venugopal
"India's central bank governor describes how India, beginning
in the early 1990s, gradually liberalized its capital account
after 40 years of controls and central planning. Its cautious
approach reflected recognition that capital account liberalization
carries the potential for currency crises and other problems."
Yaga Venugopal Reddy has been RBI Governor since
September 2003
-Wising Up About Finance
Lipschitz, Leslie
"Given that global capital markets make it more difficult
for countries to assess, diagnose, and prescribe macroeconomic
policies at the national level, it is increasingly important that
the financial aspects of national economic analysis become more
sophisticated." Leslie Lipschitz is Director of
the IMF Institute.
-The Changing Face of Investors
Pazarbaşıoğlu, Ceyla; Goswami,Mangal; Ree, Jack
"Cross-border asset accumulation has risen dramatically over
the past decade, with global capital markets increasingly integrated
as a result of liberalization and advances in technology. The
authors examine the accompanying change in the global investor
base and assess the implications for financial stability of the
huge increase in global capital flows." Ceyla
Pazarbaşıoğlu is a Division Chief, Mangal Goswami is an Economist,
and Jack Ree is a Senior Economist in the IMF's Monetary and Capital
Markets Department.
-Dealing with Global Fluidity
El-Erian, Mohamed A.
"With new forces shaping global capital markets, participants
in international finance are well advised to rethink their operating
models. These forces have fundamentally altered the marginal determinants
of global growth, trade, price formation, and (internal and cross-border)
capital flows." Mohamed A. El-Erian
is President and Chief Executive Officer of Harvard Management
Company, Deputy Treasurer of Harvard University, and a faculty
member of the Harvard Business School. He served on the IMF staff
from August 1983 to December 1997. Fulltext B7/02-07
Trade Agreements as the New Copyright Law
Dames, K. Matthew
Online, Mar/Apr2007, v31, #2, pp16-20
What is the role of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
(USTR)
in global intellectual property law issues? Both U.S. trade representative
Susan Schwab and her predecessor, Rob Portman, have made intellectual
property protection a centerpiece of international trade discussions.
Schwab believes the issue of intellectual property is so important
that in June 2006 she created an Intellectual Property office
within the USTR. There is, however, concern that expansive language
in free-trade agreements may raise the level of copyright protection
above and beyond the international standards under the Berne Convention
and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights annexed to the agreement establishing the World Trade Organization.
K. Matthew Dames is the executive
editor of CopySense.
Fulltext B8/02-07
Protecting Intellectual Property Rights in Chinese Courts:
An Analysis of Recent Patent Judgements
Mei Ying Gechlik (Veron Hung)
Carnegie Endowment, Carnegie Paper No. 78, January 2007, 28p
"Since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in
December 2001, the country’s commitment to abiding by the global
body’s rules has captured the attention of businesses and policy
makers in the United States. Such attention is likely to grow
because the Democrats are expected to use their regained power
in Congress to toughen their stance on China trade issues, including
intellectual property protection. Much of the discussion of China’s
intellectual property protection has focused on the infringement
of patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Though the magnitude of
the problem warrants the focus, businesses and policy makers should
know that problems pertaining to intellectual property could emerge
before infringement happens." The author “analyzes the trends
of successful and failed patent lawsuits and presents steps foreign
companies can take to better protect their intellectual property
in China.” Gechlik points out that “[w]henever China’s commitment
to strengthening intellectual property rights is in doubt, the
Chinese authorities should be reminded that one important determinant
of a country’s economic development and its leading status in
the world is its competency to develop advanced technologies.”
Dr. Mei Y. Gechlik is a non-resident associate in
the Carnegie Endowment’s China Program. Fulltext B9/02-07
A Chartbook of International Labor Comparisons: The Americas,
Asia-Pacific, Europe
U.S. Department of Labor, January 2007, Online edition, 63p
The economies of the world are becoming increasingly interrelated
as technology and world trade grow. As a result, local economies
are
increasingly affected by changes in worldwide markets.This report
provides a comparative labor market perspective—including employment
levels, jobless rates, hours worked, labor costs, and productivity
trends, focusing on the labor market situation in selected countries
in North America and selected Asian-Pacific and European countries
for the 1995-2005 period. As a snapshot of where the United States
stands today in relation to key economies of the rest of the world,
it shows that the United States leads in some areas while in other
cases, our trading partners have made great progress. Fulltext B10/02-07
The Work, Family, and Equity Index: How Does the United
States Measure Up?
Jody Heymann, Alison Earle, Jeffrey Hayes
McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy, Project on
Global Working Families, February 2007, 15p
With support from the Ford Foundation, the McGill Institute
for Health and Social Policy (IHSP) is developing a global index
of public policies that affect children and families. Using updated
and expanded data from a previous 2004 Harvard study, the authors
report that while U.S. policies regarding equitable employment
rights for all racial and ethnic groups, regardless of gender,
age or disability can be given high scores, work/family protection
in the U.S. lags behind other high-income countries (both high-income
countries, middle- and low-income). In addition, while social
insurance policies have had "marked success in lowering the
poverty rates of the elderly, they have been less successful than
other affluent nations in protecting children from poverty."
Founding director of the McGill Institute for Health and Social
Policy, Dr Jody Heymann has been involved in research on working
families and their children in North America and globally. Fulltext B11/02-07
Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2006
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, February
28, 2007, 13p
According to Current Population Survey estimates for 2006, 76.5
million American workers were paid at hourly rates, representing
59.7 percent of all wage and salary workers. Of those paid by
the hour, 409,000 were reported as earning exactly $5.15, the
prevailing Federal minimum wage. Another 1.3 million were reported
as earning wages below the minimum. Together, these 1.7 million
workers with wages at or below the minimum made up 2.2 percent
of all hourly-paid workers. Data is presented on a wide array
of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics for hourly-paid
workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage. Fulltext B12/02-07
Curbing CEO Pay
Thomas J. Billitteri
CQ Researcher, March 9, 2007, v17, #10, pp217-240
Big executive paychecks, and the controversy they stir, go back
a long way in the U.S. This issue of CQ Researcher looks at the
factors which explain why this perennially controversial issue is taking
on new urgency. "Media coverage of enormous severance deals and
annual rankings in the business press of the most highly rewarded corporate elite
help fuel the flames. The growing militancy of pension funds and other institutional shareholders also has fanned the fires. Accounting scandals at Enron, Tyco International, WorldCom and other companies focused public and government attention on corporate governance,
as did the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act
of 2002, known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which cracked down on corporate-governance and financial abuses. But one of the biggest catalysts for renewed interest in corporate compensation is the 'politics of pay' -- the contrast between lavish rewards for top
managers and the everyday financial struggles of middle-class and poor Americans... That concern appears central to the policy agenda
of the new Democratic Congress. With middle-class bread-and-butter economic issues such as minimum wage and health-care coverage on the table,
and the Bush administration's tax cuts and war expenditures under
assault, Washington is talking about linking executive pay and populist
causes." Freelance journalist Thomas J. Billitteri has
extensive experience in covering business, nonprofit institutions
and related topics for newspapers and other publications. Order
Article B13/02-07
A New Social Contract - Restoring Dignity and Balance
to the Economy
Kochan, Thomas; Shulman, Beth
Economic Policy Institute, EPI Briefing Paper #184, February
22, 2007, 21p
The authors propose specific policy initiatives and institutional
reforms as the basis for a new social contract for the 21st century
and "an architecture for an integrated, family-centered labor
market policy that matches the needs of today’s workforce, families,
and economy." They maintain, however, that "putting
[these initiatives] to work will require leadership that mobilizes
the collective strengths of business, labor, and community leaders
around a shared vision for how to build and sustain a productive
and innovative knowledge-based economy and an employment system
that supports strong families and thriving communities."
Thomas Kochan is the George M. Bunker Professor of Management
at the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-director
of the MIT Workplace Center. Beth Shulman is a consultant
and the author of "The Betrayal of Work: How Low-Wage Jobs
Fail 30 Million Americans." Fulltext B14/02-07
Digital Prosperity: Understanding the Economic Benefits of the Information Technology Revolution
Atkinson, Dr. Rober D.; Mckay, Andrew
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, March 2007, online edition, 78p
There have been surprisingly few attempts to catalogue
what is known about the economic impact of information and communications
technology (IT). In a new report, ITIF does just that, examining
the impact of IT in five key areas: 1) productivity; 2) employment;
3) more efficient markets; 4) higher quality goods and services;
and 5) innovation and new products and services. The report finds
that the integration of IT into virtually all aspects of the economy
and society is creating a digitally-enabled economy that is responsible
for generating the lion’s share of economic growth and prosperity,
both here and abroad, including in developing nations. Dr.
Robert D. Atkinson is President of the InformationTechnology and
Innovation Foundation. Andrew McKay is an honors student in Economics
at Swarthmore College, class of 2007. Fulltext B15/02-07
10 Emerging Technologies 2007
Technology Review, March 2007, online edition
Technology Review's 2007 list of emerging
technologies to watch comprises projects in a broad range of fields,
including medicine, energy, and the Internet. "Some, such
as optical antennas and metamaterials, are fundamental technologies
that promise to transform multiple areas, from computing to biology.
Our reports on peer-to-peer video, personalized medical monitors,
and compressive sensing reveal how well-designed algorithms could
save the Internet, simplify and improve medical diagnoses, and
revamp digital imaging systems in cameras and medical scanners.
Nanohealing and quantum-dot solar power demonstrate the potential
of nanotechnology to make a concrete difference in our daily
lives by changing the way we treat injuries and helping solar
energy deliver on its promises. Precise neuron control could help
physicians fine-tune treatments for brain disorders such as depression
and Parkinson's disease. And single-cell analysis could not only
revolutionize our understanding of basic biological processes
but lead directly to predictive tests that could help doctors
treat cancers more effectively. Finally, by combining location
sensors and advanced visual algorithms with cell phones, mobile
augmented reality technology could make it easier to just figure
out where we are." Fulltext B16/02-07
Trade
When Do Trade Blocs Block Trade?
Kono, Daniel Y.
International Studies Quarterly, March 2007, v 51, #1, pp165-181
"Because the gains from international cooperation typically rise with the number of countries involved, the ideal international agreement is often multilateral. In practice, however, the modal agreement is not multilateral but regional or bilateral. The prevalence of minilateralism begs the question: Do minilateral agreements help or hinder multilateral cooperation? [The author] investigates this question by examining the impact of regional free trade agreements (FTAs) on multilateral trade liberalization in 30 countries from 1988 to 1998. [He] find that FTAs have important but contradictory conditional effects: they promote multilateral liberalization when members' intra- and extra-FTA comparative advantages are similar but impede such liberalization when these comparative advantages are different. FTAs can thus, depending on the circumstances, either help or hinder broader trade liberalization. [His] findings have important implications, not only for the relationship between FTAs and multilateralism, but also for the political consequences of customs unions and nontrade minilateral agreements." [Abstract from author] Daniel Y. Kono is an Assistant Professpr of Political Science at the University of California, Davis. Fulltext B17/02-07
Free Trade Blues
International Economy, Winter 2007, v21, #1, pp10-13
Over the next two years, U.S. congressional and administration
efforts to move forward a trade agenda are likely to end up in
stalemate, says Faux, a distinguished fellow with the Economic
Policy Institute. Faux says that at least seven new Senate seats
and 30 new House seats once occupied by supporters of free trade
and investment are now occupied by critics of the Bush administration’s
trade policies. Congressional Democrats, he says, are frustrated
that global economic integration has led to stagnating real incomes
and rising trade and current account deficits, while the salaries
and bonuses of the richest Americans continue to climb. Faux says
that none of the free-trade agreements with Peru, Columbia, and
Panama contain the worker protections that many Democrats want
and that the administration doesn’t currently have the votes for
reauthorization of trade negotiating authority. With the administration
occupied with Iraq and the war on terror, Faux doesn’t see how
the administration will be able to muster the will to modify its
trade agenda to deal with Democratic concerns. Jeff Faux is
the founder, and now a distinguished fellow, of the Economic Policy
Institute. Fulltext B18/02-07
Industries:
Agriculture
Local is the New Organic
Belli, Brita; Mark, Jason
E: the Environmental Magazine, March-April 2007, v18, #2,
6p
Most produce people eat, organic or not, travels thousands of
miles to reach the shelves of their local supermarket. The journey
exacts a huge toll on the environment as refrigerated tractor-trailers
packed with green tomatoes and bananas crisscross the country,
burning diesel and spewing pollution and greenhouse gas. The solution:
eat locally grown food. This article discusses "environmental
interest groups as Environmental Working Group and American Farmland
Trust who are already pushing for a greater emphasis on protecting
air, soil and water quality and supporting small farmers, and
many seek an end to subsidies (totaling $9.7 billion to corn farmers
in 2005) which artificially inflate markets and feed the cheap-commodity-producing
machine." Brita Belli s managing editor of E. Fulltext B19/02-07
Automobiles
2007 Here Come the .. Cleaner, Greener Cars
Motavalli,Jim
E: the Environmental Magazine, Mar/Apr 2007, v18, #2, 6p
Interest in cleaner and greener auto technology is exploding. From fuel cells to plug-in hybrids, the industry is showing more research and development zeal than at any time since the halcyon days of 1900, when gasoline, steam and electric vehicles (EVs) were competing in the marketplace. This article explores the automobile industry of the future. Jim Motavalli is a staff writer at E: Magazine. Fulltext
Biotechnology
Our Biopolitical Future: Four Scenarios
Hayes, Richard
World Watch, Mar/Apr 2007, v20, #2; pp10-18
New human genetic technologies are most often interpreted
in many countries through the frameworks of abortion politics
and medical technologies. The same genetic technologies that,
however, might be used to prevent or cure diseases could also
open the door to undesirable outcomes -- allowing forms of genetic
manipulation that could endanger equality, social justice and
human rights. This article examines the need for new interpretive
frameworks to help understand what's at stake from four different
political viewpoints. Richard Hayes, PhD, is executive
director of the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, California. Fulltext B21/02-07
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