| September-October 2005
American Economy |Intellectual Property | Labor | Trade |
Industries: Agriculture | Automobiles |
B1 - Getting Serious About the Twin Deficits
Chinn, Menzie D.
Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), September 2005, online edition, 30p
"This report, part of the Council's series on the Future of American
Competitiveness, addresses why the United States' twin deficits constitute an important foreign policy issue. The author examines the fiscal and current account deficits and how the United States arrived at them; challenges the notion that they are sustainable; and puts forward an agenda for remedying the situation. He explains why the United States must act, lest the dollar, a primary element of U.S. economic strength and political influence in the world, be undermined." Menzie D. Chinn is professor of economics and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin’s Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs and the Department of Economics. Fulltext
B2 - Climate and Trade: Links Between the Kyoto Protocol and WTO
Frankel, Jeffrey
Environment, September 2005, v47, #7, pp8-21
“Free trade advocates and environmentalists have butted over the Kyoto Protocol and the WTO. While the two legal regimes--which address global climate and global trade, respectively--could come into conflict in the future, there are also ways that they could be coordinated effectively to deliver environmental improvement at the same time as economic growth. Frankel discusses the solutions in which Kyoto Protocol and WTO can be coordinated.” Jeffrey Frankel is the James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Fulltext
B3 - An Evaluation of United States-European Union Bilateral Trade Relations
Islam, M. Faizul
The Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies, Summer 2005, v30, #2, pp175-193
“This paper examines the U.S.-EU bilateral trade relations and finds that the U.S. current account with the EU has deteriorated in the last decade, primarily because of a disproportionate worsening in its merchandise trade. Based on SITC-3 classification, the U.S. had a trade deficit in nine out of ten commodities in 2003. Bilateral investment had declined after 2000. The EU has 10 offensive and 4 defensive cases against the U.S. at the WTO. Despite a weak dollar, the U.S. merchandise trade deficit has continued to worsen with the eurozone. M. Faizul Islam is associated with the Department of Management Studies, Southeastern University Washington D.C. Fulltext
B4 - Supreme Court provides IP guidance
Mamudi, Sam
Managing Intellectual Property, Jul/Aug 2005, v151, p13-15
"This article reports that the U.S. Supreme Court last month handed down rulings in two of the most anticipated IP cases of recent years. Sam Mamudi analyzes what the judgments mean for rights owners. One ruling confirmed for copyright owners that, after years of losing before the district courts, they can successfully sue to shut down illegal file-sharing services, while the other broadened the safe harbour for researchers who use patented compounds during preclinical tests to gather information for regulators. In a ruling in the long-running MGM Studios Inc. v Grokster Ltd. case, the Court said that the peer-to-peer networks are not protected by the 1984 ruling in Sony Corp. v Universal City Studios Inc." Fulltext
B5 - The Future at Work -- Trends and Implications
Karoly, Lynn A.; Panis, Constantijn (Stan)
Rand Corporation, Research Brief,online edition, 2p
"Trends in workforce size and composition and in the pace of technological change and economic globalization will have implications for the future of work. Employees will work in more decentralized, specialized firms; slower labor growth will encourage employers to recruit groups with relatively low labor force participation; greater emphasis will be placed on retraining and lifelong learning; and future productivity growth will support higher wages and may affect the wage distribution. Given this, some policies may need to be reexamined." Fulltext
Industries:
Agriculture
B6 - Agriculture Ripe for Reform
Griswold, Daniel; Preble, Christopher; Slivinski, Stephen
Trade Policy Analysis No. 30, September 14, 2005, pp1-20
The article discusses U.S. agricultural policies, which have remained fundamentally unchanged since the 1930s. Today the U.S. government continues to subsidize certain farm commodities through direct price supports and tariff rate quotas that limit imports. Americans pay a high price for this ongoing government intervention in agricultural markets. Congress and the president should seize the opportunity presented by the Doha Round negotiations of the World Trade Organization and the next reauthorization of the farm bill to fundamentally reform U.S. agricultural policy. Daniel Griswold is director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies, Stephen Slivinski is Director of Budget Studies, and Christopher Preble is Director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. Fulltext
B7 - Can US Auto Suppliers Stay Ahead Of Chinese Rivals?
Knupfer, Stefan; Mercer, Glenn
The McKinsey Quarterly, September 2005, web exclusive
”The US automotive industry is understandably concerned about the competitive threat of low-cost cars and components from China. The United States already imports almost $4 billion a year in Chinese parts, and that figure grew by an average of 25 percent annually over the past three years. … Clearly, China's vast supply of low-wage workers gives its companies a big edge in labor-intensive manufacturing. However, the magnitude of China's threat appears to be overstated—particularly for the next few years. … US companies should use the next few years to prepare for the full brunt of Chinese competition down the road” and take steps to prepare US parts makers for China's long-term competitive challenge. Stefan Knupfer is a director in McKinsey's Detroit office, and Glenn Mercer is a consultant in the Cleveland office. This article was originally published in the Detroit Free Press, as "U. S. auto companies overreact to advantages," on August 28, 2005. Fulltext
B8 - Keeping the Crisis in Chrysler
Warner, Fara
Fast Company, September 2005, #98, p69ff
Since the late 1970s, Chrysler experienced cycles of bust and boom. When Dieter Zetsche took over as president and chief executive officer of the struggling Chrysler unit of DaimlerChrysler, he was especially aiming to break this mode. ”Over the past four and a half years, Zetsche and his management team have worked to create what might be called a "controlled crisis" strategy. So far, the outcome has been astonishing. When Zetsche arrived in 2000, Chrysler was well into its third catastrophe. Just two years after its much-heralded merger with Daimler-Benz, the automaker was bleeding red ink and shedding market share. In 2003, Chrysler posted a loss of $637 million. But this past February, DaimlerChrysler announced that Chrysler earned $1.9 billion in 2004 -- almost as much as big brother Mercedes (whose profits have been dwindling because of quality woes and tougher competition.) This article outlines “the three lessons, forged in the crucible of crisis, that Zetsche and his team have been applying in their efforts to keep Chrysler at the top of its game.” Fara Warner is a Fast Company contributing writer and author of The Power of the Purse: How Smart Businesses Are Adapting to the World's Most Important Consumers (Prentice Hall, 2005). Fulltext
| 
