Trade & Globalization: New America Events

America's Fate in the Coming Era of Chinese Hegemony

Communications — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
03/12/2008 - 3:00pm

With the United States and China, who will rule whom? That's the central question of In the Jaws of the Dragon by Tokyo-based journalist and writer Eamonn Fingleton. His own answer is sobering. As American leaders fixate on the Middle East, China quietly consolidates both its geostrategic vision and its economic and military power. What is at stake is far more important than manufacturing jobs or the transparency of Sovereign Wealth Funds. It is a matter of which nation will control the global system America built, and the nations integrated into that system.

Fingleton has lived and worked in Asia since the mid 1980s, and he has covered international economics and business since the 1970s. The American ruling elite, he says, does not understand China, nor the nature of the Chinese government. Most members of the elite continue to believe - a la Tom Friedman - that liberal trade will liberalize China. But Fingleton writes that what is taking place is the exact opposite. "Globalization" has merely given Beijing the financial and institutional tools to get what it wants from America, when it wants.

Over the years, Fingleton has repeatedly proven a prescient observer of international economic trends. In the late 1980s he predicted the crash of the Japanese banking system and stock market. In the late 1990s he predicted the crash of the high-technology boom, and the subsequent shift of real power back to those who control production and supply. His articles have been published in The Atlantic, The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Harvard Business Review, among others. In the Jaws of the Dragon is Fingleton's fourth major book on trans-Pacific industrial and trading relationships.

Join the New America Foundation and Eamonn Fingleton for a provocative and disturbing look at America's economic and political relationship with China, followed by a Q&A session moderated by Barry C. Lynn.

How Far Will America's Subprime Virus Infect Europe?

Communications — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:15:00 -0500

A New America Event
02/26/2008 - 12:15pm

The New America Foundation welcomed Steffen Kampeter from the Budget Committee of Germany’s Bundestag for a discussion of the far-reaching effects of the American sub-prime mortgage crisis and the subsequent breakdown of financial markets. Patrick Doherty, Deputy Director of the American Strategy Program, moderated the session.

Herr Kampeter briefed attendees on the general state of economic affairs in Germany and throughout the European Union, along with the European reaction to the sub-prime crisis. He stated that in spite of slowing trends in growth, stability remains a strong feature of most European economies. However, as financial markets feel the strain of the credit fallout, Europeans are now witnessing several rescue scenarios come into play, particularly in Germany & the UK, and even in financially savvy Switzerland, as major firms face possible collapse. While the crisis continues to run its course, questions of accountability and regulation are brought to bear against open markets and competition.

Kampeter stressed that while the real market has not yet felt the full force of the blow, the problem-solving endeavor to minimize the negative spillover effects must take place as an international effort, focused to sustain liquidity to markets and to restore trust in the financial system. No single nation can fully remedy the problem on its own. In the debate over increased regulation, Kampeter asserted that a combination of internal self-regulative measures along with regulatory legislation should be enacted. He also cautioned that immediate action is not necessarily helpful, diplomatically affirming the critical stance of the EU against the Fed bailout in the US. His most notable criticism came against the American legal situation which allows the proffering of credit to unworthy borrowers, maintaining that the German housing market, while less profitable, is much more stable due to more strict lending requirements.

- Andrew Bolden

Why the World Isn't Flat

Communications — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:30:00 -0500

A New America Event
02/01/2008 - 12:30pm

On Feb. 1, Whitehead Senior Fellow Michael Lind hosted award-winning Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang, who delivered a talk based on his new book, Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism. A brief summary follows, while an MP3 audio recording of the 71-minute event can be downloaded below and the video can be viewed at right.

Chang’s central theme was that developing countries should look to the history of successful nations, rather than economic theory, to guide their economic policy-making. He began by drawing upon historical examples to challenge the notion that developing countries should adhere to orthodox free-market policies.

Of today’s advanced industrial economies, according to him, only three -- the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Switzerland -- refrained from erecting trade barriers and subsidizing infant industries during the early stages of their development. All of the others benefited from significant government intervention.

He further noted that the United States, the most successful economy the world has ever seen, did not develop according to free-market principles. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the U.S. comparative advantage lay in agriculture. Thomas Jefferson and many others argued that the United States should remain a nation of farmers and import its industrial goods from Britain. Alexander Hamilton, however, argued that the long-term economic benefits of industrialization would dwarf the short-term inefficiencies associated with market intervention. History has proven him correct.

Furthermore, Chang pointed out that austere free-market polices simply have not worked for developing countries. Economic growth rates in developing countries fell by more than half when those countries moved from the ‘import-substitution’ policies of the 1950s and 1960s to the laissez-faire policies of the 1980s and 1990s.

He then extended his argument to patent laws. Those countries that industrialized during the nineteenth century borrowed one another’s ideas liberally. The result was a tremendous acceleration of innovation.

In contrast, he argued that today’s international patent laws are designed not to promote innovation, but rather to protect powerful corporate interests in wealthy countries. According to him, “the balance between the rights of patentees and the rest of society has tilted too much to one side.” With few exceptions, the presence of competition and the motivation to attain profit are enough to promote innovation. -- Event summary by Ben Katcher

Ha-Joon Chang has been described by one economist as "the most exciting thinker our profession has turned out in the past fifteen years." He teaches at Cambridge University, where he received his Master's degree and doctorate. A consultant for the Wold Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the UN and other international organizations, he was awarded the Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought in 2005. His book Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective (2002), which received the Myrdal Prize, was acclaimed by the eminent MIT economist Charles Kindleberger as "a provocative critique of mainstream economists' sermons directed to developing countries."

This event was co-sponsored by the New America Foundation and the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).

Trade Imbalance

Communications — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 07:15:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/05/2007 - 12:15pm

In the coming months, the U.S. Congress will vote up or down on trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, Peru, and Korea. These elected officials will not examine these agreements solely on their commercial or foreign policy benefits to the American people. They will also weigh whether or not each agreement advances particular human rights abroad. However, these Representatives proceed with little information about how trade agreements, and even trade per se, affect human rights at home or abroad. Although scholars, policymakers, and activists have long debated this relationship, in truth we know very little about it.

In the recently published book, Trade Imbalance, authors Susan Ariel Aaronson and Jamie M. Zimmerman shed much needed light on this complex issue. They use stories about frogs, chocolate, culture, tires and other topics to provide readers with new insights into the relationship between trade and human rights. They include the first study of how South Africa, Brazil, the United States, and the European Union struggle to coordinate trade and human rights objectives. They also look at how human rights issues are seeping into the WTO. Finally, Aaronson and Zimmerman also suggest ways in which policymakers can right the balance between their trade and human rights goals.

Susan Ariel Aaronson is Research Associate Professor at the George Washington University Graduate School of Business and the Elliott School of International Affairs. Jamie M. Zimmerman is Associate Director of the Global Assets Project, a joint venture of the Asset Building Program at the New America Foundation and the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis. Previously, Aaronson and Zimmerman were colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise – Washington Center. Aaronson was Senior Fellow and Director of Globalization Studies, where Jamie Zimmerman was Associate Director.

Join the New America Foundation and the Financial Times for an engaging discussion on the role of human rights in trade policy. Following the presentation, FT correspondent Eoin Callan will lead a robust Q&A session.

Praise for Trade Imbalance

"Economists generally assert that negotiations over trade and human rights should be kept separate. But as Aaronson and Zimmerman demonstrate, governments haven't heeded that advice. Instead, states have used trade policy as a way of advancing such goals as labor rights, the abolition of slavery, and access to medicines. This book will force scholars to reconsider the fundamental question of why it is that countries pursue bilateral and multilateral trade agreements in the first place."
--Ethan B. Kapstein, Paul Dubrule Professor of Sustainable Development, INSEAD

"Anyone interested in the trade and human rights linkage will find this book to be a valuable resource."
-- Steve Charnovitz, George Washington University, School of Law

The Petro Mirage

Communications — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
05/16/2007 - 3:00pm

Over the past decade, improving the development and governance in oil-producing countries has become an international project encompassing everything from the NGO-lead Publish What You Pay campaign, to transparency and anti-corruption initiatives, "future generations" accounts for oil royalties, the World Bank's model project in Chad, and even Hugo Chavez's attempt at refocussing Venezuela's national oil company on local development projects. While a consensus has evolved around the problems that oil poses for development, the solutions are still a work in progress.

While researching her book Oil On the Brain: Adventures from the Pump to the Pipeline, Lisa Margonelli investigated the confluence of economic, political, and environmental issues that impede development in countries including Venezuela, Chad, Iran and Nigeria. An Irvine Fellow at the New America Foundation, Margonelli kicked off a discussion on the relationship between petrostate leaders and the psychological aspects of living in an oil state, the relationship between corruption and government institutions including tax collections, the "new" nationalism in oil states, and the emerging relationship between violence and oil prices. The discussion also addressed the status of the Chad project as a "model," and whether Venezuela's new initiatives are encouraging development or merely creating a new system of patronage.

Video of this event is available at right, while an MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below.

Preparing U.S. Students for the Global Economy

Communications — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 19:42:00 -0500

A New America Event
01/08/2007 - 2:30pm

Monday, Jan. 8, marks the fifth anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the beginning of a comprehensive congressional examination of standards-based school reform. How has it succeeded? How has it not? Why? And how can it be improved?

While the most significant accomplishment of the standards-based school reform movement that began in the 1980s is improved national student achievement in mathematics, international comparisons of mathematics and science achievement continue to indicate sub-par American student performance. Reports suggest that high school graduates are underprepared for college: Many lack basic computational skills, much less those needed to participate in post-secondary education without remediation. Further, because of our mish-mash of state standards and accountability measures, similarly performing schools and school districts are designated either as making "adequate yearly progress" or in "need of improvement" based solely on state of residence.

On this fifth anniversary, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) presented the plan he has developed with Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) to upgrade math and science education as part of the next NCLB. The Standards to Provide Educational Achievement for All Kids (SPEAK) Act places special emphasis on raising and reconciling state academic standards with more rigorous national standards.

Distinguished guests, including John Engler, Bob Wise, Michael Casserly and Michael Petrilli, commented on the question of why American education standards need to be raised and harmonized, and took audience questions in a session moderated by the New America Foundation's Education Policy Director Michael Dannenberg.

Video of the event can be viewed at right, while an MP3 audio recording of this event is available below. The full text of the proposed Dodd-Ehlers bill and a one-page summary of the legislation are also available in PDF format.

End of the Line

Communications — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 06:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
11/29/2006 - 12:00pm

At this California event, Barry Lynn, a New America Foundation senior fellow, discussed his ground-breaking book, End of the Line: The Rise and Coming Fall of the Global Corporation.

We are used to thinking about the effects of globalization and outsourcing in terms of winners and losers: how these trends harm certain classes of American workers or benefit consumers. Lynn goes beyond the stereotypical debate about whether this economic revolution is good or bad to expose the dangerous underside of our new global economic order in End of the Line.

At the event, Lynn explained how today’s economic system is a global industrial commons that is extremely fragile, and increasingly so. The real question Americans need to ask today is whether this production system is safe. Is it structured so we can count on it to provide us, given almost any foreseeable natural or political disaster, with the food and clothing and medicine we need to live? End of the Line makes clear that right now the answer is no. It is perhaps the single most devastating indictment of laissez faire economics in a generation, based on factual evidence gathered by one of the few reporters who understands the ways today’s global corporations really work.

Book Launch: Shutting out the Sun

Communications — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 15:15:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/05/2006 - 12:15pm

Michael Zielenziger's new book, Shutting Out the Sun, offers an intelligent, insightful look into the economic disquiet and disturbing social trends afflicting Japan. Though once on the verge of eclipsing the United States as the world’s dominant economic power, Japan failed to recover fully from the economic collapse of the early 1990s and now confronts a Japanese society and economy jeopardized by disaffected youth.

Exploring the reasons behind Japan’s status as the industrialized nation with the highest suicide rate and the lowest birthrate, as well as rising rates of depression among young people, Zielenziger argues that Japan’s tradition-seeped society and aversion to change, coupled with its distrust of individuality, are stifling the reforms and impetus necessary for economic revival. Unconventional and controversial, Shutting Out the Sun is a bold attempt to explain Japan’s stagnation and its implications for the rest of the world.

This event featured a brief presentation by Zielenziger, followed by a question and answer session moderated by Steven Clemons, who directs both New America's American Strategy Program and the Japan Policy Research Institute.

Rebuilding America's Productive Economy

Communications — Thu, 11 May 2006 12:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
05/11/2006 - 12:05pm

Thanks to the digital revolution, people, companies, and industries can increasingly choose to locate anywhere, making regions with a good quality of life increasingly attractive as economic centers of activity. In this regard, the Heartland, that vast expansion of America from the Middle West to the Mountain West, has enormous underutilized and untapped resources -- from low housing costs and good schools to a favorable business climate, plentiful land and other natural resources -- that make it a potentially attractive location for new business development.

Joel Kotkin and Delore Zimmerman, authors of a forthcoming New America report on the subject, will outline an economic program that would make the Heartland an engine for U.S. economic growth in the decade ahead. They highlight the potential for value-added agriculture, new energy development, onshoring of both production and services, and developing new technology centers. Join us for a brown bag lunch session as we explore the challenges and opportunities of tapping the oft-overlooked potential of the Heartland.

The Disposable American

Communications — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 12:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
04/10/2006 - 12:00pm

In his first book, Louis Uchitelle, an award-winning business reporter for The New York Times, examines the accelerating trend of corporate layoffs in America. In The Disposable American: Layoffs and their Consequences, Uchitelle examines rising job insecurity from its origins as a largely blue-collar phenomena in the mid 1970s to how it today affects white-collar workers as well. Arguing that we are now in an era of "downward mobility," he blows the lid off the myth that in America there is always work, and good pay, for the educated and skilled; and that new training creates jobs.

Job insecurity is the order of the day for most Americans, and Uchitelle challenges the conventional wisdom that this is good for the economy. He makes the case that rather than continue the era of layoffs, we should challenge inflated executive pay, leveraged buyouts, and other poor corporate practices.

Uchitelle has been writing about business, labor and economics for The New York Times since 1987 and was the lead reporter for the paper's series "The Downsizing of America," which won a George Polk Award in 1996. He has taught at Columbia University and was a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation in New York in 2002-2003.

The Impact of Globalization on Children

Communications — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 09:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
03/02/2006 - 10:00am

Globalization is one of the most important, yet least understood, forces shaping our world. In a world of shifting work conditions and family living patterns, it impacts how Americans, and citizens of the world, raise their children. It touches on issues of child health and development, barriers to parents getting and keeping jobs, and problems families confront daily and in times of crisis. There is much that the world learns from America's economic and social strength, and there is much Americans can benefit from learning about how global forces impact families abroad. Dr. Jody Heymann recently finished a decade-long research project about these implications, overseeing over a thousand in-depth interviews with families around the world. Join us for a discussion on how our families and children are influenced by the changing global economy.

Building a 21st Century Economy

Communications — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 19:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
12/13/2005 - 12:12pm

The New America Foundation launched its Early Education Expansion and Reform Initiative and released its new report "Building a 21st Century Economy: The Case for Investing in Early Education Reform," by Shelley Waters Boots.

As Congress begins to consider reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act and the education and training demands of the global economy, maximizing the effectiveness of our early childhood education system takes on greater significance. Compelling research confirms that by the third grade, much of the groundwork for a child's future success has already been laid. A number of states go so far as to incorporate third grade reading scores into their formula for predicting the needs for future prison construction. In contrast to the United States, other industrialized and emerging nations invest far more into children's early learning. Panelists presented ideas on the appropriate reforms and needed investments to improve our education system PK-3 and beyond and advance America's economic competitiveness in the years ahead.

This event was the first in a series of briefings covering early education reform, focusing on the critical years of pre-kindergarten through grade three (PK-3).

The Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform Act: Two Years Later

Communications — Tue, 05 Oct 2004 12:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/05/2004 - 12:00pm

In 2002, Congress passed the most far-reaching reform and expansion of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) since the program was established more than 40 years ago. Now, two years later, it is time to ask, how successfully have these changes been implemented and how effective is TAA in addressing the needs of workers and communities facing severe dislocations as a result of changes in international trade and investment?

The Trade Adjustment Assistance Coalition is a non-profit 501(c)(3) public policy organization, housed at the New America Foundation, and dedicated to creating a forum for public outreach and discussion on addressing the needs of workers and communities facing dislocations as a result of changes in international trade and investment.

Solving the Offshore Outsourcing Challenge

Communications — Tue, 11 May 2004 15:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
05/11/2004 - 12:05pm

In this major policy address, Senator Joe Lieberman unveiled a new strategy for tackling the growing threat from the offshore outsourcing of American jobs. He described what he believes to be the true dimensions of this problem and outlined specific policy proposals for addressing it.

Sen. Lieberman argued that the current political debate on offshore outsourcing misses the underlying structural changes at work, and that only strong bipartisan leadership can save American jobs and restore America's economic strength.

The Minds Race

Communications — Tue, 23 Mar 2004 15:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
03/23/2004 - 12:03pm

The U.S. faces significant education and worker training challenges in the global economy of the 21st century. Indeed, the first signs of this trend can be seen in the high-tech business world of today. Employers are simply not finding the workers they need based on the math, science and technology skill levels of the students graduating from U.S. high schools, colleges and universities. Workforce training -- and retraining -- is also receiving considerable scrutiny from policymakers as sectors of the U.S. economy face intense competition from other nations and other workforces. What education and worker training changes will be necessary for the U.S. to remain a leader in innovation and economic prosperity? What role will education and workforce skill sets play if the U.S. is to maintain its competitive edge in the "minds race" that is fueling technological change in the global economy?

On Tuesday, March 23, the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), in conjunction with the New America Foundation, hosted a forum on these issues as part of EIA's ongoing policy initiative, "The Technology Industry at an Innovation Crossroads." As the voice of the high-tech industry and its knowledge economy, EIA and its initiative partners are intent on examining the factors affecting both the U.S. economy and the high-tech industry.

Economic Development Strategies: Lessons From History

Communications — Wed, 11 Feb 2004 15:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
02/11/2004 - 12:02pm

Is the neo-liberal path advocated by the I.M.F. and World Bank the best route to prosperity for developing countries, or are there better alternatives? Washington's recent failures to advance its agenda at Cancun (WTO) and Miami (FTAA) have sparked increasing interest in this question.

Two of the world's leading experts on development will present their views

Is America Facing a Technology Innovation Crisis?

Communications — Fri, 14 Nov 2003 19:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
11/13/2003 - 12:11pm

According to Forrester Research, nearly 4,000 white-collar jobs are leaving the U.S. a week for low-cost locales. McKinsey & Co. forecast the U.S., Europe, and Japan combined lose 600,000 of these jobs a year. In the late 1990s, science and engineering accounted for 5% of U.S. undergraduate degrees; in China, they accounted for 73%. Intel Chairman Andy Grove recently posed the question, "Do we have the national will to take productive action? When the problem becomes obvious, it will be too late."

This roundtable explores whether the technolgy industry is at an innovation crossroads. Does offshore outsourcing pose a long-term threat to U.S. security? To industry's ability to innovate? What is the appropriate role of government? Should it strive merely for a level global playing field or go further?

Revamping American Grand Strategy

Communications — Wed, 12 Nov 2003 11:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
11/12/2003 - 12:00pm

Copies of the Fall 2003 World Policy Journal will be distributed to attendees.

Re-Energizing America's Trade Policy With Asia

Communications — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 12:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
07/24/2003 - 12:00pm

Trade At A Crossroads

Communications — Tue, 01 Jul 2003 12:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
07/01/2003 - 12:00pm

Panelists presented findings from their analyses of declining Congressional support for trade liberalization, factors associated with that decline and discuss implications for U.S. policy. To set the context, pollster Celinda Lake provided an overview of what is currently shaping voters' views of the economy.