Smart Globalization Initiative: Policy Papers

What the Government Can Do to Better Promote Job Creation by Timothy J. Bartik Jobs: What Can We Do? by James K. Galbraith The Time Has Come for Direct Job Creation by L. Randall Wray

"The Koizumi reforms" was one of the portmanteau concepts most commonly bandied about in Japanese political debates in the summer of 2009 as the parties geared up for the August election. Japan had in fact embarked on its neo-liberal agenda of deregulation and privatization well before the charismatic Mr. Koizumi laconically offered his "no gain without pain" recipes, but it was pushed with most enthusiasm during his premiership from 2001 to 2006.

Despite its aim, the European Trading Scheme (ETS) for carbon is widely regarded as an inefficient market. The initial design of the scheme has caused trading reactions that do not follow the pricing patterns of other, more efficient commodities.

Within ETS, it isn’t carbon’s price volatility that makes its market seem uncharacteristic of other commodities markets; commodity markets are often characterized by volatility. Instead, it is the fact that carbon’s price drivers are not so easily pinpointed and, therefore, its… more

Click here to download the full report.  

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has just completed her first official visit to Washington since President Barack Obama took up office. At home Mrs. Merkel has only a few months left to go until an upcoming general election will determine her own political future. This was surely one more reason to send a message of harmony with President Obama back home, as the new U.S. president, much in contrast to his predecessor, enjoys great popularity among German voters. Elections aside, such harmonious gestures can hardly deflect

Green investment is a major pillar of the president's economic recovery plan.  Yet, America's dependence on foreign countries to produce green technologies may undermine this recovery strategy.  Using a list of green goods derived from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), we have determined that the United States ran an overall green trade deficit of -$8.9 billion in 2008, including a deficit of -$6.4 billion in the critical category of renewable energy,… more

The United States now confronts its greatest economic challenges since the Great Depression. In addition to resolving crises in financial and housing markets, trade deficits with China and on oil must be addressed for the U.S. economy to achieve robust growth.

This speech was delivered at The New School on May 19, 2009.

Views on the U.S. economy

The 2008 presidential election was not about globalization or U.S. trade policy. However, the challenges facing the administration of President Barack Obama-the financial crisis, the lengthening and deepening recession-are inextricably bound up with America's trading relationships. A "business as usual" trade policy will not deliver the economic changes that President Obama has promised the public, nor restore Americans' faith in their country's engagement with the global economy.

Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of this committee for the honor of addressing you today.  Mr. Chairman, it is a tribute to your leadership that this roundtable is being convened in recognition of the centrality of economic and financial issues to American foreign policy. 

Infrastructure and Economic Opportunity