Global Middle Class Initiative: Latest Articles

The United States, it is said, has been violently inducted into membership of the rest of the world. Some commentators have noted with satisfaction that at last US decision-makers will appreciate the experience of-depending on their sympathies-Israelis, Belgraders, Nicaraguans or the residents of Baghdad. Kinder commentators reflected that terrorism is a fact of life in Britain, India, Turkey and elsewhere and that Americans would have had to lose the illusion of invulnerability sooner or later-if not so suddenly and horribly.… more

Democracy often involves making tough choices between different compelling interests. But when policymakers wrap their decisions in secrecy, there will be losing parties who will feel betrayed for years. Indeed, just this month, an American federal court dismissed a lawsuit against Japan for war crimes involving "comfort women," saying it lacked jurisdiction to grant the redress that the plaintiffs "seek and surely deserve." This was because Japan is immune from lawsuits and prosecution in the United States under American federal… more

September 11th will now replace December 7th as the most notorious date on the American calendar. A brilliantly executed terrorist attack, likely masterminded by Saudi-born Islamic fundamentalist Osama bin Laden, has wiped the World Trade Center towers clean from the Manhattan skyline, caused more than 5,000 deaths, and penetrated and gashed to the core the Pentagon, command center of the world's most powerful military.

While most Americans are focused on quick revenge against those who perpetrated this terror, the question… more

A FINANCIAL TOOLBOX

There are at least three types of financial tools, or more aptly put, finance and policy tools, that will permit the protection and development of environmental goods and services. They are:

1) those that help protect environmental areas as providers of "public goods or services;"

2) those that help protect environmental resources as providers of "private goods or services" (as businesses); and,

3) those aimed at correcting the incentive structure to encourage… more

The United States and Canada have been locked in a protracted battle over softwood lumber subsidies for two decades. With newly elected governments in both countries, … more