Global Middle Class Initiative: Recent and Upcoming Events

Takashi Oka, a long time observer of Japan's political circumstances will discuss the basic contradictions that undergird Koizumi. Or consider whether he has what it takes to carry through the reforms he pledges. While Koizumi is Prime Minister and supported by the LDP, his reform positions are sharply at odds with what most of the candidates running on the LDP ticket want. They want him to smile, stay superficial and help lead a win in the upcoming Upper House… more

Now that a new administration and Congress have taken their positions, one of the key policy areas that deserves serious scrutiny is the issue of global electronic commerce and how to counsel 'developing nations' to make the policy choices that will help contribute to their global connectedness… more

The street protests at the Seattle WTO Ministerial were only the most visible sign that the consensus in favor of free trade in the United States is eroding. The inability of the Clinton administration and the Congress to agree upon a formula for fast track negotiating authority demonstrates … more

Increasingly WTO dispute settlement decisions are having a profound impact on U.S. policy on issues ranging from tax policy to environmental policy. On the one hand, the United States has won some important WTO dispute settlement panels on issues, such as Europe's ban on hormone treated meat. On… more

Eighteen months in the making, the Project on Development, Trade and International Finance's Final Report maps out global financial strategies which would support the growth of the middle class in emerging economies by promoting long-term, private sector capital flows from industrialized countries to developing economies.

Program directors Walter Russell Mead and Sherle Schwenninger will outline their proposals and make the case that such reform serves the long-term interests of developed and developing countries alike, and Robert Dugger, Jeff Faux and… more