REFERENCE UPDATE

September/October 2007

ECONOMIC SECURITY AND TRADE

1. The Asian Financial Crisis 10 Years Later: Time to Reaffirm Economic Freedom
Anthony B. Kim
Backgrounder #2054, July 19, 2007, 8 pages.
Asian countries should use this 10-year anniversary to solidify their ongoing recovery by bolstering their commitment to greater economic freedom, the author says.   He also suggests that the United States should reinforce its vision of economic freedom and prosperity in Asia by supporting Asian countries’ efforts to increase their economic freedom and renewing the President’s expired trade promotion authority.

2. Money, Money Everywhere. . . .
Maurice R. Greenberg. The National Interest, July/August 2007, 3 pages.
It’s about time for the U.S. government to address the problem of the declining strength of the dollar as a global currency.  The author provides information on the competition being faced by the U.S. dollar from other currencies, such as the decision made by some of the world's energy producers to switch both the pricing and selling of oil from the dollar to the euro.  To strengthen the dollar, he says, the U.S. government should tackle the deficit spending.

3. Vietnam: Country outlook
Economist Intelligence Unit - ViewsWire,
18 September 2007, 3 pages
The article provides brief and updated information on Vietnam's development including economic growth, international relations, domestic politics and policy trends.

4. Economic Impact of Counterfeiting and Piracy
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), June 4, 2007, 29 pages.
In 2005, international trade in counterfeit and pirated products was approximately US$200 billion.  This figure did not include products domestically produced and consumed nor digital products distributed via the internet.  This report examines the magnitude of this trade and suggests policies and practices that governments and industries could use to effectively combat this abuse.

5. A New Deal for Globalization
Kenneth F. Scheve and Matthew J. Slaughter. Foreign Affairs, July/August 2007, 14 pages.
The authors discuss the rise of protectionism in the United States in the face of globalization.  They state that the stagnation of income is the prime reason for the rise in protectionism and that the benefits of globalization have been unevenly distributed. The best way to avert the rise in protectionism, they offer, is by redistributing income.

6. Trade Adjustment in the WTO System: Are More Safeguards the Answer?
Chad P. Bown and Rachel McCulloch.  Global Economy and Development Working Paper #07, June 2007, 33 pages.
In order for countries to successfully engage in the international trading system, their industries must respond to new competitive conditions, such as commitments to trade liberalization.  This paper examines the range of adjustment problems confronting the current and future international trading system, the economic arguments for intervention to deal with such problems, as well as the adjustment environment as set out in the current WTO Agreements, and proposals for reform.

REGIONAL SECURITY

7.  America’s Grand Design in Asia
Daniel Twining. The Washington Quarterly, Summer 2007, 16 pages.
The article focuses on the efforts being made by the United States to maintain the balance of power in Asia in order to preserve its interests in the region. In the face of the China challenge, the United States is allowing new centers of strength to emerge, which will not reduce the U.S. influence, but protect its status in a new Asian balance featuring China, Japan, and India.

8. A New Realism: Crafting a US Foreign Policy for a New Century
Bill Richardson. Harvard International Review, Summer 2007, 5 pages.
The article emphasizes the need for the U.S. government to develop new foreign policies to address complex global challenges. Such policies should be crafted under a bipartisan paradigm shift, with the United States assuming the role of a global leader. The author describes the trends that transform the world, and proposes ways in which the U.S. government can change its present course and adapt to a complex society.

9. A NATO for the 21st Century: Toward a New Strategic Concept
Jamie Shea. The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Summer 2007, 13 pages.
NATO will mark its 60th anniversary in 2009, but celebrations are meaningless without a continuing sense of purpose.  NATO’s ongoing mission in Afghanistan, its efforts to combat terrorism and WMD proliferation, and its humanitarian relief capabilities, among other things, will continue to be critical to the security of its member states and the broader regions within which the Alliance operates.  So what in particular does NATO have that is especially significant to celebrate in 2009?

GLOBAL ISSUES AND ENVIRONMENT

10. Two Paths for the Planet
Ross Gelbspan. The American Prospect, July/August 2007, 4 pages.
Humanity is facing an increasingly chaotic future driven by a succession of climate-driven emergencies.  As the world’s biggest energy user, the United States can be a global leader in the energy transition or it can obstruct it.  The author concludes that the future of the world quite literally depends on whether U.S. leadership rises to the occasion.

11. The Living Conditions of Children
Harry Anthony Patrinos.  World Bank Policy Research Working Paper #4251, June 2007, 20 pages.
This paper summarizes the socioeconomic conditions of children around the world.  It explores solutions to the main problems affecting children, along with a summary of the costs and benefits of some of the solutions.  Emphasis is on results from rigorous studies, impact evaluations, and randomized experiments.  Although the literature on cost-evidence is scarce, a good case for early interventions and key quality-enhancing education interventions exists.

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

12. Kind of Confidential
Lori Robertson. American Journalism Review, June/July 2007, 8 pages.
The judiciary is expecting journalists to expose their confidential sources and punishing those who do not.  This article examines the controversy over the increased use of subpoenas issued to journalists, citing several high-profile cases to illustrate the extent of this problem.

13. A World of Connections: A Special Report on Telecoms
The Economist, April 28, 2007, 14 pages.
In the future, wireless communications will increasingly become part of everyday life.  Some governments, such Korea and Japan, have incorporated wireless technology into their national policies.  This report provides updates on wireless technologies and their future.

U.S. SOCIETY AND CULTURE

14. How Americans View Their Lives
Robert Blendon and John Benson. Challenge, May-June 2007, 21 pages.
When asked, many Americans say they are doing well financially, but further examination begins to raise doubts.  The majority are concerned that they cannot meet the costs of a typical life.  It is not the availability of jobs that they are so worried about, but instead the ability to afford the goods and services that they believe they need.  In this annual analysis of public opinion surveys, the authors assess the policy implications of how Americans think and feel today.

15. The Truth about America's Schools
Diane Ravitch. The American, July/August 2007, 8 pages.
How big is America's school system?  How can we judge the quality of U.S. schools? Why does a country as rich as the United States still struggle with student achievement? The author answers these tough questions about K-12 education and proposes ways to solve America’s educational problems.

16. Intercultural Communication and the New American Campus
Janet M. Bennett and Riikka Salonen. Change, March/April 2007, 5 pages.
Educators face challenges both in teaching about culture and in teaching across cultures. While culture is often addressed in the content of the curriculum, it is less frequently incorporated into the process of teaching and learning.  This article examines available resources and materials on intercultural perspective, which can be used to examine patterns in any culture, domestic or international.

17. Think Small! A Beginner's Guide to Using Technology to Promote Learning
Beverly R. King. Educause Quarterly Number 1, 2007, 4 pages.
Many faculty members in higher education are relatively inexperienced in the art of teaching with technology or have been frustrated in previous attempts because of the overwhelming number of options available.  To increase the use of technology in teaching, faculty should think small by learning from examples of successful strategies and taking incremental steps to achieve similar successes.

18. A Little Sunshine
Melissa Maynard. Governing, July 2007, 3 pages.
Reversing the trend towards secrecy that prevailed at all levels from 2001 to 2005, there is now a growing revival of interest in the United States in open-government issues and sunshine laws.  State-level freedom of information coalitions are proliferating and becoming more influential and the media are providing much of the momentum, but citizen activists are beginning to play a more visible role.  Meanwhile, lawmakers are struggling to update the laws to address new technology, such as e-mail, teleconferencing and the Internet.

19. Obama's Viral Marketing Campaign
Karen Tumulty. Time, July 16, 2007, 2 pages.
The Internet is changing the nature of political fund raising, and with creative strategies, it can bring in significant amounts of campaign money and other support.  This article explains how the Internet is allowing U.S. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama to accept small donations from supporters and how those contributions help his campaign.

20. Democracy Assistance to Domestic Election Monitoring Organizations: Conditions for Success
Sharon F. Lean. Democratization, April 2007, 24 pages.
Can the international community effectively promote and support – sometimes even create – domestic civil society? This article investigates conditions for successful democracy assistance to civic actors through a comparative study of six domestic election monitoring organizations in the Americas.

TRANSLATED DOCUMENTS

The following articles from “USA Economy in Brief”, a Electronic Publication of the U.S. Department of State

21. Goods and Services
A national economy comprises a country's production of goods and services. Real gross domestic product (GDP) measures such output produced by labor and property in the United States.

22. A Service Economy
Services produced by private industry accounted for 67.8 percent of U.S. gross domestic product in 2006, with real estate and financial services such as banking, insurance, and investment on top. Some other categories of services are wholesale and retail sales; transportation; health care; legal, scientific, and management services; education; arts; entertainment; recreation; hotels and other accommodation; restaurants, bars, and other food and beverage services.

23. Creative Destruction
With a large land mass, natural resources, a stable government, and a relatively well-educated workforce, the U.S. economy has some competitive advantages in the world marketplace. Importantly, it also has a willingness to endure, even embrace, change.

24. Businesses Large and Small
Small businesses, those having fewer than 500 employees, loom large in the U.S. economy. They can respond quickly to changing economic conditions and customer needs with innovative technical solutions to production problems. Their share of nonfarm GDP reached 50.7 percent in 2004.

25. Workers and Productivity
"America's high standard of living is due to the fact that American workers are among the most productive in the world, and a greater share of the American population works than in many other countries," according to the Council on Competitiveness.

26. The Role of Government
Some people complain that government regulation of the economy is too little, too late. Others scoff that the U.S. economy is no free market at all, with so much regulation. Some of the most enduring debates of U.S. economic history focus on the role of government.

27. Macroeconomic Policy
The federal government aims to promote the conditions required for steady economic expansion and high levels of employment, especially a stable general price level and a tolerable tax burden. The Federal Reserve, the independent U.S. central bank, manages the money supply and use of credit (monetary policy), while the president and Congress adjust federal spending and taxes (fiscal policy).