Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Trade, Equity & Development Program

The Malawi Model

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Unless the global aid community reverses its support of agricultural privatization and begins to cultivate Malawi-style state subsidies, continuing localized food crises may transform into an unprecedented global famine.

Two Views on the Cause of the Global Crisis

Tue, 05 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400

While analysts can quibble over the contributing factors to the financial meltdown, a deeper, more fundamental problem was the real cause: income inequality.

G20 Leaders to Tout Competing Ideas on Recovery

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400

China wants to look like a leader at the G20 summit by highlighting the extent of its stimulus package ($586 billion) as well as the relative health of its financial system.

Brazil in the Global Economy

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Despite holding a leading position in world trade negotiations, Brazil will benefit little from increased trade. Policy makers face acute challenges as the country struggles to generate sufficient employment and improve labor incomes.

Changes in Earnings in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico: Disentangling the Forces Behind Pro-Poor Change in Labor Markets

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Past financial crises and periods of slow growth in developing countries show that economic downturns may impact the income of the poor less severely than that of the non-poor. However, given the paucity of their initial incomes, even small reductions in earnings impose a heavy toll on the poor.

Resurgent Protectionism: Risks and Possible Remedies

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Aggressive action is needed to address the global financial crisis, but bailouts could—if not orchestrated carefully—provoke a devastating global trade war. Leaders at the G20 meeting on April 2 must devise a coordinated and transparent plan to re-ignite growth and avoid a resurgence of protectionism.

Judicious Use of Sovereign Wealth Vital for GCC

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Gulf Arab states need to initiate reforms and investments for the longer term through judicious use of sovereign wealth funds in order to make their economies more competitive, said Carnegie's Uri Dadush.

Learning from the Past: Mexico's Failed Pro-Market Policy Experience

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Mainstream economic policies in Mexico managed to generate growth that proved neither pro-poor nor sustained. The Mexican experience shows the need to leave behind the blind faith in market forces and embrace employment-based policies.

Minimum Wages and the Wage Structure in Mexico

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Low minimum wages may be partially to blame for the growth of inequality in Mexico throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. Minimum wages play an important role in wage-setting for low-income workers, including those in the informal sector. Government policies aiming to mitigate minimum wage’s negative impacts on employment may have pernicious consequences for income inequality.

China Regional Disparities - The Causes and Impact of Regional Inequalities in Income and Well-Being

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0400

For a rapidly growing economy like China's, with major income and consumption increases in all regions, inequality can serve to provide incentives for labor to move voluntarily to locations and occupations where it is more productive and hence better able to earn a higher standard of living.

Towards an Employment-Centered Development Strategy for Poverty Reduction in The Gambia: Macroeconomic and Labour Market Aspects

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Carnegie's Eduardo Zepeda and James Heintz and Carlos Oya review the growth, employment and poverty record of Gambia. They focus on the macroeconomic environment and the structure and functioning of labor markets. The authors find that the growth pattern of Gambia does not appear to be pro-poor; improvements in the rate of growth appear to have, at best, halted the spread of poverty.

When Money Talks: Arab Sovereign Wealth Funds in the Global Public Policy Discourse

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The financial interdependence that sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) created between the West and the Arab world could help stabilize multilateral relations and promote economic development and political stability in the Middle East.

International Labor Migration in a Globalizing Economy

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

As globalization spread over the last twenty years, migration expanded less rapidly than either trade or foreign investment. Yet migration remains contentious. The net impact of migration is positive for the migrants and high-income countries, and more gains are feasible. Developing countries, however, may suffer from growing brain-drain.

South America Watches As U.S. Alters Free-Market Tune

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

As the U.S. government steps in to rescue the financial system, Latin American leaders are using the crisis to justify their own leftist policies, claiming the United States' free-market approach has collapsed. But some U.S. scholars see a middle ground; future regulation may help guide markets on the national and even the global stage, without completely departing from the free market system.

The Ungiven Gift

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Just three years ago, at the G-8 summit of industrialized nations, it looked like the world of foreign aid was about to change. Today, that hope has all but evaporated. A collision of factors, from politics to shifting global wealth, has unraveled the consensus once held among rich countries and allowed poorer nations to ignore calls for reform.

One Cheer for Global Trade Talks

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The World Trade Organization talks in Geneva this week are unlikely to result in a dramatic breakthrough on new trade rules, but Sandra Polaski argues that the impact of skyrocketing food prices on poor countries is finally resulting in progress on a new agricultural trade regime. Large differences over manufacturing and services trade will probably stymie a final deal for now. However the progress on farm talks augurs well for an eventual pact that takes account of the needs of ...

Does Democracy Promotion Have a Future?

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Democracy and Development

The Food Price Crisis in the Arab Countries: Short Term Responses to a Lasting Challenge

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The response of Arab governments to the unfolding crisis caused by escalating food prices has been extremely varied according to the different countries. Despite responsessuch as bread subsidies, increasing public sector wages, and tax reductions, there have been no real policy shifts addressing the core problems of the agricultural sector and excessive consumption of energy, especially in the non-oil exporting countries. Arab governments need to revisit agricultural policies by providing ...

Financing Energy Efficiency in China

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0500

As delegates in Bali struggle to agree on a climate change treaty, a new report from the Carnegie Endowment argues that reforming China’s financial sector can curb China’s greenhouse gas emissions even as work continues on an international treaty. China’s impressive national policies to promote clean and renewable energy have been undermined by unnecessary financial hurdles and bureaucratic struggles that increase financial risks and costs for potential investors.

Rising Food Prices, Poverty, and the Doha Round

Wed, 21 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

A new study reveals that although many poor households will require urgent assistance because of rising food prices, more are likely to gain than lose. It also recommends how the Doha Round, which might soon reach a deal, could help by:• allowing developing countries the policy tools they need to build up their own agricultural sectors;• increasing food supply in the medium and long term; and• shielding the poor from market failures that can affect their very survival.

What Can They Buy? A Good Bit of Us.

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

At the start, they came for the iPods. Then they came for condos in Manhattan and Miami. Now they're coming for the companies. These days, Europeans are taking advantage of the cheap U.S. dollar to buy more than consumer electronics or real estate in the United States. They are also gobbling up all kinds of U.S. corporations -- a trend that will be far more permanent, consequential and politically charged than Europeans' widely noticed shopping sprees for gadgets or apartments. "I am not ...

Energy Tribune Speaks with Amory Lovins

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Energy Tribune, November 9, 2007

Saving the Planet: The answer is...

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

COMMON WEALTH: Economics for a Crowded Planet By Jeffrey D. Sachs Penguin Press, 386 pages, $31 Jeffrey Sachs's new book is the author's blueprint for how global society should solve mankind's most pressing problems: climate change, shortage of water, excessive population growth (compared to energy and food capacity of the Earth), diseases (including AIDS), poverty and U.S. foreign policy. The way to solve them is through international co-operation, led by the rich countries, the United ...

Leadership Down Under

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Australia is under pressure, from both abroad and at home, to make an exception to global nuclear trading rules for India. Since taking office last November, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has taken a principled stand against the further spread and use of nuclear weapons and materials. In particular, he promised that Australia -- one of the world's largest uranium exporters -- would trade only with countries that play by international nuclear rules. Rudd should stand firm, honor his campaign ...

India's Trade Policy Choices

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

India would be six times better off under a multilateral trade agreement in the WTO’s Doha Round than from individual free trade agreements with the EU, United States, or China, contends a new report from the Carnegie Endowment. However, by lifting agricultural tariffs under a Doha agreement, India could lose more than it gained if prices of key commodities such as rice and wheat continue to swing sharply as they have in the past. In India’s Trade Policy Choices, Carnegie Senior ...