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57542. State Department Reform
- Author:
- Frank C. Carlucci and Ian J. Brzezinski
- Publication Date:
- 02-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Language should designate State Department renewal as one of your top priorities and present your initiative as the next stage of a bipartisan reform process already initiated by Congress. A paragraph in this speech would serve as an invaluable tool to the secretary of state in his efforts to win necessary legislative support and to overcome bureaucratic inertia and resistance.
57543. U.S.-Cuban Relations in the 21st Century: A Follow-On Chairman's Report
- Author:
- Julia Sweig and Walter Mead
- Publication Date:
- 02-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- In the last quarter of 1998, following the visit to Cuba of Pope John Paul II, the Council on Foreign Relations convened an Independent Task Force to assess U.S. policy toward Cuba in the post–Cold War era. The Task Force represents a bipartisan group of former State Department officials, congressional staff, labor leaders, and students of Latin American affairs and U.S. foreign policy from a cross section of think tanks, academic and religious institutions, businesses, trade unions, and government agencies. In a chairman's report issued in January 1999, the Task Force recommended a number of steps to strengthen civil society in Cuba, expand people-to-people contact between Cubans and Americans, and “contribute to rapid, peaceful, democratic transition in Cuba while safeguarding the vital interests of the United States.”
- Political Geography:
- United States and Cuba
57544. The Declining Use of Unskilled Labour in Italian Manufacturing: Is Trade to Blame?
- Author:
- Paul Brenton and Anna Maria Pinna
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- As in other industrialised countries, the manufacturing sector in Italy has recently experienced a substantial increase in the use of skilled relative to unskilled workers — skill upgrading. In this paper we estimate a model, based upon the notion of outsourcing, of the relative demand for skilled labour which allows identification of the roles of technological change and trade, the two main culprits, in skill upgrading. Compared to previous studies of Italy the model is applied to highly disaggregated industrial data and in addition the impact of trade is more precisely measured through the separate identification of import flows from low-wage labour abundant countries and those from OECD partners. Furthermore we also introduce a measure of trade variability. Our results show firstly that economic variables played little or no role in determining the relative demand for unskilled workers in the 1970s in Italy, reflecting the nature of Italian labour market institutions in the period. Subsequently, in the 1980s and 1990s, following some labour market reforms, we find that international competition, in terms of import penetration and the variability of trade prices, had a significant effect on the relative demand for blue-collar workers in Italy in skilled intensive sectors. In unskilled intensive sectors, such as textiles and clothing, where the impact of imports from low-wage countries might be expected to be more pronounced, we do not find a significant effect from imports but rather that the most important role has been played by technological change. The result is consistent with previous studies that indicate that Italian textile and clothing firms have remained internationally competitive by increasingly switching to high quality segments of the industry.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Human Rights, International Trade and Finance, Migration, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Italy
57545. The War Against Terrorism and the Transformation of the World Order
- Author:
- François Heisbourg, David C. Gompert, Klaus Becher, and Alexei Arbatov
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- If the Gulf War of 1990-91 was a “defining moment” – one in which countries had to take sides – 11 September 2001 was much more, a “transforming moment”: not only was there an obligation to stand up and be counted, but with the advent of hyperterrorism, the post-Cold War era itself came to an abrupt end. Before discussing the implications of this “transforming moment”, two preliminary remarks are in order.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, NATO, Cold War, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Europe
57546. Shaping Europe's Migration Policy
- Author:
- Joanna Apap
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- During the 1990s, Justice and Home Affairs moved, in an unexpected way, to centre stage in the European debate. Concern had been growing about immigration policy since the Maastricht Treaty institutionalised the third pillar of the European Union. This concern had been stimulated by several factors – the persistence of irregular migration and tragic incidents, such as the one in Dover in July 2000 in which 58 Chinese nationals lost their lives trying to enter illegally into the United Kingdom, the need for immigrant workers in some sectors, and the spectre of an ageing European population. More generally, the Treaty of Amsterdam, since its entry into force in 1999, represents a major development in overall Justice and Home Affairs policy, and the implementation of the treaty provisions in Justice and Home Affairs was described as the next major EU initiative after the single currency.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Human Rights, International Trade and Finance, Migration, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Europe
57547. What Are the Limits to Economic Integration?
- Author:
- Paul Brenton
- Publication Date:
- 11-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- This paper discusses the continuing importance of borders, even within the EU, for the volume of international trade and global capital flows. It suggests that a range of factors, including the nature of the commercial, social and legal fabric of a country and the structure of consumers' preferences, act to constrain cross-border exchanges relative to internal transactions. Hence, whilst the process of globalisation may continue, there are likely to be distinct limits to the extent of economic integration. This entails that the traditional roles of governments in OECD countries in providing social welfare and regulating the market economy within national boundaries will not be seriously undermined. However, the situation may differ in developing countries where existing social and legal institutions may be compromised by globalisation rather than acting to dampen its impact.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Human Rights, International Trade and Finance, Migration, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Europe
57548. Fiscal Policy Spillovers in the Euro Area: Where Are They?
- Author:
- Daniel Gros and Alexandr Hobza
- Publication Date:
- 11-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- What impact would a fiscal expansion in Germany have on the rest of the euro area? It has been generally suggested that it could go in either of two opposite directions, depending on the relative strength of two effects: the direct trade linkage and the financial market repercussions. A review of the results from four major macroeconomic models shows that the cross-country spillover effects of fiscal policy are indeed of uncertain sign and magnitude. Different models give quite different results if used in standardised simulations in terms of the sign, magnitude and time profile of the impact of a fiscal expansion in one member country (e.g. Germany) on other euro area countries. Fewer results are available concerning the potential spillover effects of structural policies, but they are similar to the ones concerning a budgetary stimulus: the magnitude of the spillover is small and varies across countries and over time.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Human Rights, International Trade and Finance, Migration, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Germany
57549. The EU's Rapid Reaction Capability
- Author:
- Charles Grant, François Heisbourg, Kori Schake, and Dmitry A. Danilov
- Publication Date:
- 10-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- It has become something of a commonplace to say that the European Union is suffering from a lack of political leadership. Where are the Delors, Kohls, Mitterrands and Thatchers of today? This dearth is especially evident in the specific area of defence policy. For the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) is a new and still largely embryonic venture. The progress made over the past three years has been striking, but there is a real risk that the ESDP that finally emerges will be much less impressive or noteworthy than had been promised.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, NATO, and Terrorism
- Political Geography:
- Europe
57550. Seigniorage: An Argument for a National Currency?
- Author:
- Fransizka Schobert
- Publication Date:
- 10-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
- Abstract:
- Seigniorage has often been mentioned as one of the most important and most readily quantifiable arguments for a government not to give up its monopoly in base money. The analysis shows that the measurement of seigniorage may lead to very different results and that it eventually depends on the monetary environment, in which central banks issue and manage base money. For less advanced countries in Central and Eastern Europe seigniorage has only been fiscally significant in high inflationary economies and even then the success in exploiting seigniorage has been limited. Widespread currency substitution has contributed to the results. Governments in these countries which are willing to stabilise prices but which lack crediblity to do so, may be increasingly interested in euroisation. More advanced EU-accession countries have received low revenues from having a national currency over the recent years. Seigniorage has arisen as a by-product of other central bank's objectives such as price and exchange rate stability. This caused high sterilisation costs and valuation gains of the central bank's asset portfolio have often been the main reason for positive results of seigniorage. In search for a viable monetary regime and in face of further liberalisations of capital markets these countries may look at euroisation as a choice to achieve price stability without exchange rate volatility.
- Topic:
- Economics and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Europe