Suchergebnisse

In the wake of the financial, food and fuel crises, a fourth 'F' shockwave hit the global economy in 2010: fiscal adjustment. It would mark the onset of a prolonged period of budget cuts that is now projected to continue at least through 2020 in high-income and developing countries alike. This article: (i) examines International Monetary Fund (IMF) government spending projections for 187 countries from 2005 to 2020, indicating a decade of austerity from 2010 onwards; (ii) reviews 616 IMF country reports in 183 countries to identify the main adjustment measures; and (iii) discusses the negative impacts of austerity on jobs and welfare, pointing to alternative policies to identify fiscal space for equitable and sustainable development. Note that this analysis was done prior to COVID-19, and the estimates for 2019 and 2020 reflect pre-pandemic projections.

With the expansion of credit, low interest rates and overly optimistic expectations about future economic and housing price developments, mortgage lending soared in most OECD countries in the run-up to the 2008 global economic crisis. The crisis revealed the hidden epidemic of over-indebtedness, which continues to overshadow the lives of millions in rich countries. In the wake of the global economic crisis, the household debt crisis led to worsening economic conditions and put pressure on government finances, which caused further income shocks in the form of austerity measures such as social welfare cuts and higher taxes. This article is based on a scoping review aimed at summarising and reflecting on the available literature. It analyses the effects of over-indebtedness on individuals and societies across six OECD countries: Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the US.

AbstractSyphilis has re-emerged as a global public health issue. In lesser developed countries, millions of people are contracting the disease, which can be fatal without access to proper treatment. In developed countries, prevalence is on the rise and has cycled around endemic levels for decades. We investigate syphilis dynamics by extending the classic SIRS epidemiological model to incorporate forward-looking, rational individuals. The integrated economic-epidemiological model shows that human preferences over health and sexual activity are central to the nature of syphilis cycles. We find that low-activity individuals will behave in a manner that significantly dampen the cycles, while high-activity individuals will tend to exacerbate the cycles, a phenomenon we refer to asrational dynamic resonance. The model also provides insights into failed attempts by the U.S. government to eradicate syphilis from the U.S. population.

The current UK government's policies include headlong spending cuts and a far-reaching restructuring of public provision. State welfare arguably contributes to political legitimacy and social stability, as well as to better social conditions and economic prosperity. The fact that current policies bear disproportionately on lower income groups may damage legitimacy.This article analyses a dataset covering twenty-six countries for more than two decades to show that spending cuts, privatisation and increases in poverty undermine legitimacy. It uses a direct measure of legitimacy in terms of the frequency of riots and political demonstrations and strikes, rather than the usual indirect measures in terms of attitudes and trust in government. Findings in relation to the increased work-centredness of the benefit and labour market reforms are more equivocal: a stricter benefit regime may not undermine legitimacy.

Abstract
Stringent environmental taxes in high-income countries are assumed to drive dirty industries to low-income countries, but the empirical evidence for ``pollution havens" is surprisingly weak. We demonstrate that a government trying to prevent flight by a ``dirty" durable good monopolist can impose an effluent tax that is offset by a lump-sum subsidy so that both firm profits and host-country welfare are increased. The scheme exploits the Coase Conjecture insight: a durable goods monopolist has a time-consistency dilemma that limits its ability to restrict future output. In this environment the effluent tax provides a credible commitment that restricts future supply. We assert that the use of lump-sum subsidies in strategic location competition is consistent with this mechanism, and this paradigm may be an important piece of the ``pollution haven paradox."

The article will examine the latest development of China's urban social assistance reform. Under the impact of the dual processes of globalisation and the deepening market transition, China's social security reform is increasingly taking a new safety net approach to assist the urban poor, instead of relying mainly on social insurance provision. The minimum living security project for urban residents is one of the approaches supplementing social insurance in social protection. In 2002, about one-third of social security beneficiaries were supported by the newly developed social assistance project. The changing approach does not mean that the government is withdrawing from its responsibility for social insurance to the urban workers, but reflects the changing goals and means of social policies. This indicates that China's social welfare system is shifting towards a new residual welfare model.

This Brief discusses the current policy environment in which the United States space program operates and proposes an industry-government partnership as a long-term policy solution. Since the Reagan administration, American space policy has increasingly sought to involve private sector operators for space. The culmination of this trend has been the Obama administration's policy of private sector transportation of crew and cargo to the International Space Station on behalf of NASA. This book proposes that future administrations extend this policy to other areas of space, including energy, in orbit manufacturing, asteroid mining, and the exploration of the Moon and Mars. The book further demonstrates how these activities can stabilize the global political system and lead to a dramatic increase in global economic growth. Finally, the book addresses one of the most important and critical issues currently facing humanity-the need for a viable, baseload, and unlimited supply of totally clean energy. An extremely cogent analysis of the interrelationship between space activity and the terrestrial economy, this book showcases the political and economic potential of the medium of space and adds greatly to the existing literature in the field. This book will be of interest to students of political science and strategic studies as well as members of the military, government space agencies, and the international aerospace industry.

Assesses the extent to which think tanks are effective in exercising influence beyond the political and policy spheres.

Discusses external and internal policy decisions which have promoted change in the Communist party; since the 1970s, chiefly.

Commenting on the recently released report of the Democratic Policy Commission entitled, "New choices in a changing America."

Intro -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- 1 What is a Chief of Staff? -- 2 Becoming Chief of Staff -- 3 What Makes a Good Chief of Staff? -- 4 Who's In or Out of the Minister's Team? -- 5 Leadership Behind the Arras -- 6 Competition and Cooperation -- 7 Crossbenchers and the Opposition -- 8 Valuing the Public Service -- 9 The Minister's Principal Policy Advisor -- 10 The Balance Between Stakeholders and Expectations -- 11 Politics and Policy -- 12 Celebrating Success and Coping with Defeat -- 13 Planning for Life after Death -- Acknowledgements -- Notes -- Index.

Las transformaciones políticas, económicas y sociales a partir de 1999 marcaron el rumbo de las políticas públicas en Venezuela. Desde el Estado se conformó una agenda pública de temas de interés y participación nacional, como fue el caso de la Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional. La creación y los cambios de la política alimentaria requieren de un análisis que permita estudiar los aspectos que originaron y determinaron la evolución de la misma. El enfoque teórico del presente artículo se basó en el análisis de los elementos del ciclo de la política relacionados con la agenda, su diseño e implementación. Los principales hallazgos dan cuenta que la política inició con una alta participación de actores involucrados. En la implementación, el Estado centralizó las decisiones institucionales de su transformación. Por ello la evolución de la política ha estado enmarcada en la discrecionalidad de los gobiernos que la han ejecutado, sin evaluación de resultados. El rediseño de la política no ha agregado cambios que permitieran un desempeño más eficiente. En consecuencia, durante más de una década con dos gobiernos socialistas, la sociedad venezolana ha sido sometida a un estado de vulnerabilidad y riesgo en el sistema de la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. ; Political, economic and social transformations since 1999 had influenced the orientation of public policies in Venezuela. From the State, a public agenda of issues of national interest and participation was formed, such as the case of Food and Nutrition Security. Moreover, the creation and changes of the food policy require an analysis that allows studying the aspects that originated and determined the evolution of the same. Based on these considerations, the theoretical approach of this article was to analyze the elements of the policies cycle related to the agenda, as well as its design and implementation. Main results indicate that the policy began with a high participation of actors involved. In the implementation, the State centralized the institutional decisions. For this reason, the evolution of the policy has been framed in the discretion of the governments that have executed it, without evaluation of results. The redesign of the policy has not added changes that allowed a more efficient performance. Consequently, for more than a decade with two socialist governments, Venezuelan society has been subjected to a state of vulnerability and risk in the food and nutrition security system. ; Les transformations politiques, économiques et sociales depuis 1999 ont marqué l'orientation des politiques publiques au Venezuela. Depuis l'État agenda public des questions d'intérêt national et la participation a été formé, comme ce fut le cas de la sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition. Changements de la création et de la politique alimentaire nécessitent une analyse pour étudier les aspects qui a pris naissance et a déterminé l'évolution du même. L'approche théorique est fondée sur l'analyse des éléments des programmes liés au cycle, la conception des politiques et la mise en oeuvre. Les résultats montrent que la politique initiée avec une forte participation des parties prenantes. Dans la mise en oeuvre, l'état centralisé des décisions de transformation institutionnelle. Par conséquent, l'évolution de la politique a été formulée à la discrétion des gouvernements qui ont exécuté sans évaluation des résultats. Redessiner la politique n'a pas encore ajouté des changements pour permettre des performances plus efficaces. Par conséquent, depuis plus d'une décennie avec deux gouvernements socialistes, la société vénézuélienne a été soumise à un état de vulnérabilité et les risques dans le système de sécurité alimentaire et de la nutrition. ; As transformações políticas, econômicas e sociais, desde 1999, definiramo rumo das políticas públicas na Venezuela. Do ponto de vista do Estado, erigiu-se uma agenda pública estatal em termos de assuntos de interesse e participação nacional, como no caso da Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional. A criação e mudanças na política alimentar exigem uma análise que permita estudar os aspectos que originaram e determinaram sua evolução. O enfoque teórico do presente artigo se baseia na análise de elementos do ciclo da política relacionados com a agenda, seu respectivo desenho e implementação. Entre os principais resultados consta que a política se iniciou com uma alta participação de atores envolvidos. Em sua implementação, o Estado centralizou as decisões institucionais de seu funcionamento.Em função disso, a evolução da política esteve marcada pela discricionariedade dos governos que a executaram, sem avaliação de resultados. O redesenho da política não trouxe mudanças que permitissem um desempenho mais eficiente. Em consequência, durante mais de uma década, com dois sucessivos governos socialistas, a sociedade venezuelana foi submetida a um estado de vulnerabilidade e risco no sistema de segurança alimentar e nutricional. ; 51-67 ; Semestral

AbstractWe use a survey of State House reporters to measure corruption in state government and assess the priority federal prosecutors place on corruption investigations. The reliability and validity of the corruption measures are assessed, as are the relationships among corruption level, federal prosecutorial effort, and the number of federal prosecutions. Federal corruption prosecutions are positively correlated with both corruption and prosecutorial effort. Hence, we argue that federal prosecution data provide a potentially biased and unreliable measure of state public corruption.

"In recent years, the world has witnessed the coming of age of international investment law. The numbers are telling with over 2600 bilateral investment treaties, over 462 free trade, customs unions and other economic partnership agreements notified to the WTO, with 276 being in force, an increasing number of which include investment chapters, and over 350 known investor-State treaty-based arbitrations. This phenomenon has not left many untouched as over 175 States have signed international investment agreements (IIAs) and at least 81 governments have faced investment treaty arbitrations. The regime, however, has not been without criticisms. The main criticisms being: that IIAs do not fulfil their great bargain the promotion of investment, while they effectively protect powerful economic interests; that IIAs protect investor's rights over the public interest of the host country; that the dispute settlement system put in place by IIAs lacks legitimacy due to the fundamentally ad hoc nature of investor-State arbitration; and that the complexity and cost of the system are out of control.This book takes stock of developments in international investment law and analyzes potential solutions to some of these criticisms from the perspective of international public policy, in negotiations, substantive obligations and dispute resolution. The book is prepared by a group of scholars and practitioners from Canada and Europe. It takes a multidisciplinary approach to the subject, with analysis from the legal, political and economic perspectives. The first part of the book traces the evolution in IIA treaty-making and provides an evaluation from a political economy and economics perspective. The other three parts are organised around the concepts of efficiency, legitimacy and sustainability. Each contributor analyzes one or more issues of treaty negotiation, substance or dispute resolution, with the ultimate aim of improving IIA treaty-making in these respects."--