2009/06/17
ThinktankWatch
Political Economy
atlas_foundation, economics, financial_crisis, freedom_to_trade, liberalism, think_tank, think_tanks-alliance
Chain, a photograph by Shoothead (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leecullivan/)
I cannot explain better:
“The specter of protectionism is rising. It is always a dangerous and foolish policy, but it is especially dangerous at a time of economic crisis, when it threatens to damage the world economy. Protectionism’s peculiar premise is that national prosperity is increased when government grants monopoly power to domestic producers. As centuries of economic reasoning, historical experience, and empirical studies have repeatedly shown, that premise is dead wrong. Protectionism creates poverty, not prosperity. Protectionism doesn’t even “protect” domestic jobs or industries; it destroys them, by harming export industries and industries that rely on imports to make their goods. Raising the local prices of steel by “protecting” local steel companies just raises the cost of producing cars and the many other goods made with steel. Protectionism is a fool’s game”. More
2009/06/11
ThinktankWatch
Political Economy
credit_crunch, housing, Institute_for_Public_policy_Research, mortgage_lending, Northern_Rock
It is easy to propose solutions after crisis have come, but also it is necessary to think about if we want to avoid a new arrival of chaos. Mortgage lending has been one of the main factors of the financial nightmare and we need to improve the control over the issue, as many families make a enormous effort to be owners of a house. Here there one recommendation over the question. More
2009/05/20
ThinktankWatch
Education
Brookings_Institution, Education, higer_education, job_market, Middle_East, think_tank, unemployment, youth
Young people is our hope. This is one the reasons why we have children and work to give them a better life. We expect that when they become adult they will take the baton we pass as getting older. An that they will perform a better race. However, I am not very sure that we can follow in a permanent progress. It is emerging the belief that the next generations are not going to be so prosperous. It is clear young people are enjoying a superb standard of living in developed countries, but it does not happen the same in other places. More
2009/05/05
ThinktankWatch
International Relations, Political Economy
Africa, Cato_Institute, corruption, free_trade, liberalism, public_debt, think_tank
It is always Africa. The forgotten continent. It could be an empty lost planet, like Mars, but there are millions and of persons fighting to survive in its beautifully sad lands. You can see the metaphor of Africa in a sequence of The Constant Gardener, when people run away through the desert as bandits come to rob and kill them. While white men could get on the plane, black people only have the choice of running faster than their captors. The support of the white man is only an illusion because if times go harder, like in the movie, there is no chance to save Africans. More
2009/04/21
ThinktankWatch
Political Economy
crisis, economics, financial_crisis, hudson_Institute, think_tank, US_economy
Politicians say we do not have to lose our hope. May be it is the only advice they can offer as they do not have any other solution apart from increasing and increasing public spending. Therefore, we can understand why they highlight any minimum change their watchmen observe in the economic environment. They are signs of hope. Last week we receive information on one of them, that several big banks are starting to make profits. It is a positive news, of course, but we are not very sure that it means the arrival of winds of prosperity.
More
2009/04/16
ThinktankWatch
International Relations
frank barnaby, International Relations, IPPR, nuclear power, plutonium, public_policy, think_tank, wmd
Among other also bad consequences, economic crisis is playing a key role in the growing weakness of the public debate. We understand that political firemen are very busy looking for a a way to solve the financial nightmare but it is not healthy the rest of us are only thinking on macroeconomics. A big number of hot questions are waiting for public policy decisions. We should remember that in terms of global stability we were not very comfortable two years ago. Economic situation has worsened, but other problems have not gone better.
It is the case of the nuclear threat. Nuclear energy is being discussed because more people agree to a revival in its use. Fourth generation plant and the need to generate a lot of cheap energy are harder arguments than the points of the environmentalists and socialist political parties. The nuclear lobby enjoys to be listened by a bigger audience and there are many plans to increase the number of atomic power plants in all over the Western world. We have not solved the problem of the nuclear waste, but it seems we do not care about next generations as we did.
More
2009/03/04
ThinktankWatch
Political Philosophy
Carnegie_Endowment, democracy, International_Relations, socialism, think_tank
Western democracy has proved to be the best of the political regimes mankind has tried in centuries. It does not mean it is a perfect system, but we have not found anything better. However, many people of the most advanced democracies think that the dream of extending free rights and the government from the citizens is sometimes turning into a nighmare. The fall of socialist experiments apparently left the only way to democracy, but twenty years after, it seems that some countries can survive without respecting the democratic rule and be accepted as decent members of the international community. It seems we prefer to maintain the statu quo and not disturbing the fragile peace with the democratic ‘obsession’. More
2009/03/02
ThinktankWatch
Political Economy
capitalism, property_rights, Property_Rights_Alliance, public_sector, think_tank
In our times, it is difficult to defend communism. Apart from the monk communities, nobody is able to share everything with others. The socialist experiments of the 20th Century are a far and away nightmare and there is no person who wants to repeat. We have remains like Cuba of North Korea but, fortunately, they are coming to an end. We hope.
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