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The Dodd Bill: CoCo’s? Fine; Hobble the Fed? Don’t Do It.

Jeffrey Frankel on a recent proposal for financial reform.

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UPCOMING EVENT

November 30: Why Arab States Fear Islamist Regimes: Threat Perception and Soft Power Politics

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November 20, 2009

"Why Israel is Safer (from Iran) Than it Might Seem"

The Huffington Post

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

Most of the arguments that Iran is a threat to Israel center around Iranian President Ahmadinejad's anti-Semitism and holocaust denial. But he does not make Iranian foreign policy, Khameini does. Khameini has been in office since 1989, throughout the period of relative detente with the West during Khatami's presidency, and through the violent and volatile Ahmadinejad years. Yes, there is evidence that Khameini is a tyrant comfortable sanctioning violence to hold onto power in Iran; no, there is no evidence that he is a psychopath whose hatred of Israel would drive him to order the murder of millions. Yes, there is evidence that he sanctions the sponsorship of anti-Israel terrorism to increase his influence in the region, but no, there is no evidence that he values a confrontation with Israel the reprisal from which would inevitably cause Iranian casualties and threaten the regime's already weak power structure (from within even if not from without).

AP Photo

Fall 2009

"Energy for Change: Introduction to the Special Issue on Energy & Climate Change"

Innovations, issue 4, volume 4

By John P. Holdren, Former Director and Faculty Chair, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program

"Without energy, there is no economy. Without climate, there is no environment. Without economy and environment, there is no material well-being, no civil society, no personal or national security. The overriding problem associated with these realities, of course, is that the world has long been getting most of the energy its economies need from fossil fuels whose emissions are imperiling the climate that its environment needs."

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November 2009

"Beyond Zero Enrichment: Suggestions for an Iranian Nuclear Deal"

By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom; Co-Principal Investigator, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (ERD3) Policy Project

"Some form of negotiated agreement, if it can be achieved, is the “least bad” option for U.S. interests—but is likely to have to include some continuing enrichment in Iran. There are real security risks in agreeing to permit some ongoing enrichment in Iran, but if appropriately managed, these security risks are less than those created by a military strike or allowing Iran to continue unfettered enrichment with no agreement."

Justin Knight

November 16, 2009

Harvard Kennedy School Presents 2009 Roy Award for Environmental Partnership to Mexico City Metrobus

By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications

Harvard Kennedy School presented the 2009 Roy Family Award for Environmental Partnership on Thursday, November 12, to the Mexico City Metrobus, a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system that reduces air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions while improving the quality of life and transportation options in one of the largest cities in the world. Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrarb, on behalf of the Mexico City government, joined other project partners in accepting the award during a ceremony and dinner at Harvard Kennedy School on Thursday, November 12.

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November 10, 2009

"Afghanistan is Neither Vietnam nor Iraq"

Foreign Policy

By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

"Afghanistan has little in common with either Vietnam or Iraq in terms of history, geography, culture, or politics. There is, however, a more apt analogy, and it involves the very area in dispute."

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Forthcoming 2009

"Catalyzing Strategic Transformation to a Low-carbon Economy: A CCS Roadmap for China"

Energy Policy

By Hengwei Liu, Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group

China now faces the three hard truths of thirsting for more oil, relying heavily on coal, and ranking first in global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Given these truths, two key questions must be addressed to develop a low-carbon economy: how to use coal in a carbon-constrained future? How to increase domestic oil supply to enhance energy security? Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) may be a technological solution that can deal with today's energy and environmental needs while enabling China to move closer to a low-carbon energy future. This paper has been developed to propose a possible CCS roadmap for China.

AP Photo

November 7, 2009

"Global Impact of America's Health-Care Debate"

The Korea Herald

By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University

"[Barack Obama's] proposals are meeting strong opposition from fiscally conservative Democrats as well as from Republicans, owing to their potential impact on future fiscal deficits," says Martin Feldstein, member of the Belfer Center's board of directors. "Because those deficits are the primary cause of America's current-account deficit - and thus of global imbalances - the health-care debate's outcome will affect governments and investors around the world."