ECONOMICS AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS
AP Photo
June 2009
"Improving Russia-U.S. Relations: The Next Steps"
Policy Memo
By Thomas M. Nichols, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom
There is no endemic reason for Russian-U.S. relations to be as tense as they have become over the past several years. Th is situation is largely due, on one side, to mishandling of Russian affairs by both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and on the other by the obvious manipulation of anti-Americanism for domestic gain by the Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev administrations in Russia. Unfortunately, this means that only unilateral U.S. action can undermine the cynical policies of the Russian leadership and restore dynamism to the Russian-U.S. relationship.
AP Photo
February 2009
"Driving Carbon Capture and Storage Forward in China"
Journal Article, Energy Procedia, issue 1, volume 1
By Hengwei Liu, Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group and Kelly Sims Gallagher, Senior Associate, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), as an option in the portfolio of mitigation actions to combat climate change, is expected to have far-reaching implications for China. This paper (1) explores the strategic significance of CCS for China by making an extreme scenario analysis of Chinese power sector in 2030; (2) provides an overview of the recent CCS activities in China; and (3) identifies the major challenges with respect to CCS development in China and put forwards immediate strategies.
AP Photo
June 16, 2009
"Moral Hazard and the Crisis"
Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal
By Paul Volcker, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
We can, and we should, take steps to limit the need and possibility of official "bailouts." One approach would be to set clear policy limits to access to the "official safety net." Deposit insurance and central bank liquidity facilities are properly confined to deposit-taking institutions. It is, after all, those institutions that remain the backbone of the financial system. They provide basic essential services, meeting the needs of households, businesses and other institutions for credit, for a safe and liquid repository for their funds, and for both everyday and complex payment services.
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June 15, 2009
"A New Financial Foundation"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor (on leave) and Timothy Geithner
In developing its proposals, the administration has focused on five key problems in our existing regulatory regime -- problems that, we believe, played a direct role in producing or magnifying the current crisis.
AP Image
June 14, 2009
"Preventing another collapse"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Sir John Gieve, Former Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
"There are four key areas in which the change has to go beyond the incremental: discipline on the biggest firms, using capital requirements to dampen the economic cycle, international cooperation, and institutional change."
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Forthcoming October 2009
"Understanding China's Climate Change Policy—From Both International and Domestic Perspectives"
Journal Article, American Journal of Chinese Studies, issue 2, volume 16
By Bo Wang, Former Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, 2008-2009
China's climate change policy expresses both continuity and change over time. Continuity is observed in China's active involvement in policy formation, both domestically and internationally. Changes are reflected both in China's institutional arrangements on climate change mitigation and adaptation and increasing flexibility in international negotiations. Both continuity and change can be attributed to international and domestic factors. Among China's foreign policy objectives are enhancing its international image, international engagement, sovereignty concerns, and solidarity with developing countries. Domestic objectives include the need for continued economic development, increased attention to environmental protection, and social learning effects.
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June 9, 2009
"Going Beyond MBA Oaths"
Op-Ed, Harvard Business Review
By Ben Heineman, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"Siemens had a strongly worded code against bribery. It just lacked principles, practices and, ultimately, a culture to make that code a reality."
June 2, 2009
"Has a recovery really begun in U.S.?"
Op-Ed, The Korea Herald
By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University
Although the American economy is continuing to decline, it is no longer falling as fast as it was at the beginning of the year or in the weeks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. In that sense, it is reasonable to say that the worst of the downturn is now probably behind us.
June 2009
"Back to the drawing board – regulation and macroeconomics after the crisis"
Policy Memo
By Sir John Gieve, Former Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
The financial crisis of the last two years has now led to a profound world recession. It calls not just for emergency measures but for major changes in our longer term policy. We need to go back to the drawing board not just on financial regulation but on macroeconomic policy and on macroeconomics itself.
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May 30, 2009
"A History Lesson for Economists in Thrall to Keynes"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Niall Ferguson, Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
It is a brave or foolhardy man who picks a fight with Mr Krugman, the most recent recipient of the Nobel Prize for Economics. Yet a cat may look at a king, and sometimes a historian can challenge an economist.
