Council on Foreign Relations

Four experts debate whether Obama's immigration reform plan, including an expanded path to legalization, would help or harm U.S. workers and economic growth.

News that global trade contracted in 2009 underscores the need for Obama's trade strategy to include negotiating exchange rates with Asian countries and promoting free trade agreements, says IIE's Gary Hufbauer.

With some findings of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in question, four experts debate how much the premier climate science review panel may need to make changes.

Markets' reaction to the sovereign debt crisis in Greece and other European countries suggests global governments "have used up all their ammunition to boost global growth," and could be punished by the markets if they sustain stimulus programs, says CFR's Sebastian Mallaby.

Despite lingering uncertainty about the outcome of Copenhagen's climate negotiations, there are signs that carbon markets will continue to make gains, says World Bank carbon finance expert Joelle Chassard.

The Obama administration's proposed defense budget fails to align spending with calls to rebuild the military to handle irregular warfare, says expert Todd Harrison. He also cites an inability to get personnel costs under control.

Some of Obama's budget proposals are sound policy, but congressional gridlock and faster economic reforms in China and Europe could jeopardize U.S. competitiveness, says Economist.com editor Ryan Avent.

President Barack Obama's first State of the Union address focused heavily, as expected, on domestic economic recovery and reasserting U.S. competitiveness. Six CFR experts noted different aspects of the challenges facing Obama.

President Obama, a newly minted Nobel Peace Prize winner, now faces the daunting task of delivering on a range of challenges, especially nuclear nonproliferation and climate change, says CFR's Michael Levi.

As the U.S. Senate debates the healthcare overhaul, experts are divided on whether proposed legislation would stifle U.S. economic and business competitiveness.

The recession has added fuel to the debate over skilled-worker visas, including a recent congressional effort to create stricter rules. CFR's Jagdish Bhagwati says the United States should be welcoming skilled workers and other immigrants.

Standard Chartered CEO Peter Sands says Western and Asian economies are both at risk of asset bubbles and that higher savings and social safety nets in Asia are not a near-term fix to global financial problems.

CFR's Marc Levinson says further international coordination on financial regulation may do more harm than good and expresses doubts about federal restrictions on executive pay.

Morgan Stanley executive Stephen Roach says China's undervalued currency is a "red herring" in the debate over global imbalances and that policymakers should instead focus on China's social safety net and boosting U.S. savings.

CFR's Benn Steil says the dollar's continuing decline could result in higher prices for major imports like energy and, in a worst-case scenario, might lead to higher inflation and interest rates.

Analyst Edwin Truman says the IMF is gaining power but its influence will depend on its assertiveness with countries like the United States and China, as well as the pace of its own reforms.

CFR's Michael Levi says the Obama administration faces tough negotiations on a global climate change agreement at the December Copenhagen meeting without clear support from Congress. But he says Obama has other legislative options.

CFR's Roger M. Kubarych says the G-20 summit will find leaders relieved that the worst of the global economic crisis is over but divided over substantive changes to the world's financial architecture.

Despite early signs of a global economic recovery, CFR Steven Dunaway says it's too early to determine how lasting the rebound might be. "The world economy is not out of the woods yet," he says.

Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, says U.S. domestic climate legislation might pass in 2010, after Congress deals with health care reform. But a global climate agreement, set to be discussed in Copenhagen in December 2009, is dependent on U.S. policy, she says.