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May 2009
Council Special Report No. 47
Council Special Report
The Canadian oil sands present an important challenge to policymakers: they promise energy security benefits but present climate change problems. Michael A. Levi assesses the energy security and climate change effects of the oil sands and makes recommendations for U.S. policymakers within the context of broader bilateral relations with Canada.
See more in Canada, Climate Change, Energy Security
March 2009
Council Special Report No. 45
Council Special Report
In this report, Benn Steil shows that the financial crisis is the inevitable bust of a classic credit boom, and explains how monetary, taxation, and home ownership promotion policy combined with other features of the financial system to fuel an unsustainable buildup in debt. He recommends significant reforms to reverse the debt financing bias and make the system more resilient to falls in asset prices.
See more in Financial Crises, International Finance
March 2009
Council Special Report No. 44
Council Special Report
As the economic crisis has spread from financial markets to real economies in countries around the world, governments have understandably focused on short-term measures to contain the damage. But in order for policymakers to tackle today’s global economic crisis, this report argues, they must go beyond bailouts and stimulus packages and focus on one of the crisis's root causes: imbalances between savings and investment in major countries.
See more in Economics, Financial Crises, Global Governance
September 2008
Council Special Report No. 39
Council Special Report
Unlike during the Cold War, the threat of nuclear attack now comes from rogue states that receive their weapons from sovereign nations. In this report, Michael A. Levi outlines how to discourage those nations from giving their nuclear technologies to terrorists, how to prevent accidental transfers, and the role that nuclear attribution plays in contemporary proliferation.
See more in United States, Proliferation
September 2008
Council Special Report No. 37
Council Special Report
The rise in China’s trade surplus, the increase in oil prices, and a slowdown in demand for U.S. assets from private investors abroad has increased the United States’ reliance on foreign governments for financing. This report examines whether America’s ability to secure large quantities of external financing from foreign governments is a reflection of its political power, a constraint on its ability to exercise power, or a combination of the two.
See more in United States, Economics, Financial Crises
June 2008
Council Special Report No. 34
Council Special Report
In the past three years, many countries have adopted or expanded regimes to review inward foreign direct investment (FDI) for either national or economic security purposes, reducing the quantity and quality of global FDI flows. The policy recommendations in this report aim to correct this protectionist drift by proposing guidelines for how countries can better regulate FDI yet still reap its economic benefits.
See more in United States, International Finance
November 2007
Council Special Report No. 32
Council Special Report
Connections between climate change and national security are receiving unprecedented attention from policymakers and analysts. Joshua W. Busby moves the discussion from broad assessments of the links between climate and security to a plan for action. This report is also available in Chinese.
See more in National Security and Defense, Climate Change
September 2007
Council Special Report No. 30
Council Special Report
A flexible labor market and an open economy are crucial to economic competitiveness, but can sometimes cause prime-aged and older workers to suffer large, long-term income losses. This report explains why existing government programs, which emphasize retraining and insurance for short-term job loss, don't assuage workers' fears about globalization. It also proposes a shift of resources from existing programs to wage insurance.
See more in United States, Economics, Business & Foreign Policy, Labor, Trade
May 2007
Council Special Report No. 29
Council Special Report
With IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato resigning in October, a new report analyzes the reform measures that will be bequeathed to Mr. de Rato's successor, and argues that the reform measures deserve the support of the United States, including the U.S. Congress when it is asked to implement some of the key measures.
See more in United States, International Organizations
April 2007
Council Special Report No. 26
Council Special Report
This report examines the economics of illegal immigration and finds that the fiscal benefits of illegal immigration offset its costs. Further, the report finds that the flexibility provided by the illegal immigration system that benefits the U.S. economy cannot be provided by the legal immigration system.
See more in United States, Immigration
March 2007
Council Special Report No. 25
Council Special Report
This report defends the WTO dispute settlement mechanism against critics who think it should be tougher on violators as well as critics who think it is already so tough as to violate sovereignty.
See more in Trade, International Organizations
November 2006
Council Special Report No. 19
Council Special Report
This report argues that reforms of the U.S. patent system have suceeded in limiting the competition of ideas, discouraging innovation, and ultimately reducing U.S. competitiveness.
See more in United States, Labor
July 2006
Council Special Report No. 18
Council Special Report
This report makes recommendations for reforming the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and examines how the administration and Congress can reassure foreign investors of U.S. openness and address growing anxieties in other countries.
See more in United States, Homeland Security, Business & Foreign Policy, Congress
June 2006
Council Special Report No. 16
Council Special Report
This Council Special Report addresses the controversial nuclear deal between the United States and India, offering practical recommendations for promoting U.S.-India relations while strengthening nonproliferation.
See more in United States, India, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Congress
September 2005
Council Special Report No. 10
Council Special Report
Twenty years ago, the United States was the world’s largest creditor nation, unsurpassed in its ownership of assets outside of its borders, even after deducting what foreigners owned inside its borders. Yet over the past two decades, America has been transformed into the world’s largest debtor nation.
See more in Economics, Public Diplomacy
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In Money, Markets, and Sovereignty, the authors present a fascinating intellectual history of monetary nationalism from the ancient world to the present and explore why, in its modern incarnation, it represents the single greatest threat to globalization.
In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
In Regional Monetary Integration, Peter B. Kenen poses an important question: Should various country groups follow the lead of the European Monetary Union and form similar full-fledged monetary unions?
In contrast to conventional wisdom, the growth in government spending and heightened regulation during the Great Depression may have done much to slow economic recovery.
In this report, Benn Steil shows that the financial crisis is the inevitable bust of a classic credit boom, and explains how monetary, taxation, and home ownership promotion policy combined with other feaures of the financial system to fuel an unsustainable buildup in debt. He recommends significant reforms to reverse the debt financing bias and make the system more resilient to falls in asset prices.
In order for policymakers to tackle today’s global economic crisis, this report argues, they must go beyond bailouts and stimulus packages and focus on one of the crisis's root causes: imbalances between savings and investment in major countries.
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