Although General Secretary GorbacheV's policy of openness has received much attention and analysis, this is among the first books to evaluate the practical meaning of perestroika for U.S. corporations. Written for executives and managers responsible for international business operations, U.S. Commercial Opportunities in the Soviet Union is a timely and highly readable examination of trade and direct investment prospects in the USSR under the present regime. The authors discuss the major critical variables--such as Soviet systemic barriers and the narrow character of planned Soviet import demand--that should influence any company's decision to do business in the Soviet Union. They explain the mechanics of dealing with the USSR, and offer the information necessary for the reader to decide the potential significance of outward-looking Soviet Union for his or her own firm.

Following an introductory overview, the book begins by addressing the micro- and macroeconomic aspects of exporting to Russia. Here the authors identify specific sectors in which American firms can greatly increase their sales to Russia, while warning that certain areas remain essentially closed to U.S. manufacturers. In subsequent chapters the authors explore opportunities for direct investment via joint enterprises with Soviet partners, demonstrating that this form of activity presents greater risks but also greater potential rewards to U.S. firms than trade. The final chapter explores the prospects for U.S. commercial interests in Russia. The authors examine the growth of Soviet external debt in terms of its possible effects on Russia as a competitor of and collaborator with American firms in third country economies. They conclude that should GorbacheV's vision of Russia as a global economic power become a reality, American firms may well face a new, potent source of low-cost competition overseas.

The global financial and economic crisis has brought about many effects that are still difficult to interpret univocally. This book studies the consequences of the crisis on Europe by examining the effects on the European institutional setup, governance and architecture and by studying in detail the different member countries.

This book comprehensively investigates the challenges to Myanmar's access to the global market. Myanmar is a late entrant in the global trade and investment scenario after years of isolation. However, it has large untapped potentials for trade and investment in minerals, agro and forest based industries, other labour intensive industries, services like tourism, IT, etc. Different chapters of the book explore the implication of democratic transition of Myanmar, the progress of Myanmar's industry and infrastructure, its international linkages and feasible options for integrating more in regional economic groups and also analyses how far Myanmar could exploit the global value chain. Although a number of reports have discussed sector specific prospects of Myanmar, this book is an authoritative work on these aspects for policy planners, academicians, researchers as well as potential investors.

This volume discusses the effects of globalization on changing power relationships between transnational corporations - TNCs - and transnational capital, the state, and subnational groups. TNCs have expanded their power with the deepening of market relations, but they are not causing the state to wither away. Indeed, neoliberal changes often occur with the permission or even encouragement of powerful states. Transnational capital has weakened labour groups in order to make production more competitive, but the disadvantaged groups may mobilize to counter the power of transnational capital. Finally, globalization is subjecting domestic policies to increased international scrutiny.

Paul J.J. Welfens and Holger C. Wolf While the economies of Asia and, more recently, South as well as North America have enjoyed sustained high growth, the growth performance of western Europe and in particular continental Europe has been rather modest. Coupled with sizable improvements in labor productivity and - at best - steady capital productivity, growth proved insufficient to sustain employment levels, much less to replicate the US job creation success. Relative inflation performance has been much better: in the run-up to European Monetary Union inflation rates have dramatically converged towards the lower end of the distribution while risk premia on formerly high inflation economies have fallen. Yet, looking forward, the undoubted success in achieving price stability is mitigated by the lackluster growth -and in particular employment -performance. Indeed, the relative little attention paid to initiatives directed at raising economic growth is startling, not only in the light of the US policy record but also in light of the remarkable rebound of those European economies which have aggressively tackled the structural problems, most prominently the UK and Ireland.

The common roots of success and failure in economic growth and development lie in the systemic governance and fragmentation of institutional complementarities, respectively, but not in the unilateral adaptation of market-led or state-led models. To substantiate this argument, Akan utilizes case countries from the United States, South Korea, and Turkey-an advanced developed, a recently developed, and a developing country. Akan provides a simple framework for understanding two points that go beyond ideological obsession. The first is how a model of G&D works and evolves; with its economic, financial, industrial, and political dynamics intertwining. The second is why a market-led or state-led model succeeds and fails in both developed and developing countries.

The overall economic performance of Caribbean countries has declined markedly in recent times. The weak export performance of these trade-oriented economies is highlighted as the principal factor responsible for the economic deterioration. The author attempts to identify the major determinants of their export performance. Two alternative approaches to this issue are adopted, the Feder model and an alternate, which suggests the important nexus between foreign exchange, needed imports and exports. The role of government institutions and their influence on exchange rates are also analyzed. Scholars in economic development, Latin America, as well as international financial institutions will find this comprehensive study on the English speaking Caribbean countries of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados a useful tool.

This book reviews the long history of U.S. shipping policy, and explains the present challenges (including the increasing use of open register arrangements). U.S. labor problems, tort and liability risks, environmental and safety regulations, and coastal and harbor security issues receive heavy emphasis. Options for reviving U.S. shipbuilding are analayzed, along with balance of payments implications, and sealift and national security requirements. The book offers a detailed program for American maritime renewal. It is intended for maritime, national security, international trade, and foreign policy audiences. Extensive data and tables allow for a comprehensive assessment of the U.S. merchant marine and the global shipping industry, with substantial historical background.

Nearly two thirds of world shipping is done under flags of convenience. The significant over-tonnaging, subsidies and/or restrictions, and shipping friendly policies present in many countries create strong competitive pressures. Unfortunately, the U.S. and British merchant marines are in serious decline. But the Japanese, Chinese, Greeks, and Scandinavians are thriving at sea. And many European Union, Asian, and former Eastern bloc nations are likely to remain determined competitors.

U.S. maritime policies need overhaul and a more realistic outlook. This book reviews the long history of U.S. shipping policy, and explains the present challenges (including the increasing use of open register arrangements). U.S. labor problems, tort and liability risks, environmental and safety regulations, and coastal and harbor security issues receive heavy emphasis. Options for reviving U.S. shipbuilding are analayzed, along with balance of payments implications, and sealift and national security requirements. The book offers a detailed program for American maritime renewal. It is intended for maritime, national security, international trade, and foreign policy audiences. Extensive data and tables allow for a comprehensive assessment of the U.S. merchant marine and the global shipping industry, with substantial historical background.

Addressing an under-studied aspect of U.S. foreign policy towards sub-Saharan Africa, Hendrickson provides a critical historical analysis of institutions designed to promote private investment in the region. She draws attention to the interaction between strategic factors, domestic interests, and the ideas used to achieve consensus on policy.

FTAs are proliferating in East Asia. This proliferation will become a foundation for the region's economic integration on the one hand, but will also lead to the "spaghetti (or noodle) ball syndrome," due to a mixture of different rules such as rules of origin. In addition, the need for many procedures and documents, as well as custom clearance at borders for road transportation, consumes great time and costs, leading to high transportation costs. There are many issues to address in order to attain further economic integration. This book explores the current state and direction of economic integration in East Asia and examines how economic integration can allow each economy to benefit equally.

This is an examination of the key themes in Africa's fiscal reforms and trade liberalization, and her prospects for improving trade and development. In this work, differing reform strategies are reformed and assessed with a range of case studies of fiscal reform in Kenya, the Cote d'Ivoire and Tanzania. The impact of trade liberalization and the linking of aid and trade by donor countries are also assessed.

This book was initiated while the three major authors were at the Development Centre of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, working on its program on economic growth, trade, and sustainability. We wish to thank the OECD Development Centre for its support. The book was completed during summer 2001 at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University. We appreciate the resources and financial support CARD provided for publication of this work. Sandra Clarke provided technical editing of the manuscripts and oversaw the indexing of the book; Becky Olson prepared the camera-ready copy of the final manuscript. We thank them for their instrumental help in these last steps. Part of the work presented in this volume previously appeared in some form in journals. The analysis of Chile presented in Chapter 6 appeared as "Growth, Trade, Pollution and Natural-Resource Use in Chile. Evidence from an Economywide Model," Agricultural Economics 19(1998): 87-97; and as "Trade Integration, Environmental Degradation, and Public Health in Chile: Assessing the Linkages," Environment and Development Economics, in press. The work on Costa Rica and Indonesia summarised in Chapter 10 appeared as "Is There a Trade-off Between Trade Liberalisation and Pollution Abatement in Costa Rica? A Computable General Equilibrium Assessment," Journal of Policy Modeling 20(1): 11-31; and as "The Environment and Welfare Implications of Trade and Tax Policy," Journal of Development Economics 52(1997): 65-82.

"Carl's perspective is truly unique and insightful in understanding the global economy and the geopolitical situation today, which is why this book is so helpful and timely."
- Steve Forbes

Will America remain the world's preeminent power?

Could emerging market countries like China challenge our leadership?

Can America avoid the low growth, high debt fate of Japan and Europe?

Learn how America can stay a dynamic global leader by following a pro-growth economic agenda, rebalancing eight key relationships, growing with emerging markets, pursuing a realistic China policy, and executing a forward-leaning trade policy as well as a conservative foreign policy.

This book is a blueprint for America to remain the strongest and the most prosperous, independent, respected, and influential nation in the world. We just need to follow it to build both a new American century.

The TPP was negotiated among 12 economically diverse countries, including some most highly developed and rich countries (i.e., the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Singapore), some newly industrialized countries (i.e., Mexico and Malaysia), and some less-developed countries (i.e., Peru, Chile, and Vietnam). A new paradigm created in this context is that countries with vastly different economic developments can actually agree on a set of very high standards to regulate their economic activities, to liberalize their trade, and to protect intellectual property and foreign investment. The contents of the TPP also reflect its status of being a "new paradigm" as the "21st-Century Trade Agreement" and being a pioneer in rule making in many key regulatory areas. These include not only the improved and enhanced rules on traditional issues already covered by the WTO , such as goods, services, and IP rights, but also the carefully designed rules in areas that have never been addressed in the WTO or comprehensively covered in other FTAs , such as state-owned enterprises, electronic commerce, and labor and environmental issues. Although the United States has withdrawn from the TPP, the remaining countries are still putting efforts into establishing a TPP without the United States or a TPP with China. Economically speaking, the current 11 parties account for about 20 % of the global economy. If such agreement is put into force, there will be significant implications for the region, for the multilateral system, and even for other FTAs. The book addresses the potential of the TPP to change the ways trade and investments are conducted and argues for its potential to be the start of an international trade/economic law revolution. The book elaborates the relationship between the TPP and other existing trade agreements such as the WTO and other FTAs and explains how the TPP is to deal with traditional and new issues. Taken together, the authors argue that the implications of the TPP go beyond its current membership. It is hoped that the book will make an important contribution to the field of international economic law.

This collection of essays is concerned with three major and debated topics in international economics, namely interdependence between countries, real and financial integration, and the conflicting relations between industrialized (North) and developing countries (South). The first section deals with the international policy coordination problem and the economic growth of open economics. In the second section new foundations for commercial policy and the problems of economic integration, real and monetary, are discussed. The final section includes an analysis of North-South relations and the price of instability of primary commodities.

This book is about how the WTO functions as a public organization. It analyzes and evaluates the WTO from a public administration perspective which is absent from the current debate on WTO reforms dominated by the traditional view that only nation states matter, not international organizations.

This book studies the impact of different sources of external finance on growth and development in different country contexts. An important finding of the study is that 'success' or 'failure' in the productive use of external and domestic financial resources cannot be explained on the basis of single factors such as external shocks or 'bad' versus 'sound' policies. Rather, they are outcomes of complex interactions between changes in exogenous factors (such as fluctuations in external finance and trade shocks), existing economic structures and the responses to shocks by domestic public and private sector agents. This finding also implies that there are no recipes in economic policy-making which are generally applicable; the 'best' policy has to be designed specifically for each country.

This book is aimed at all librarians and information professionals working in culturally diverse environments, whether in an academic, public or commercial setting. It addresses the issues of communication, diplomatic etiquette and common courtesies from a wide range of cultures and of how to provide library services across cultural boundaries and languages. Each chapter clearly defines a different aspect and provides clear guidance and strategies for librarians to follow in their everyday work. The book is packed with advice on how to deal with many of the situations, which arise as the result of different cultural backgrounds and language.

The Future BRICS provides in depth quantitative and qualitative questions and answers about the future of the BRICS Forum as a synergistic economic alliance and is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the ongoing international debate about the economic future and sustainability of the emerging markets in general.

This text brings together a number of research studies, all of which examine the behaviour of foreign exchange rates. The main focus of the collection is on empirical characterization of high-frequency exchange rate data. The pioneering studies demonstrate and explain, amongst other things, the regular patterns in intra-day foreign exchange rate activity, the effects of macroeconomic news of rates and analyze the profitability of technical trading rules in these markets. The collection should be of use to students, academics and practitioners who are interested in exchange rate dynamics.

This work argues that Russia's postreform crisis can be alleviated. The country has the market, the abundant natural resources and the human skills that foreign investors seek. What it needs is policies that enhance and streamline FDI inflows. Policymakers can learn from the other large emerging markets like China, India, and Mexico, where FDI has revitalized the economy. This book also informs corporate executives about the advantages, over exports, of becoming insiders in a large emerging market through a local operation. The strategic concepts can also be applied by policymakers in other countries interested in attracting foreign investors.

This book examines the numerous aspects of exchange rates and the dynamics of macroeconomics, focusing on the PPP puzzle, volatility, levels, with an exploration of the real exchange rate misalignment of the Central European countries single equation approach, an examination of the real equilibrium exchange rate in China, exchange rate dynamics and pass-through effects in Russia and Hungary, and structural shocks on economies.

Building upon a wide range of literatures, this book argues that international regulatory institutions become stronger when oligopolistic institutional arrangements decay and competitive pressures intensify. This is shown to be the case for global finance by the study of two inter-state institutions - the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision and the International Organization of Securities Commissions, and of the international banking and securities industries which they seek to regulate. There is also the development of the concept of "private" regimes.

While the Singaporean economy has experienced one of the highest rates of growth in the world over the past three decades, questions have recently been raised about the sustainability of the Singapore development model and its continued relevance in the global economy. This book is a compilation of specially written essays by a select group of leading international scholars. The authors analytically examine a number of related issues pertaining to national competitiveness, structural and macroeconomic concerns and policy options for the Singapore economy in order for it to sustain its economic viability in the global economy. Specifically, the volume aims to: * identify key trends and strategic issues that policymakers and businesses need to be aware of in a highly competitive and technologically sophisticated global economy * highlight what exactly it means to be 'competitive' in the new global economy * hypothesise how to position Singapore in the new global economy for it to remain a thriving and prosperous nation. As the title of the book suggests, while the focus is on Singapore, there are many lessons to be gleaned for other countries in Asia and elsewhere. Scholars of Asian studies, international economics, development economics, public policy and international business economics should find this book of great value, as should policymakers and other policy analysts.