Janet Cowell and Roland Stephen discuss the decline in manufacturing in North Carolina and across the United States, and offer policy recommendations to help states better respond to global competition, as part of CFR's State and Local Officials Conference Call series.

Learn more about CFR's State and Local Officials Initiative.

Michael Spence writes that myopic U.S. energy policies highlight the need for persistence, longer-term thinking, and bipartisanship in U.S. policymaking.

Peter Orszag argues that U.S. business leaders who want better economic policy should work to get more moderates elected to Congress.

North Carolina, which was struck harder by the loss of manufacturing than another other state, offers a realistic guide for communities across the United States with how best to adapt to this new era of growing international competition.

Edward Alden highlights the skepticism over international trade that confronts advocates for greater American involvement in the global marketplace.

Jagdish Bhagwati criticizes U.S. President Barack Obama for failing to close the Doha Round, decrying outsourcing, and surrending to the "manufactures fetish."

Michael Spence wants to rethink the role of the state in addressing the problems of instability and inequality that are endemic to free-market systems.

Peter Orszag writes that investment in equipment and software is likely to remain a bright spot in the U.S. economy in 2012.

Jagdish Bhagwati and Rajeev Kohli make the case for proposed reforms to India's retail sector that would allow the entry of retail giants like Wal-Mart, Tesco, and Carrefour.

As Barack Obama's push for a growth-boosting infrastructure boom becomes bogged down in political divisions over federal spending, a stalling recovery makes action increasingly urgent, writes Anna Fifield in the Financial Times.

Amity Shlaes points out that running a business can be very different from running an economy.

Obama's former auto czar explains the key to Germany's export boom -- and how the United States can emulate it.

Economist A. Michael Spence says emerging market growth is going to produce a boom in investment, which in turn may lead to higher interest rates globally, and a tendency to intervene in international capital flows. Spence spoke to Robert Rubin, Former Treasury Secretary and Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, at CFR's 2011 Corporate Conference.

This Working Paper analyzes trends in the American economy's performance over the past two decades; in particular, it examines changes in employment and value added in U.S. industries.

Due to an increasing U.S. Federal government deficit many groups now argue for the institution of a national value-added tax (VAT) to increase government revenue.  James M. Bickley of the Congressional Research Service examines the plausibility of enacting such a plan.

Jagdish Bhagwati says that U.S. policymakers' promotion of manufacturing comes at the expense of more innovative and dynamic service sectors.

Watch Robert E. Diamond Jr., president of Barclays PLC, discuss needed reforms to the financial regulatory system.

This session was part of the Corporate Program's CEO Speaker series.

Listen to Robert E. Diamond Jr., president of Barclays PLC, discuss needed reforms to the financial regulatory system.

This session was part of the Corporate Program's CEO Speaker series.

Watch experts weigh in on the role that the govenment should play in the private sector given the recent experiences of the automotive industry.

This session was part of the Corporate Program's CEO Speaker series.