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March 2009
Book
In this keenly argued book, 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.
See more in Economics
March 27, 2009
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Sebastian Mallaby argues that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's ideas on regulation and wind-downs are sensible, but they won't prevent the next crisis or save taxpayers from the cost, making it imperative that the financial industry take on less risk.
See more in United States, Corporate Governance, Financial Crises
Spring 2009
Article
Issues in Science and Technology
Michael A. Levi reviews Will Terrorists Go Nuclear? by Brian Michael Jenkins.
See more in Proliferation, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Terrorism
March 23, 2009
Op-Ed
Forbes Online
Amity Shlaes compares the G-20 summit with the London Economic Conference of 1933.
See more in Financial Crises, Geoeconomics, Foreign Policy History
Winter 2009
Article
Harvard International Review
Benn Steil argues that the world has no attractive alternatives to the current dollar-based international monetary system, but that the dollar's days of coasting on the accomplishments of the Volcker Fed are over. The Fed must demonstrate to the world anew that the dollar is a reliable long-term store of value.
See more in Financial Crises, International Finance
March 2009, Volume 46, Number 1
Op-Ed
Finance and Development
Brad Setser argues that the internal decisions countries make during and after a crisis--rather than their participation in international summits--will be the driving force to reform the international financial system.
See more in Financial Crises, International Finance, International Organizations
March 13, 2009
Academic Module
This module features teaching notes by CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi, author of On Nuclear Terrorism, along with other resources to supplement the text. In this CFR book, Dr. Levi examines one of the greatest national security threats of our time: terrorist groups armed with nuclear weapons, and argues that only a broad-based and multi-layered defense can be effective in confronting it.
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 11, 2009
Op-Ed
Wall Street Journal
Paul Danos, Matthew J. Slaughter, and Robert G. Hansen argue that the Employ American Workers Act will actually decrease the total amount of jobs available.
See more in Financial Crises, Labor, Immigration
March 9, 2009
Academic Module
This module features teaching notes by Michael A. Levi, director of the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force report, Confronting Climate Change: A Strategy for U.S. Policy, along with other resources to supplement the text. This report lays out a U.S. negotiating proposal for a global climate accord, including what the United States should be willing to offer and what it should expect others to do in order to confront climate change.
See more in Climate Change, Energy, U.S. Strategy and Politics
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
March 4, 2009
Op-Ed
Forbes Online
Unlike the world's leaders at the last G20 meeting, President Obama has not turned his rhetoric loose against protectionism. In this Forbes.com article, Jagdish Bhagwati writes that Prime Minister Gordon Brown must ask the president to passionately defend trade and openness.
See more in U.K., Trade, Congress
March 4, 2009
Op-Ed
Slate
Michael Levi warns that if we try to find a single solution for our economic and energy challenges in the form of "green jobs", we might fail to deliver on both fronts.
See more in Economics, Climate Change
March 3, 2009
Daily Analysis
The debate over whether two giant U.S. banks should be "nationalized" has stoked new debate over when, and how, the government should intervene in financial markets.
See more in United States, Financial Crises
March 2, 2009
Article
WirtschaftsWunder
Jagdish Bhagwati weighs in on global economic conditions in an interview with Financial Times Deutschland.
March 2, 2009
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Sebastian Mallaby writes that the Frank proposal for a new "systemic risk regulator" is dubious. The sad truth is that crowded trades are near-impossible for the government to identify.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics
February 25, 2009
Op-Ed
Canada Watch
Edward Alden writes that the quest for perfectly secure borders premised on plugging vulnerabilities poses special, and possibly insurmountable, problems. The United States needs some way to distinguish serious threats from minor ones, and to calculate the costs of trying to counter those threats.
See more in Canada, Mexico, Defense/Homeland Security, Border and Ports
February 23, 2009
Op-Ed
McKinsey & Company
Sebastian Mallaby examines the dangers of transparency in the financial marketplace.
See more in United States, Corporate Governance, Geoeconomics
February 2009
Other Report
Information about prices and quantities of assets lies at the heart of well-functioning capital markets. In the current financial crisis, it has become clear that many important actors—both firms and regulatory agencies—have not had sufficient information. Distributed by the Center for Geoeconomic Studies, this Working Paper proposes a new regulatory regime for gathering and disseminating financial market information. The authors argue that government regulators need a new infrastructure to collect and analyze adequate information from large (systemically important) financial institutions. This new information framework would bolster the government’s ability to foresee, contain, and, ideally, prevent disruptions to the overall financial services industry.
See more in Economics, Financial Crises, International Finance
February 18, 2009
Op-Ed
Politico
Amity Shlaes responds to Matthew Dallek's critique of her book, The Forgotten Man, and invites him to join a debate regarding the New Deal.
See more in United States, Economics, Financial Crises
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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.
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.