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Economics, media studies, and globalization all make cameo appearances in this week's very special episode of Think Tank Round-Up.
- States Feeling main street's pain. According to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report, 15 states and the District of Columbia have developed enormous budget gaps, mirroring the magnitude of budgetary imbalance seen during the 2001 recession. The report calls for federal aid through Medicaid contributions and general grants based on each state's population and notes that the federal government would do well to act earlier to ameliorate such crises. Doesn't this sound familiar? -- SW
- Laissez-Faire losers. Increases in agricultural trade thanks to liberalization policies throughout Latin America have imperiled small farms, according to a report by the Washington Office on Latin America and Tufts University. Looking at El Salvador, the soybean boom in Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia, and at Mexico after fourteen years under NAFTA, researchers find that low-priced imports, part and parcel of liberalized economies, commandeer domestic markets and threaten rural livelihoods. Washington Consensus policies inspired this widespread trade in Latin America, but failed to promote sustainable rural development -- the ultimate goal. -- CP
- European Exceptionalism.[PDF] An impressive multilateral coalition has issued a report observing that Europe has warmed more than the global average (1.0 and 1.2° C, respectively) since pre-industrial times, and projecting that this asymmetrical trend will continue. -- DH
- New Media, stop exaggerating! Brookings concedes that the immigration debate is inherently tough to solve, but finds that New Media, like cable TV, talk radio, and the Internet (as opposed to daily newspapers and broadcast network evening news programs) have increased public anxiety about the issue. It all boils down to competition for audience shares. New Media took distinct and severe tacks on immigration to out-crisis rivaling media outlets, which inspired viewers towards factionalism. Compromise in congress, the report seems to say, would have been easier thirty years ago. -- CP
- I Promise I Won't Get Mad, Now Tell Me What You Did. In a Carnegie Endowment policy brief titled, "Iran Says "No." Now What?" George Perkovich outlines precisely how the next president should address Iran. Notably, he points out that the international community has not made it clear how it would react to Iran actually admitting steps it has taken towards weaponization. The Iranians will be reticent about "coming clean" until they know they may do so without further increased sanctions and punishment. However, Perkovich also notes that if Iranian intransigence continues for too long, harsher approaches will be necessary -- SW
- After the bailout. Assuming Congress passes some kind of bill to try and halt the financial crisis, the question of how to deal with the structural problems within the financial system will remain, likely for the new administration. With that in mind, two Brookings fellows offer a brief guide to their suggested changes, which, unsurprisingly, emphasize regulation, focusing on disclosure, transparency, and limiting leverage, among other things. A useful primer on future economic debates. -- TF
-- TAP Staff
