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In this transitional Think Tank Round-Up, you'll find the latest on global food policy, Palestinian politics, the troubles of young workers and disaster response. Enjoy!
- Let Them Eat Food. New measures are needed to help the poor cope with steadily rising global food prices, according to a recent Center for Global Development working paper. Because so many of those affected by costlier food live under governments that are unable to address this crisis alone, the authors call for a credible multilateral solution to large food price fluctuations. International organizations, financial institutions, and profiting governments all have a role to play in developing an effective safety net for the poor and mitigating this pressing global policy challenge. -- DH
- The Palestinian split. Nathan Brown of the Carnegie Endowment explores the seemingly irresolvable Palestinian split between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza. Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman has been leading the efforts to broker a power-sharing arrangement but, as Brown notes, neither side actually desires reunification. Their participation in the Cairo talks is purely to avoid blame for the reconciliation's expected failure. Brown argues for an international push for Palestinian reunification, led by the United States (a reversal of its policy towards Hamas) as the only alternative solution to an ever-deepening divide that could prove disastrous to hopes of ending the Israel-Palestinian conflict.-- SW
- Youth and Unions. Stagnant wage growth in recent decades has hurt workers across the board, but young workers have been hit the hardest. The Center for Economic and Policy Research reports that inflation-adjusted wages for workers ages 18 to 29 in 2007 were ten percent lower than they were in 1979, despite improvements in educational attainment over the same period. CEPR says the data makes the case for protecting workers’ right to unionize is stronger than ever. Unionization increases young worker’s wages 12.4 percent, makes them 17 percent more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and 24 percent more likely to have a pension plan than non-union workers. Which is all the more reason for Obama to get behind the Employee Free Choice Act as soon as he can. -- ZA
- Latinos and disaster relief. The National Council of La Raza issued a report at the end of October on Latinos and emergency response policy. It looks at failures and successes during 9/11, Katrina, and Rita, and uses the fall 2007 California wildfires as a case study in shortcomings and opportunities for effective emergency management. The states that have had the most disasters recently are also states with the highest counts of Latinos: Texas, California, Florida, and New York. NCLR emphasizes that Obama's administration must work quickly to reform policy. How? Keep Immigrations and Customs Enforcement out of relief shelters during disasters, loosen up funding constraints so that Latino advocacy organizations can put otherwise restricted money towards disaster relief, and overhaul systems already in place to improve cultural competence and language skills (translators, anyone?). There's been extensive research and policy-tweaking since many recent disasters, but nevertheless disaster relief remains ineffective, shortchanging Latinos. -- CP
-- TAP Staff
