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Freedom squelches terrorist violence
A John F. Kennedy School of Government researcher has cast doubt on the widely held belief that terrorism stems from poverty, finding instead that terrorist violence is related to a nation's level of political freedom.
Associate Professor of Public Policy Alberto Abadie examined data on terrorism and variables such as wealth, political freedom, geography, and ethnic fractionalization for nations that have been targets of terrorist attacks. system.
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Socialism and Prosperity?
| I have been in Canada for just two weeks and already I feel at home. I feel at home not because of the landscape or climate. Nor do I have any family here. But public policy in Canada reminds me of growing up under a communist regime in Hungary during the 1970s. |
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The AUSFTA: Not Free Trade, But Close Enough
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On May 18th, U.S Trade Representative Robert Zoellnick and Australian Trade Representative Mark Vaile signed the mutually beneficial Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement after nearly 14 months of negotiations. The agreement still requires the approval of each country's legislature before it will take effect, and despite the skepticism of pro-union, protectionist groups in both countries, it should be approved by the participants' legislatures. It is not an entirely fair agreement, as Australia will almost immediately end most of its tariffs while the United States will phase out its protections over a period of up to 18 years, but it is a step in the right direction for strengthening ties between the two countries, and making an already lucrative trading partnership more profitable for all involved. |
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When Did Investment Become a Dirty Word?
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In the midst of election year outsourcing hysteria, few are taking the time to look at the other side of the offshoring coin. On March 4th, Senator Mitch McConnell introduced a new term to the debate, "insourcing." Insourcing is simply the practice of foreign companies investing in the United States. It has been going on for ages, and it benefits American workers more than outsourcing harms them. According to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report released in April 2004, the outsourcing naysayers overlook several crucial long-term aspects outsourcing and its insourcing counterpart contribute to the domestic economy. The labor shortage the United States will face in the coming decades due to baby boomer retirement, the large surplus enjoyed in the services trade sector, and the beneficial impact international trade has on labor are virtually unmentioned aspects of U.S economic reality by those who condemn Benedict Arnold CEOs. Ultimately, international trade and investment leads to peaceful, prosperous societies that are efficient, productive and successful. |
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Global Exchange's Myth #1: Part 2
In my first piece criticizing the ideas espoused by Global Exchange, I left a few issues unexplored. Particularly, many of the specious economic ideas that drive fair trade were not thoroughly vetted.
For example, consider the common fallacy Global Exchange and others make about the huge and "unfair" profits CEOs make. According to the claim, CEOs are worth millions, if not billions of dollars, so naturally, does it not make sense that they could cut their profits a little to make room for the added cost of the new fair trade product? In other words, in order to offset the raised cost of production, CEOs could cut from their massive stockpiles of wealth. |
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Global Exchange's Myth #1
| Global Exchange is a human rights organization based out of California. As an organization seeking to improve the human condition both at home and abroad, they advocate a number of solutions to the problems people face. Unfortunately, nearly all of them are appallingly ignorant and dangerous. |
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Who Should Control the Internet?
| On March 25 and 26th, the United Nations sponsored the Global Forum on Internet Governance, where Secretary General Kofi Annan announced his intentions to create a commission that would look into UN governance of the Internet. Currently, the Internet is maintained by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a not-for profit California based group who works in conjunction with the United States Department of Commerce to administer the Domain Name System, which gives out .com, .org, .net, etc. web addresses. ICANN's critics range from United Nations controlled groups such as the International Telecommunication Union to western businesses who see it as an arm of special interest groups. |
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A solution in Haiti: Try Freedom
| The troubles of Haiti are once again making front-page news all over the world. Every expert from Amnesty International to French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepein has an opinion about what needs to be done to fix the problems. There are some fundamental issues, however, that often go ignored in all the demands for foreign military intervention and financial aid... |
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