Should the U.S. adapt to the world? The first debate on american exceptionalism and its impact on the founding of the United States

This paper aims at putting into perspective the recent, post 9/11 debate on the United States��� alleged exceptionalism and its impact on the definition of American foreign policy. It reminds the readers that the United States was born as a result of a similar debate, at a time when a crucial choice for its future was to be made. Indeed, the Founding Fathers discarded the revolutionary idea that America was altogether different from other (European) nations and, as such, could succeed in saving republicanism and concentrate on domestic affairs. As Gordon Wood and Harvey Mansfield have shown, the 1787 version of republicanism stood as a departure from its earlier version, and such a change was necessary to the creation of a full-fledged federation, therefore paving the way to the current powerful Federal Republic. The early failure of the exceptionalist creed did not cause its disappearance, as the contemporary form of exceptionalism demonstrates, but created conditions that made an enduring and powerful influence very difficult.

An Address of members of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, to their constituents, on the subject of the war with Great Britain. --

Signed by George Sullivan and thirty-three other Federalist members.

Bringing Japanese manufacturing systems to America: the feasibility of implementing just-in-time production in the United States

This paper addresses the feasibility of implementing Japanese manufacturing systems in the United States. The recent success of Japanese transplant companies suggests that Just-In-Time (JIT) production is possible within America's industrial environment. Once American workers receive proper training, they have little difficulty participating in rapid setup procedures and utilizing the kanban system. Japanese transplants are gradually developing Japanese-style relationships with their American supplier companies by initiating long-term, mutually beneficial agreements. They are also finding ways to cope with America's problem of distance, which is steadily decreasing as an obstacle to JIT delivery. American companies, however, encounter Significant problems in trying to convert traditionally organized, factories to the JIT system. This paper demonstrates that it is both feasible and beneficial for American manufacturers to implement JIT production techniques. Many of the difficulties manufacturers experience center around a general lack of information about JIT. Once a company realizes its potential for setup-time reduction, a prerequisite for the JIT system, workers and managers can work together to create a new process for handling equipment changeover. Significant results are possible with minimal investment. Also, supervisors often do not realize that the JIT method of ordering goods from suppliers is compatible with current systems. This "kanban system" not only enhances current systems but also reduces the amount of paperwork and scheduling involved. When arranging JlT delivery of supplier goods, American manufacturers tend to overlook important aspects of JIT supplier management. However, by making long-tenn commitments, initiating the open exchange of information, assisting suppliers in reaching new standards of performance, increasing the level of conununication, and relying more on suppliers' engineering capabilities, even American manufacturers can develop Japanese-style supplier relationships that enhance the effectiveness of the system.

A participação da United States Agency for international development (USAID) na reforma da universidade brasileira na década de 1960

O presente estudo propôs-se investigar de que forma os acordos assinados com a USAID sobre ensino superior no Brasil fizeram parte da estratégia dos Estados Unidos de construção de regimes internacionais mais amplos que deveriam sustentar a ordem mundial depois da Segunda Guerra Mundial. A hipótese central é a de que esses acordos estavam relacionados com a estratégia de promoção do desenvolvimento econômico e social que tinha, de um lado, a noção de que o desenvolvimento poderia ser planejado e implementado pelos governos e, de outro, uma visão de segurança internacional em que a promoção do desenvolvimento era entendida como fator essencial. Para a realização do estudo foram realizadas análise documental e entrevistas com pessoas que, de várias formas, estiveram ligadas às ações da USAID no ensino superior brasileiro na década de 1960, em especial ao caso de cooperação técnica com a Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Os dados levantados pelo estudo permitiram confirmar em larga medida a hipótese levantada inicialmente, mas mostraram também que a questão é bem mais complexa. Os acordos da USAID sobre ensino superior no Brasil fizeram parte da estratégia de construção de regimes internacionais, mas representaram apenas uma etapa de um amplo programa de cooperação científica e tecnológica iniciada muito antes.

The United States and Latin America and the Caribbean: Highlights of economics and trade

Foreword by Alicia Bárcena

Implications of the shift in United States farm policy

Includes bibliography

The United States, Central America, Dominican Republic free trade agreement (CAFTA)

Includes bibliography

United States-Latin America and the Caribbean trade developments, 2002

This document provides an overview of the most relevant developments in United States trade policy relating to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2002. U.S. policy continued to promote trade liberalization through advancing negotiations on multiple fronts- globally (WTO), regionally (FTAA) and bilaterally or sub regionally- with a view that the various negotiations are mutually reinforcing and seek to create a constructive competition for liberalization" among trade partners. The passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) included in the Trade Act of August 2002 enhanced the U.S. Administration's ability to negotiate trade agreements. It provided an impetus to conclude bilateral negotiations with Chile as well as to advance a number of trade agreements currently under negotiation, including negotiations toward the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and bilateral negotiations with Central America. The Trade Act also renewed the Generalized System of Preferences, extended the Caribbean Trade Partnership Act by liberalizing apparel provisions and augmented the Andean Trade Preference Act, increasing the list of duty free products. On the multilateral front, in partial fulfillment of the Doha mandate, the U.S. tabled in 2002 two comprehensive proposals for the reduction of trade barriers on agricultural and non-agricultural goods. Along with these trade liberalizing proposals, the U.S. Administration imposed temporary safeguard measures on key steel products to provide relief to the sectors of the steel industry that have been most affected by import surges. In addition, the U.S. Congress passed the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act that substantially increased U.S. domestic farm subsidies to shield domestic farm producers from competition from subsidized products from abroad."

The United States and Latin America and the Caribbean: highlights of economy and trade

Document prepared on the occasion of the visit of President Barack Obama to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador in March 2011

United States Trade Developments 2012-2013

Includes bibliography.

The United States subprime mortgage crisis and its implications for the Caribbean

The bursting of the property bubble – subprime mortgage crisis – in 2007 in the United States has engendered panic, recession fears and turmoil in the global financial system. Although the United States economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2007, down from 4.9 per cent in the previous quarter, day by day worsening scenarios emerge, from escalating oil prices, to a depreciating dollar and financial institutions’ bailout by the Federal Reserve. Many economists and policy makers share the view that a subprime-led recession – i.e. two consecutive quarters with negative growth – is inevitable and will be much deeper and longer than the 2001 dot-com downturn. Moreover, the critical situation of the financial system has driven some analysts to argue that should the monetary policy response fails to restore confidence among investors, the outcome would be the worst crisis seen since the Great Depression. This pessimism is not only among specialists. Indeed, in late March 2008 the Consumer Confidence Index in the United States recorded its lowest level since February 1992. A recession in the United States will undoubtedly have an important impact on the world economy, despite the continuous rapid growth experienced by emerging economies, particularly China and India. The purpose of this article is threefold: first, to characterize the current situation in the United States economy; second, to discuss the economic policy responses; and finally, to elaborate on how Caribbean economies may be affected.

The secondary market for life insurance policies in the United States market evolution and product valuation

In this work we discuss the secondary market for life insurance policies in the United States of America. First, we give an overview of the life settlement market: how it came into existence, its growth prospects and the ethical issues it arises. Secondly, we discuss the characteristics of the different life insurance products present in the market and describe how life settlements are originated. Life settlement transactions tend to be long and complex transactions that require the involvement of a number of parties. Also, a direct investment into life insurance policies is fraught with a number of practical issues and entails risks that are not directly related to longevity. This may reduce the efficiency of a direct investment in physical policies. For these reasons, a synthetic longevity market has evolved. The number of parties involved in a synthetic longevity transaction is typically smaller and the broker-dealer transferring the longevity exposure will be retaining most or all of the risks a physical investment entails. Finally, we describe the main methods used in the market to evaluate life settlement investments and the role of life expectancy providers.

Public Attitudes Toward Social Spending in the United States: The Differences Between Direct Spending and Tax Expenditures

This paper uses a survey experiment to examine differences in public attitudes toward 'direct' and 'indirect' government spending. Federal social welfare spending in the USA has two components: the federal government spends money to directly provide social benefits to citizens, and also indirectly subsidizes the private provision of social benefits through tax expenditures. Though benefits provided through tax expenditures are considered spending for budgetary purposes, they differ from direct spending in several ways: in the mechanisms through which benefits are delivered to citizens, in how they distribute wealth across the income spectrum, and in the visibility of their policy consequences to the mass public. We develop and test a model explaining how these differences will affect public attitudes toward spending conducted through direct and indirect means. We find that support for otherwise identical social programs is generally higher when such programs are portrayed as being delivered through tax expenditures than when they are portrayed as being delivered by direct spending. In addition, support for tax expenditure programs which redistribute wealth upward drops when citizens are provided information about the redistributive effects. Both of these results are conditioned by partisanship, with the opinions of Republicans more sensitive to the mechanism through which benefits are delivered, and the opinions of Democrats more sensitive to information about their redistributive effects.

The status of genetically modified foods internationally and in the United States

Biotechnology refers to the broad set of techniques that allow genetic manipulation of organisms. The techniques of biotechnology have broad implications for many industries, however it promises the greatest innovations in the production of products regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Like many other powerful new technologies, biotechnology may carry risks as well as benefits. Several of its applications have engendered fervent emotional reactions and raised serious ethical concerns, especially internationally. ^ First, in my paper I discuss the historical and technical background of biotechnology. Second, I examine the development of biotechnology in Europe, the citizens' response to genetically modified (“GM”) foods and the governments' response. Third, I examine the regulation of bioengineered products and foods in the United States. ^ In conclusion, there are various problems with the current status of regulation of GM foods in the United States. These are four basic flaws: (1) the Coordinated Framework allows for too much jurisdictional overlap of biotechnological foods, (2) GM foods are considered GRAS and consequently, are placed on the market without pre-market approval, (3) federal mandatory labeling of GM foods cannot occur until the question of whether or not nondisclosure of a genetic engineering production processes is misleading or material information and (4) an independent state-labeling scheme of GM foods will most likely impede interstate commerce. ^

A Brief History of Affordable Housing Cooperatives in the United States

For over 75 years housing cooperatives have been a source of affordable housing. Currently, the 376,000 dwelling units of affordable cooperatives is equivalent to seventeen percent of the rent reduction units owned by publichousing authorities. Understanding that affordable cooperatives have been developed under varying historical circumstances provides insights on how they could play a role in the future supply of affordable housing. The history of affordable co-ops starts during the 1920s and after World War II with the ethnic, union, and New York government financed co-ops. Through the 1960s and the early 1970s cooperatives were financed by various federal direct assistance programs. Since the late 1970s co-ops have been sponsored by nonprofit organizations and by federal and municipal government privatization programs. A workable institutional structure for affordable cooperatives has developed as a result of this historical evolution.