Group items tagged

At a time when the crisis in Ukraine has triggered deep unease, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will remind the world that our transatlantic partnership is second-to-none. This agreement will deepen our economic relationship with the European Union, already the world's largest, by bridging divergences between our regulations and standards - without compromising health, safety, environmental, and consumer protection on both sides of the Atlantic. Many in Europe are looking to TTIP not only to spur much-needed economic growth but also to support efforts to reform European energy policies and create greater energy security.

In this sobering but optimistic manifesto, development economist Sachs (The End of\nPoverty) argues that the crises facing humanity are daunting-but solutions to them are\nreadily at hand. Sachs focuses on four challenges for the coming decades: heading off\nglobal warming and environmental destruction; stabilizing the world's population;\nending extreme poverty; and breaking the political logjams that hinder global\ncooperation on these issues. The author analyzes economic data, demographic trends\nand climate science to create a lucid, accessible and suitably grim exposition of looming\nproblems, but his forte is elaborating concrete, pragmatic, low-cost remedies complete\nwith benchmarks and budgets. Sachs's entire agenda would cost less than 3% of the\nworld's annual income, and he notes that a mere two days' worth of Pentagon spending\nwould fund a comprehensive anti-malaria program for Africa, saving countless lives.\nForthright government action is the key to avoiding catastrophe, the author contends,\nnot the unilateral, militarized approach to international problems that he claims is\npursued by the Bush administration. Combining trenchant analysis with a resounding\ncall to arms, Sachs's book is an important contribution to the debate over the world's\nfuture. (Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All\nrights reserved.)

* Filmed: February 2006 * Running time: 19.50 minutes * Description: This talk describes the changes that have occurred and are predicted to occur in wealth distribution, fertility rates, population growth, and health within and between countries. Hans Rosling displays statistics using extremely interesting and unique graphics of changing trends. He breaks down several myths relating to difference between economically less developed and more developed countries. * Rating: Excellent * 7-Revolutions Section: Population, Economic Integration, Technology

Jobs growth was slow in May, renewing pessimism about the U.S. economy. Spence, a Nobel Prize-winning economist writes that economic growth and employment in the United States have started to diverge, increasing income inequality and reducing jobs for less-educated workers.

Managing Editor Jonathan Tepperman interviews Eurasia Group analyst Damien Ma on China's political transition, economic slowdown, and social inequality.

The Globalist is supported, in part, by The Louis R. and Candice A. Hughes Charitable Foundation.

This article from the Economist talks about China moving away--haltingly-- from the policy of tightly controlling the Yuan. I have used the Atlantic article, "The $1.4 Trillion Question" for years to discuss economic intergration and this is a nice update to that piece.

In 1931, it was a question of passports. In 1998, it was a question of disappearing borders. And today, it is a question of economic growth and inequality. Globalization has made many richer but also poses a confounding question: What will it take for states to leave conflict behind and, instead, cooperate?

* Running time: 20 minutes * From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. It exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever. Description directly from http://www.storyofstuff.com/ web site, from which the animation can be played directly * Rating: Excellent; used in class as an example of a systems perspective; related to "resource management" and "economic integration"

Banker to the Poor is an inspiring memoir of the birth of microcredit, written in a\nconversational tone that makes it both moving and enjoyable to read. The Grameen\nBank is now a $2.5 billion banking enterprise in Bangladesh, while the microcredit\nmodel has spread to over 50 countries worldwide, from the U.S. to Papua New Guinea,\nNorway to Nepal. Ever optimistic, Yunus travels the globe spreading the belief that\npoverty can be eliminated: "...the poor, once economically empowered, are the most\ndetermined fighters in the battle to solve the population problem; end illiteracy; and live\nhealthier, better lives. When policy makers finally realize that the poor are their\npartners, rather than bystanders or enemies, we will progress much faster that we do\ntoday." Dr. Yunus's efforts prove that hope is a global currency. (Reviewed by Shawn\nCarkonen)

* Aired: May 2008 * Running time: 7:37 * Description: This program discusses how medical tourism is becoming more and more common and is a good example of outsourcing. * Rating: good * 7-Revolutions Sections: Economic Integration

* Released July 2002 * Running time: 360 minutes * Description: This three-part, six-hour documentary focuses on the history and impact of the new global economy, explaining macroeconomics and their current political and social importance without ever causing a loss of consciousness for the viewer. Segments include the history of economic thought, deregulation, and consequences of globalization. Interviews with several world leaders are featured.

* Released June, 2006 * Running time: 98 min * Description: Why We Fight features interviews and observations by experts on the military, including Senator John McCain, Gore Vidal, and Dan Rather. It begins with the prophetic speech by President Dwight D. Eisenhower's warning of the rise of the "military industrial complex." The film discusses the forces - political, economic, and ideological - that drive us to fight against an everchanging enemy? This film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Although it brings in experts from a number of different ideologies, the film does tend to have a left leaning viewpoint on the military and war. * Rating: Very good. * 7-Revolutions Section: Conflict

* Aired: May 2008 * Running time: 54:00 * Description: An episode of "This American Life" that tackles the housing crisis, subprime loans, and the turmoil on Wall Street. Why did banks make extremely large loans to people without jobs or income? * Rating: Excellent * 7-Revolutions Sections: Economic Integration, Governance