In their comprehensive analysis of the Kyoto Protocol and climate policy, Richard B. Stewart and Jonathan B. Wiener examine the current impasse in climate policy and the potential steps nations can take to reduce greenhouse gases. They summarize the current state of information regarding the extent of global warming that would be caused by increasing uncontrolled greenhouse gas emissions. They explain why participation by all major greenhouse gas-emitting countries is essential to curb future greenhouse gas emissions and also note the significant obstacles to obtaining such participation.Stewart and Weiner argue it is in the national interest of the United States to participate in such a regime, provided that it is well designed. They discuss the elements of sound climate regulatory design, including maximum use of economic incentives, the comprehensive approach, and other flexibility mechanisms; participation by all major emitting countries, including developing countries; regulatory targets based on longer-term emissions pathways set to maximize net social benefits; and effective arrangements to ensure compliance with regulatory obligations by nations and sources.After evaluating the successes and failures of the Kyoto Protocol in light of those elements, the authors propose a series of U.S. initiatives at the international and domestic levels, with the aim of engaging the United States and major developing country emitters such as China in the global greenhouse gas regulatory effort and correcting the remaining defects in the design of the Kyoto Protocol. Although several alternatives to the current Kyoto Protocol regime have been proposed, Stewart and Weiner argue that the best approach for surmounting the current global climate policy impasse is a new strategy that would lead, sooner or later, to simultaneous accession by the United States and China (and other major developing country emitters) to a modified and improved version of the Kyoto Protocol agreement.

Reconstructing Climate Policy: Beyond Kyoto

Business & Money

Stewart, Richard B.

Economics

AEI American Enterprise Institute

In Russia's Revolution: Essays 1989―2006AEI resident scholar Leon Aron brings together his observations of the last great revolution of the twentieth century, which began with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 and continues today in Putin's Russia. Aron explores the broad range of political, economic, social, and cultural developments in Russia in the last fifteen years, ranging from the vagaries of privatization to the recovery of Russia's glorious gastronomic tradition to the challenges of postauthoritarian life as seen through the eyes of Boris Akunin, the bestselling Russian mystery writer. Aron also prepares us for the possible crises ahead, such as the 2008 Russian presidential election, the growing demographic crisis of an aging and unhealthy population, and the fallout from a potentially bankrupt state-owned pension system. Anyone interested in understanding the changes Russia has undergone should read this book.

Russia's Revolution: Essays 1989-2006

History

Aron, Leon

Historical Study & Educational Resources

The activities of Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers have become rallying cries for both sides of the political aisle. This book is aimed at those involved in debates over Wal-Mart's impact on worker wages, labor issues, and health-insurance and land-use policies. The Wal-Mart Revolution provides useful facts about the company, the U.S. retail industry, labor economics, health-care policy, and land-use realities in America today. Economist Richard Vedder and public-private partnerships expert Wendell Cox painstakingly analyze available evidence before concluding that the economic transformation in American retailing which is personified by Wal-Mart has largely been good for Americans and the economy. Wal-Mart's basic business strategies have had a profoundly positive impact on America's productivity, wages, consumer prices, and other key economic variables. Though the book was written without any cooperation from Wal-Mart, Vedder and Cox address several criticisms often lobbed at the company and demolish them one-by-one: • Wal-Mart workers are paid fairly―given their level of skills and experience, and compared to other retail firms, Wal-Mart employees do well • Wal-Mart's fringe benefits―health-care coverage, retirement benefits, and more-―are similar to those of other retail firms, and very few Wal-Mart workers go without health insurance • Big boxes mean big business: communities with new Wal-Mart stores typically enjoy increased employment and incomes after the store opens • Wal-Mart benefits the poor, in particular, in the form of lower prices and new job opportunities • Attempts to keep Wal-Mart out of communities through zoning restrictions, mandatory health insurance, or special high minimum wages hurt citizens, especially those with lower incomes

The The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big-Box Stores Benefit Consumers, Workers, and the Economy

Richard Vedder

Wendell Cox

Biography & History

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Books by AEI American Enterprise Institute