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SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: EFFECTS OF INFRASTRUCTURE CONDITIONS ON EXPORT COMPETITIVENESS, THIRD ANNUAL REPORT. By the United States International Trade Commission, April 2009. This report describes conditions in the land transport, maritime transport, and electricity infrastructure sectors, and examines their effects on export competitiveness in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Infrastructure conditions in SSA have a significant effect on the ability of firms to produce and export goods and services competitively. Relatively poor infrastructure conditions place many SSA producers and exporters of goods and services at a competitive disadvantage in regional and global export markets, increasing costs and compromising product quality, rendering both merchandise and services exports less competitive vis-à-vis exporters that may not be similarly disadvantaged. However, SSA governments and the private sector are implementing various strategies, including government regulatory reform, increased investment, and new applications of technology to improve infrastructure conditions within SSA, often in conjunction with neighbouring countries, SSA regional organizations, multilateral institutions, and non-SSA countries. To download the report, please visit http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4071.pdf.
THE ECONOMICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: A REGIONAL REVIEW. By the Asian Development Bank, April 2009. This report provides a review of the economics of climate change in the Southeast Asian region. It confirms that the region is highly vulnerable to climate change and demonstrates that a wide range of adaptation measures are already being applied. The report also shows that the region has a great potential to contribute to greenhouse gas emission reduction, and that the costs to the region and globally of taking no early action against climate change could be very high. The basic policy message is that efforts must be made to apply all feasible and economically viable adaptation and mitigation measures as key elements of a sustainable development strategy for Southeast Asia. It also argues that the current global economic crisis offers Southeast Asia an opportunity to start a transition towards a climate-resilient and low-carbon economy by introducing green stimulus programs that can simultaneously shore up economies, create jobs, reduce poverty, lower carbon emissions, and prepare for the worst effects of climate change. To access the report, please visit http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Economics-Climate-Change-SEA/.
THE RISE AND FALL OF FAST TRACK TRADE AUTHORITY. By Todd Tucker and Lori Wallach, Public Citizen, May 2009. This book examines the colourful 220-year US history of how the president and Congress have grappled with negotiating and implementing trade agreements given the constitutional separation of powers requirements. The book concludes that Fast Track (the most recent mechanism Congress used to delegate its trade powers to the president) is a historical anomaly and counterproductive to the creation of good trade pacts. For free access to the book online, please visit: http://www.fasttrackhistory.org/.
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