Home> International Economy & Trade>> WP  Back | Print
International Economy & Trade - WP
Small Island Developing States and Climate Change: Effects, Responses and Positions beyond Durban (WP) WP 1/2012 - 23/1/2012 Raúl I. Alfaro-Pelico This working paper begins with an overview of the climate change impacts on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and then moves on to reviewing policies implemented by SIDS in response to climate threats. The paper mainly uses the framework of the Bali Roadmap and considers areas of priority identified in the Barbados Programme of Action. The role that Spain has played in support of these measures is also underscored. The paper concludes with an assessment of the negotiating position of SIDS in the aftermath of the Durban climate conference. It considers the implications of various country groupings within and outside the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), as they influence the stance of different SIDS in a post-2012 climate regime.
Spain’s Multinationals: the Dynamic Part of an Ailing Economy (WP) WP 17/2011 - 15/9/2011 William Chislett The investments abroad of a significant number of Spanish companies are enabling them to weather the depressed domestic economy relatively well, while exports have become the engine of economic growth.
The G-20 Economies and the Financial Crisis: Concerns over Governance (WP) WP 41/2010 (Translated from Spanish) - 15/3/2011 Luis A. Riveros The global financial crisis that erupted in late 2007 in the US, and which stemmed from policies implemented over the past three decades, has highlighted a severe problem of financial governance within countries and in the international context itself.
The Global Crisis and its Implications for Latin America (WP) WP 40/2010 (Translated from Spanish) - 15/3/2011 Ramiro Albrieu and José María Fanelli Latin America has not been immune to the turmoil unleashed in the wake of Lehman Brothers’ demise. This working paper looks at the size and characteristics of the external shocks endured by the region, its vulnerability to them and the political responses they have elicited.
The Euro vs Dollar Debate: A Review (WP) WP 5/2001 - 7/2/2011 Miguel Otero-Iglesias This Working Paper provides a comprehensive and multidisciplinary literature review on the euro vs dollar debate. In the first part it presents the euro-optimist and the euro-sceptical hypotheses on the euro’s challenge to the dollar within Economic literature and how current data show how the euro has underperformed vis-à-vis euro-optimistic expectations. In the second part, the paper explains the euro’s political flaws.The last part of the paper focuses on these social dimensions.
The Global Governance Agenda and the Role of the G20 (WP) WP 39/2010 (Translated from Spanish) - 15/12/2010 Federico Steinberg This paper addresses these issues. It focuses on how the international community should prioritise the global economic governance agenda and what role the G-20 should play in the process. The first section analyses the challenges that the international community faces, exploring which elements of this complex agenda have the best prospects for being addressed successfully. The second section discusses what kind of institutional structure is needed in order to carry out reforms and what the role of the G-20 is in that structure.
Spain’s Main Multinationals: Building on their Success (WP) WP 29/2010 - 1/9/2010 William Chislett Spain’s main multinationals are going from strength to strength. The investments and acquisitions made abroad over the last 15 years or so are increasingly profitable and significantly reducing the reliance on a domestic market that is in the doldrums. But for these investments some of these companies would barely survive the downturn in their home market.
Uncertainty in Climate Change (WP) WP 25/2010 - 22/07/2010 A.T. Grove and E. Lopez-Gunn This Working Paper reviews the main reasons why definite and conclusive evidence in the field of climate change is almost an impossibility. It analyses the main elements that explain natural climatic change and reflects on the high level of uncertainty in the system, which in many ways is inherent to the system itself, and presents the latest evidence.
The Way Forward for the Spanish Economy: More Internationalisation (WP) WP 1/2010 - 15/1/2010 William Chislett The collapse of the construction sector brutally exposed the shortcomings of the lopsided economic model. The economy needs to become more internationalised through exports and direct investment abroad in order to create jobs on a more sustainable basis and employment of a higher quality.
Spain, Water and Climate Change in COP 15 and Beyond: Aligning Mitigation and Adaptation through Innovation (WP) WP 65/2009 - 24/12/2009 Elena Lopez-Gunn The water/energy nexus opens a range of opportunities to align mitigation and adaptation framed by human security, which prioritises human development. In this context, Spain has an opportunity to play a leading role in realising this potential by pursuing a coherent multilevel strategy specifically designed for water and climate variability and change.
How Can Spain Benefit from a Climate Deal in Copenhagen? (WP) WP 62/2009 - 11/12/2009 Rolando Fuentes Spain, on its own, is not a key player in the negotiations for the potential successor of the Kyoto Protocol that is expected to be ‘politically agreed’ at the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen.However, Spain can play an important role in that it will occupy the Presidency of the EU during the first half of 2010. Moreover, Spain could influence the negotiations towards win-win situations for the country.
Will the Euro Ever Replace the US Dollar as the Dominant Global Currency? (WP) WP 54/2009 - 19/10/2009 Guillermo de la Dehesa There are two major handicaps that will make very difficult for the euro to overtake the US dollar as a dominant currency. First, the EA still has a very fragmented banking and capital market, which makes it more difficult to fully exploit economies of scale and of scope and network externalities. The second is that since the EU and the EA are only unions of independent nations and not a federal state, it will be extremely difficult to overtake the US dollar and maintain a dominant international role while the governance of the EU and EA remains unchanged.
The Blessing of Having the Euro and the Need to Make it Better (WP) WP 41/2009 - 21/7/2009 Charles Wyplosz Something extraordinary has happened during the Global Crisis that started in 2007. Despite acute financial turmoil and massive injections of liquidity, exchange rates in the euro area have not faced the kind of speculative attacks that were the unavoidable feature of every previous crisis. The reason, of course, is that there are no exchange rates.
The Way to a New Deal on Climate Change (WP) WP 40/2009 - 20/7/2009 Mikel González-Ruiz de Eguinon and Antxon Olabe Within a few months, on 7 December 2009, 195 countries will meet in Copenhagen with a common mission: to find a way out of the climate change crisis. The Climate Change Conference –COP15 in United Nations jargon– aims to lay the foundations of a post-Kyoto agreement that provides workable solutions for a problem that threatens ‘to lead to some impacts that could be abrupt and irreversible’ and undermine global security.
Dollar Dominance, Euro Aspirations: Recipe for Discord? (WP) WP 29/2009 - 28/5/2009 Benjamin J. Cohen After nearly a century of dominance of the international monetary system, has the US dollar finally met its match in the euro? A struggle for monetary leadership could become a source of sustained tensions in US-European relations. Fortunately, however, there seems relatively little risk of a destabilising escalation into outright geopolitical conflict.
The Crisis and the Euro (WP) WP 23/2009 - 14/5/2009 Barry Eichengreen This paper explores the different challenges that the financial crisis has posed to the Euro area and its governance.
Why a Political Accord is Needed to Make EU-Russia Energy Relations Work (WP) WP 19/2009 - 17/4/2009 Andrei V. Belyi The idea put forward in this paper is that a strong political accord, which would strengthen the relations between the EU and Russia in general, and hence improve relations in all energy sectors, should be pursued by both parties.
Spain and the G-20: A Strategic Proposal for Enhancing its Role in Global Governance 8/4/2009 Elcano Royal Institute This paper explores the role Spain can and should play in the institutions engaged in global governance in the current context of financial crisis and reconfiguration of international power centres. After briefly analysing Spain’s relative position in the world –on the basis of economic and other criteria– the study suggests the path it should follow to boost its influence in the world. The paper points out Spain’s comparative advantages, the areas where it could contribute most, and the shortcomings that make it difficult to translate Spain’s economic weight into greater political influence at the global level.
The European Union Free Trade Agreements: Implications for Developing Countries (WP) WP 8/2009 - 11/2/2009 Enrique Valerdi Rodríguez In a clear break with its former policy, partly due to the stalemate of the Doha Development Round negotiations and to the changes in the global economic balance, the European Union (EU) announced in 2006 its plan to seek comprehensive Free Trade Agreements with a series of countries and regions.
A Preliminary View of Obama’s Future Energy Policy (WP) WP 2/2009 - 13/1/2009 Paul Isbell A preview of the likely contours of President-elect Barack Obama’s future energy policy and an assessment of the potential ramifications.
Africa’s last ‘Last Chance’? Reflections on the Commission for Africa and the Millennium Project Reports WP42-2005 - 19.9.2005 Andrew Mold It will only have escaped the attention of died-in-the-grain recluses that Africa has recently been firmly placed on the international agenda in a way that was perhaps unthinkable a couple of years ago. Music concerts, television documentaries and, above all, political meetings have all been carried out recently in support of African ‘development’. Two particular proposals have claimed the limelight: first, the Commission for Africa (CFA) set up last year by the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, compromising 18 commissioners, and whose report was published in the month before the G8 Summit in Gleneagles in July 2005, with the clear intention of getting at least some of the report’s recommendations endorsed by the G8 leaders
Top