Backgrounder posted August 25, 1999 by Bryan T. Johnson
The New Space Race: Challenges for U.S. National Security and Free Enterprise
Thirty years ago, when Apollo 11
astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped on the moon, they
broke the tethers binding mankind's feet to Earth and lofted the
nation's aspirations and energies into space. As the nation
celebrates the 30th anniversary of the lunar landing, which
occurred less than a decade after President John F. Kennedy
challenged scientists…
Backgrounder posted February 19, 1999 by Adam D. Thierer, Bryan T. Johnson
Why Congress Must Fix the Satellite Home Viewer Act
Congress is
scheduled to consider the Satellite Television Act of 1999 (S.
303), legislation that will help decide the future of one of
America's most competitive and technologically important
industries: satellite television broadcasting.
The
satellite industry includes many services, from delivering cellular
phone service and television broadcasting to…
Executive Summary posted February 19, 1999 by Adam D. Thierer, Bryan T. Johnson
Executive Summary: Why Congress Must Fix the Satellite Home Viewer Act
The satellite industry is one of the fastest growing and most
important high-technology sectors of today's U.S. economy. It
provides, among other things, communications, television, cable,
and sophisticated imagery and sensory satellites for U.S.
intelligence-gathering operations. Over the past decade, home
satellite subscriptions for television service have…
Executive Memorandum posted February 15, 1999 by Bryan T. Johnson, Brett D. Schaefer
Clinton's Backdoor Foreign Aid Increase
On February 1, 1999, in his fiscal year (FY) 2000
budget proposal, President Bill Clinton submitted a supplemental
appropriations request for FY 1999. He seeks $1.9 billion in
foreign aid in support of the October 1998 Israeli-Palestinian
agreement signed at Wye River, Maryland, as well as funds for
several small requests, such as roughly $1 million to…
Backgrounder posted November 25, 1998 by Bryan T. Johnson, Brett D. Schaefer
IMF Reform? Setting the Record Straight
Congress has been pressured by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), the Clinton Administration, and various
domestic interests since January 1997 to provide the IMF with
additional funds. It resisted the pressure to rubber-stamp these
requests and chose instead to conduct an informative debate on many
IMF-related issues before finally approving $17.9 billion…
Backgrounder posted July 16, 1998 by Bryan T. Johnson, Brett D. Schaefer
A Checklist for IMF Reform
The House of Representatives soon is likely to
consider the Clinton Administration's request for $17.9 billion in
additional funding for the International Monetary Fund
(IMF).2 The Senate approved this
request on March 26, 1998; and even though it expressed support for
requiring some reform by the IMF in return for the new
appropriation, it neglected the most basic…
Backgrounder posted May 11, 1998 by Bryan T. Johnson, Brett D. Schaefer
Agricultural Exports and The IMF: Separating Myth From Reality
The
Clinton Administration is pressuring Congress to appropriate an
additional $18 billion in funding for the International Monetary
Fund (IMF). Supporters of this increase believe that the IMF is a
necessary tool to stabilize markets, establish strong and stable
currencies, solve the recent Asian financial crisis, and open
foreign markets to trade. However, not one…
Executive Memorandum posted April 27, 1998 by Bryan T. Johnson, Brett D. Schaefer
Clinton's Foreign Assistance Budget: Over the Top and Down the Drain
The
Clinton Administration is asking Congress to increase bilateral
economic and development assistance in fiscal year (FY) 1999 by
$531 million--almost 6.4 percent more for a program that
historically has been ineffective. The Administration's request is
unjustified. Numerous studies of the economies of countries that
received U.S. economic aid for the past 35…
Backgrounder posted February 12, 1998 by Bryan T. Johnson, Brett D. Schaefer
Congress Should Give No More Funds to the IMF
President Clinton is gearing up for a battle with Congress over
increased United States funding for the International Monetary Fund
(IMF). The IMF-led $118 billion bailout of Asian economies and IMF
demands for substantial funding increases have prompted Congress to
question both the efficacy of financial bailouts and the relevance
of the Fund in today's global…
Backgrounder posted January 26, 1998 by Bryan T. Johnson
The International Responsibility and Self Sufficiency Act
The U.S. foreign aid program was created to promote economic
development in less-developed countries, to achieve U.S. foreign
policy and security interests abroad, and to open overseas markets
to American exports. Since 1945, the United States has spent nearly
$500 billion (more than $1 trillion in constant 1995
dollars)1 to achieve these goals. Yet
this sizable…
Backgrounder posted December 5, 1997 by Bryan T. Johnson, John Sweeney
Down the Drain: Why the IMF Bailout in Asia Is Wasteful andWon't Work
The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
is bailing out Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and South
Korea, the world's 11th-largest economy. The current estimated cost
of these four financial rescue projects is $118 billion, but many
financial analysts fear this amount could rise to as much as $163
billion-about five times more than it cost the IMF and the…
Backgrounder posted May 6, 1997 by Bryan T. Johnson
The International Monetary Fund: Outdated, Ineffective, andUnnecessary
Introduction
Founded 53 years ago in the turbulent era of the 1940s to
stabilize the world economy, the International Monetary Fund
(IMF)1 has become outdated, ineffective, and
unnecessary. Most of the economic conditions that led to the IMF's
creation no longer exist; in addition, the Fund has failed to
achieve most of its own newly defined roles, a preponderance…
Backgrounder posted January 31, 1997 by Bryan T. Johnson, Brett D. Schaefer
False Alarm Over Foreign Affairs Spending Cuts
Charts and Tables:
Chart 1:
Funding for Diplomatic Activities 1980-1997
Chart 2:
State Department Funding 1980-1997
Chart 3:
Funding for Overall Foreign Affairs Budget vs. Funding for its
Non-Diplomatic Functions
The Clinton Administration claims that a declining foreign
affairs budget is threatening the ability of the United States to
conduct…