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Hard Talk Forum (Spring 2008 Preview) Does Ethanol Make Economic and Environmental Sense? . YES: Ethanol Will Reduce Our Dependence On Foreign Oil —By Bruce Dale* .
Ethanol offers a huge reduction in petroleum consumption per mile
driven and it can significantly decrease greenhouse gas generation
compared to gasoline. Ethanol derived from cellulosic materials can
also be produced at low enough costs and in large enough volumes to
seriously challenge petroleum’s dominance as a source of liquid
transportation fuels.
A recent article in the journal Science provides data showing that,
since very little petroleum is needed to produce ethanol, using
ethanol as a fuel reduces petroleum consumed in proportion to the
percentage of ethanol in the fuel mixture. Assuming a fuel efficient
car getting about 50 miles per gallon of fuel and driving on E85 (a
mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline), the overall
petroleum consumed would be equivalent to about 250 miles per
gallon. Higher percentage ethanol blends would get even more miles
per gallon of petroleum consumed. It is important to distinguish between... . To read more, subscribe and receive an instant digital copy of the Spring issue. Already a subscriber? Login Now. . *Bruce Dale is a Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University and Editor-in-Chief of Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining. _____________________________________________________________________ . NO: Ethanol Wastes More Energy Than It Produces —By David Pimentel* . Corn ethanol production is energy inefficient and expensive. In 2007 alone the U.S. sank more than $6 billion in subsidies to support the production of corn ethanol. It is also represents an environmental hazard, threatens nutritional balance by raising the cost of key food staples—the price of milk, meat and eggs has increased between 10 percent and 20 percent in 2007—and, finally, poses genuine ethical concerns. . While diminishing oil supplies, along with high prices, have accelerated projects to convert grains and other biomass into ethanol fuel, it is important to take a longer perspective. Ethanol production, whether based on corn or on biomass such as plants and grasses, requires large areas of fertile soil and huge quantities of water— both of which obviously represent a reduction in the amount of those often-scarce resources needed for the world’s growing food supply needs. . Many enthusiasts suggest ethanol produced from corn grain or grasses... . To read more, subscribe and receive an instant digital copy of the Spring issue. Already a subscriber? Login Now. . *David Pimentel is a Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University and Editor-in-Chief of Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining. __________________________________________ Policy Updates (Spring 2008 Preview) . IPOs: The boom in emerging equity markets —By Lisa M. Schineller* . Initial public offerings (IPO) worldwide raised a record level of capital in 2007—driven in large part by emerging markets that increasingly list companies on their own exchanges. China remains the undisputed leader, with Indian and Russian stock markets—thanks to “mega” IPOs—returning impressive results. As a whole, equity market capitalization in Latin America is much smaller than in European and Asian emerging markets.
Brazil is Latin America’s unchallenged leader in terms of market dynamism. The BOVESPA, or Brazilian stock exchange, launched 64 IPOs in 2007, including opening its very own capital. Brazilian IPOs generated $29 billion (or 55.5 billion reais), putting Brazil behind only China and the United States in terms of capital raised globally. In 2007, the BOVESPA’s market capitalization grew by more than 90 percent (in U.S. dollar terms)—the sixth largest increase in capitalization worldwide. In comparison, there were over 200 Chinese IPOs last year, and growth in China’s domestic market capitalization (in U.S. dollar terms) fluctuated between 200 percent and 300 percent. . That said, Latin America’s stock... . To read more, subscribe and receive an instant digital copy of the Spring issue. Already a subscriber? Login Now. . *Lisa M. Schineller is Director of Sovereign Ratings at Standard & Poor's and an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University. . _____________________________________________________________________ . CAFTA-DR Pact: Opening up new frontiers —By Gary Hufbauer and Barbara Kotschwar* . As President George W. Bush pressures Congress to ratify the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, it is worth examining the results to date of the Dominican Republic-Central America-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). That agreement, involving the United States, five Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) and the Dominican Republic has taken a roller coaster ride since initialed in 2004.
. . Yet passage was politically contentious in several countries... . To read more, subscribe and receive an instant digital copy of the Spring issue. Already a subscriber? Login Now. . *Gary Hufbauer is the Reginald Jones Senior Fellow and Barbara Kotschwar is a research associate at the Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics. . _____________________________________________________________________ . Same Sex: Rights to get married —By Luiz Mello, Anna Paula Uziel and Miriam Grossi .
To marry
or not to marry?” For Latin America’s gays and lesbians this is not
the existential . At the same time, homosexuality is not illegal in any country in Latin America except Guyana. In Cuba, the legal status of lesbians and gays is somewhat ambiguous. This situates the region somewhere in the middle ground of global attitudes—more liberal than Africa and Asia, but much less tolerant than Europe. But for those facing discrimination, that is small comfort.
. . To read more, subscribe and receive an instant digital copy of the Spring issue.Already a subscriber? Login Now.. * Luiz Mello is a sociologist at the Universidade Federal de Goiás, Anna Paula Uziel is a psychologist at the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro and Miriam Grossi is an anthropologist at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.__________________________________________ Fresh Look Reviews (Spring 2008 Preview) . Santiago's Children: What I Learned about Life at an Orphanage in Chile — By Steve Reifenberg [Reviewed by Pablo Bachelet*].
In
Chile’s tumultuous recent history, it is tempting to fast-forward
through the 1980s. They seem like a gray and forgettable interlude
between two decades marked by dramatic events and iconic figures.
During the 1970s, Salvador Allende’s ballot-box-driven socialist
revolution
But as
Steve Reifenberg demonstrates in Santiago’s Children: What I Learned
about Life at an Orphanage in Chile, the 1980s were crucial to the
country’s eventual regeneration. At the time, Chile was still in the throes...
Read the Miami Op-Ed article.
. To read more, subscribe and receive an instant digital copy of the Spring issue.Already a subscriber? Login Now.. *Pablo Bachelet is the Latin American diplomatic correspondent for The Miami Herald in Washington. . _____________________________________________________________________ . Ex Mex: From Migrants to Immigrants— By Jorge G. Castañeda [Reviewed by Alexandra Délano*]. There are few straightforward, objective accounts about Mexican immigration to the U.S., which partly explains not only the widespread misconceptions about immigrants but also the backlash that has developed in recent years. Amidst a complex debate and a wide range of publications adding contrasting interpretations about its costs and benefits, it is difficult for the general public to attain a clear picture of the situation. Ex Mex: From Migrants to Immigrants attempts to fill this void. Written by former Mexican foreign secretary Jorge Castañeda, Global Distinguished Professor of Politics and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University, it offers a lucid account of the political debates over immigration in Mexico and the U.S., as well as a comprehensive overview of recent Mexican migration flows.
Castañeda’s experience and intimate knowledge of both countries provides a long-overdue binational perspective. It also informs his central conclusion, that a “more balanced and cautious approach” to immigration questions will benefit both the U.S. and Mexico. In simple and clear language, Ex Mex provides the intellectual foundation for what Castañeda considers the necessity of U.S. immigration reform. Castañeda himself was one of the architects of the proposed U.S.-Mexico migration agreement in 2001, an experience he discusses in the book. The negotiations ultimately failed, and his original (perhaps ambitious) motivation for the proposal and the lessons of its failure provide the basis for his recommendations for reform in the final chapter of the book.
. To read more, subscribe and receive an instant digital copy of the Spring issue.Already a subscriber? Login Now.. *Alexandra Délano is a doctoral candidate in international relations at Oxford University. . _____________________________________________________________________ . Los límites morales del gasto público: Desigualdad, bienestar e ingresos no laborales— By Dante Avaro [Reviewed by Ignacio Labaqui*].
Income
inequality has dogged Latin America since the Colonial era. The gap
between the rich and the poor has widened even during periods of
sustained economic growth—which suggests that even serious efforts
to address the problem through a more equitable distribution of
benefits are underscored by the regressive quality of the region’s
institutions.
Against
this backdrop, Dante Avaro’s new book, Los límites morales del
gasto público: Desigualdad, bienestar e ingresos no laborales
(The Moral Limits of Public Spending: Inequality, Welfare and
Non-Labor Income), is a worthy contribution to the debate over
inequality. The centerpiece of the book is Avaro’s effort to
formulate a public policy that reduces inequality without
compromising economic growth. In Latin America, redistribution
programs have often led to the implementation of populist
macroeconomic
. . To read more, subscribe and receive an instant digital copy of the Spring issue.Already a subscriber? Login Now... *Ignacio Labaqui is a professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina. . _____________________________________________________________________ .
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