ELECTION PRESIDENTIELLE

LA CAMPAGNE PRESIDENTIELLE DE 2008

PORTAIL AMERIQUE

DOSSIER NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR
DOSSIER LE MONDE

US FINANCIAL MARKETS

Recent Developments in U.S. Financial Markets and Regulatory Responses to Them
Senate Committee on Banking – Hearing – July 15, 2008
http://banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=8f6a9350-3d39-43a0-bbfb-953403ab19cc
Witnesses:
Henry M. Paulson , Jr., Secretary of the Treasury
Ben S. Bernanke , Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Christopher Cox , Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission


Systemic Risk and the Financial Markets (1)
US House of Representatives - Committee on Financial Services – Hearing - July 10, 2008
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hr071008.shtml

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke appeared at the first of a series of hearings on the policy implications of the transformation of domestic and international financial markets, with a primary focus on the rise of potential systemic risk associated with the dramatic growth in the share of assets held outside the commercial banking system, the complex arrangements that link firms that are regulated differently (or not at all) and the increasing amount of leverage.


Systemic Risk and the Financial Markets (2)
US House of Representatives - Committee on Financial Services – Hearing - July 24, 2008
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hr072408.shtml

This is the second in a series of hearings on the policy implications of the transformation of domestic and international financial markets. Witnesses for this hearing are New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner, S.E.C. Chairman Christopher Cox.


Speculative Bubbles and Overreaction to Technological Innovation
FRB San Francisco - Economic Letter - June 20, 2008 – 4 pages
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2008/el2008-18.pdf
“This Economic Letter examines some historical links between speculative bubbles, technological innovation, and capital misallocation.”


William R. Emmons FRB St. Louis - Regional Economist – Article - July 2008
The Mortgage Crisis: Let Markets Work, but Compensate the Truly Needy

http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/re/2008/c/pages/mortgage.html

Recent mortgage-foreclosure rates are the highest since the 1930s.[1] Yet, large-scale government interventions directly in housing or mortgage markets—such as government purchases of delinquent mortgages or vacant houses, involuntary mortgage modifications, or outright mortgage-foreclosure bans—are not necessarily the best policy responses. From the perspective of maximizing long-run economic efficiency, it would be better to allow housing and mortgage markets to sort themselves out, as painful as that may be. Politicians can decide whether and how to help those who were made truly needy by this crisis.


N. Eric Weiss :Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. Web posted July 21, 2008 – 6 pages
Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s Financial Problems: Frequently Asked Questions
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RS22916_20080715.pdf
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac chartered by Congress as government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and are widely believed to have an implicit guarantee from the federal government. Questions about their roles are covered by the report in light of today’s economic environment.

Governor Randall S. Kroszner
Federal Reserve's Initiatives to Support Minority-Owned Institutions and Expand Consumer Protection
Remarks to Minority Depository Institutions National Conference, Chicago, Illinois - July 17, 2008
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/kroszner20080717a.htm

“I am delighted to be here to participate in today's discussion about how we can work together to foster and preserve the strength and vitality of minority depository institutions. These institutions serve essential roles. Most important, they extend credit…to businesses and individuals in neighborhoods that otherwise may not have ready access to loans. They also foster a spirit of entrepreneurship in their communities… I will focus on two important Federal Reserve initiatives. First, I will update you on our new Partnership for Progress program, which is designed to foster and support minority-owned and de novo depository institutions. Second, I plan to discuss the recent finalization of significant Federal Reserve rules implementing certain provisions of the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act.”


Larry D. Wall, Alan K. Reichert, and Hsin-Yu Liang
The Final Frontier: The Integration of Banking and Commerce
Part 1: The Likely Outcome of Eliminating the Barrier
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta - Economic Review - Vol. 93, No. 1, 2008 – Webposted July 2008 - 18 pages
http://www.frbatlanta.org/filelegacydocs/er08no1_wall.pdf

“The policy debate on whether to strengthen or to remove the legal barriers between banking and commerce has paid little attention to what the practical effects of removing the barriers would be. To help answer this question, this article, the first part of a two-part study, provides an overview of the potential gains of integrating banking and commerce.”


Securities Class Action Litigation: The problem, its impact and the path to reform
U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform – Report - July 2008 – 56 pages
http://www.instituteforlegalreform.com/issues/docload.cfm?docId=1213

“Private securities class action lawsuits present a serious threat to the health of U.S. businesses, the prosperity of American families and the strength of our nation's global competitiveness.. Driven by the multibillion dollar plaintiffs' lawyer industry, the system exacts enormous costs on our economy while betraying the individual investors it is designed to assist." The report suggests a number of potential legislative changes.


Peter Tufano and Daniel Schneider
Using Financial Innovation to Support Savers: From Coercion to Excitement
Harvard Business School - Working Paper - Web posted July 3, 2008 – 59 pages
http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-075.pdf

The paper shows the wide range of solutions to the problem of low family savings. Families save for a wide variety of purposes, including education, retirement, and others like rainy days or emergencies. Given societal pressures to consume, and given the diversity among people, there is no single solution to the savings problem. A wide variety of programs that support savings by families, in particular by low- and moderate-income families are reviewed. These programs range from ones that literally compel families to save, to those that make it hard not to save, make it easier to save, provide financial incentives to induce savings, leverage social networks to support savers, and finally, to programs that excite people to saving.

GROWTH

American Decline or Renewal? – Globalizing Jobs and Technology

House Science and Technology Committee – Hearing – May 22, 2008

http://science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?NewsID=2199

"No longer can we in good conscience escape the question: What do we do about the offshoring of American jobs?... Subcommittee Members expressed the importance of federal funding to cultivate American innovation and stimulate the economy here. Witnesses testified about the role and responsibilities of corporations, the relationship between the state and the market, and the ability of technological innovation to ensure our country’s economic prosperity in the absence of changes in the trading system. Members questioned witnesses from domestic firms regarding the cost of producing at home under the current trading system and requested their suggestions as to what the federal government could do to improve this system.”

Wing Thye Woo

Inflation amidst Recession: Policy Prescriptions for Sustaining Stable Growth

The Brookings Institution – Paper - May 14, 2008

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2008/0514_inflation_woo.aspx?emc=lm&m=215615&l=51&v=252043

“If the U.S. cannot achieve the international cooperation required for effective financial supervision to alleviate the present stagflation, it is highly improbable that the U.S. can achieve the international cooperation to prevent the worse stagflation created by climate change. The next president must be a strong consensus builder at home and abroad in order to effectively address these numerous challenges.”

Brian W. Cashell and Marc Labonte

Understanding Stagflation and the Risk of Its Recurrence

Congressional Research Service - Library of Congress - Web posted April 28, 2008 - 17 pages

http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34428_20080331.pdf

The slowing of economic growth and the rising rate of inflation have given rise to concerns that the U.S. economy is at risk of an episode of stagflation. Stagflation describes an economy that is characterized by high rates of both unemployment and inflation. The term came into popular use in the 1970s to describe the economy at that time. Even though recent unemployment and inflation rates are not nearly as high as they were in the 1970s, some economists fear that the recent expansion in monetary and fiscal policy at a time when unemployment is low but rising and energy prices are rising, could lead to a new bout of stagflation in the near future.

Marc Labonte

Evaluating the Potential for a Recession In 2008

Congressional Research Service - Library of Congress – Report - May 13, 2008 – 24 pages

http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34484_20080513.pdf

“The U.S. economy has faced some bad news lately… A look at the available data suggests that economic growth has slowed considerably, but it is too soon to tell if the economy has entered a recession. Recessions are defined as prolonged and sustained declines in economic activity, so by definition, a persistent downturn cannot be identified until it has persisted. Given the lags between policy changes and their effects on the economy, the economy has not yet felt the full impact of the stimulus package and the Federal Reserve’s actions. Therefore, it is still too early to tell.”

AMERICAN SMILE

GW.BUSH
US STATE President (2000-2008)

LA MOBILITE SOCIALE AUX ETATS UNIS

SOURCE Centre de Ressources et d'Information
Ambassade des Etats-Unis

New documents on political and social issues

April 2008

Voir aussi USA: Politique et société

SOCIETE AMERICAINE

RACES ET MINORITES USA

DISCRIMINATION AND ECONOMIC MOBILITY

The Urban Institute, April 3, 2008

http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=1001156

Although many researchers have documented lower levels of upward mobility amongst black families, it is difficult to disentangle the effects of discrimination from differences in (sometimes unobservable) characteristics that also contribute to variation in employment, income, health, housing, and wealth outcomes across groups.

EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC MOBILITY

The Urban Institute, April 3, 2008

http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=1001157

Education policy is important to the discussion of mobility because it serves both as an end and a means to an end in eliminating inequalities. In addition to fostering mobility among those directly benefited by it, the children of beneficiaries may indirectly benefit as well. Thus, properly targeted education programs may enhance outcomes in both present and future generations.

THE EFFECTS OF IMMIGRATION ON THE EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES OF BLACK AMERICANS

The Urban Institute, April 4, 2008

http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=901159

While most evidence suggests that immigration has had a modest negative effect on black employment, especially for those without a high school diploma, changes in immigration law will probably not improve job prospects for young blacks, Senior Fellow Harry Holzer told the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He offered six suggestions for policymakers looking to improve outcomes for young African Americans, such as improving their early work experience and occupational training with high-quality career and technical education.

PULLING APART: A STATE-BY-STATE ANALYSIS OF INCOME TRENDS

The Economic Policy Institute, April 2008

http://www.epi.org/studies/pulling08/4-9-08sfp.pdf

The study is based on Census income data that have been adjusted to account for inflation, the impact of

federal taxes, and the cash value of food stamps, subsidized school lunches, and housing vouchers. The

study compares combined data from 2004-2006 with data from the late 1980s and late 1990s, time periods

chosen because they are comparable peaks of their respective business cycles.

STILL AT RISK

The American Enterprise Institute, April 22, 2008

http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.27846/pub_detail.asp

In 1983, the seismically influential Reagan-era blue-ribbon report “A Nation At Risk” declared, "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war." Twenty-five years later, when it comes to the crucial task of preparing our children for citizenship, how do we fare?

U.S. LEGAL PERMANENT RESIDENTS: 2007

U.S. Department of Homeland Security, March 2008

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/LPR_FR_2007.pdf

In 2007, a total of 1,052,415 persons became legal permane residents (LPRs) of the United States. The majority of new LPRs (59 percent) already lived in the United States when they were granted lawful permanent residence. Two-thirds were granted permanent residence based on a family relationship with a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States. The leading countries of birth of new LPRs were Mexico (14 percent), China (7 percent) and the Philippines (7 percent).

IMMIGRATION AND ECONOMIC MOBILITY

The Urban Institute, April 1^st, 2008

http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=1001162

America offers opportunities for many immigrants to improve their earnings relative to what they could earn in their countries of origin, and research suggests that immigrants’ children tend to experience further economic gains. But the effect of immigrant workers on the earnings of low-skilled, native born workers may be significantly negative; some find that the recent influx of low-skilled, immigrant labor makes it more difficult for low-skilled native-born workers to gain higher wages.

Income Inequality, Income Mobility, and Economic Policy: U.S. Trends in the 1980s and 1990s

Congressional Research Service, April 4, 2008

http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/103683.pdf

Income inequality has been increasing in the United States over the past 25 years. Several factors have been identified as possibly contributing to increasing income inequality. Some researchers have suggested the decline in unionization and a falling real minimum wage as the primary causes. Others have argued that rising returns to education and skill-biased technological change are the important factors explaining rising inequality. Most analysts agree that the likely explanation for rising income inequality is due to skill-biased technological changes combined with a change in institutions and norms, of which a falling minimum wage and declining unionization are a part.

Inside the Middle Class: Bad Times Hit the Good Life

The Pew Research Center, April 9, 2008

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/793/inside-the-middle-class

Fewer Americans now than at any time in the past half century believe they're moving forward in life.

Americans feel stuck in their tracks. A majority of survey respondents say that in the past five years, they either haven't moved forward in life (25%) or have fallen backwards (31%). This is the most downbeat short-term assessment of personal progress in nearly half a century of polling by the Pew Research Center and the Gallup organization.

The State of Minorities: How Are Minorities Faring in the Economy?

Center for American Progress - April 29, 2008

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/04/minorities_economy.html

Rapidly increasing amounts of debt, high job losses, skyrocketing gas and food prices, and a tidal wave of foreclosures are driving many American families to the edge of financial ruin. Although all U.S. households are hurt in the economic slowdown, Hispanic and African-American households are more vulnerable; they are likely to suffer first and to suffer more.

ETHNIES, RACES AUX USA

VOIR: Races , ethnies sur Internet

BILINGUAL VOTING ASSISTANCE: SELECTED JURISDICTIONS' STRATEGIES FOR IDENTIFYING NEEDS AND PROVIDING ASSISTANCE

Government Accountability Office, January 18, 2008

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08182.pdf

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, contains, among other things, provisions designed to protect the voting rights of U.S. citizens of certain ethnic groups whose command of the English language may be limited. The Department of Justice (DOJ) enforces these provisions, and the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) serves as a national clearinghouse for election information and procedures. The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 mandated that GAO study the implementation of bilingual voting under Section 203 of the act. This report discusses the ways that selected jurisdictions covered under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act have provided bilingual voting assistance as of the November 2006 general election and any subsequent elections through June 2007, and the challenges they reportedly faced in providing such assistance; and the perceived usefulness of this bilingual voting assistance, and the extent to which the selected jurisdictions evaluated the usefulness of such assistance to language minority voters. To obtain details about this voting assistance, GAO obtained information from election officials in 14 of the 296 jurisdictions required to provide it, as well as from community representatives in 11 of these jurisdictions. These jurisdictions were selected to reflect a range of characteristics such as geographic diversity and varying language minority groups.

THE HISPANIC VOTE IN THE 2008 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES

The Pew Hispanic Center, February 21, 2008

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/742/hispanic-vote-exit-poll-texas-primary

Latinos have already made a big mark in the primaries and caucuses held so far. Their share of the Democratic primary vote has risen in 12 of the 15 states for which exit polling makes it possible to compare 2008 and 2004 turnout shares. And in the Super Tuesday primaries on Feb. 5, Latinos voted for Clinton over Obama by an aggregate margin of nearly two-to-one. They were especially important to Clinton in California, where they comprised 30% of the turnout (up from 16% in 2004) and voted for her by a larger margin than did all voters statewide.

IMMIGRANTS JOINING THE MAINSTREAM

International Information Programs, February 2008

http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itsv/0208/ijse/ijse0208.pdf

In every era of U.S. history, from colonial times in the 17th century through the early 21st century, women and men from around the world have opted for the American experience. They arrived as foreigners, bearers of languages, cultures, and religions that at times seemed alien to America’s essential core. Over time, as ideas about U.S. culture changed, the immigrants and their descendants simultaneously built ethnic communities and participated in American civic life, contributing to the nation as a whole.

MANAGING DIVERSITY IN CORPORATE AMERICA. AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS

RAND, January 23, 2008

http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/2007/RAND_OP206.pdf

Managing diversity has become a primary concern of top U.S. corporations. In this paper, the authors develop a fact-based approach to modeling diversity management. They use the model to determine whether diversity-friendly corporations really do stand out from other companies by analyzing the strategies pursued by 14 large U.S. companies recognized for their diversity or human resource (HR) achievements. Finally, to understand whether best practices alone make a company diversity-friendly, they compare a number of characteristics of best diversity companies, best HR companies, and other companies, using quantitative and qualitative methods. They find that firms recognized for diversity are distinguished by a core set of motives and practices that resemble those presented in the best-practices literature, but that best practices per se may not enable a company to achieve a high level of diversity. Contextual factors, such as industry affiliation and company size, may be as significant as strategic factors in influencing the extent of a company’s diversity.

RACE & ETHNICITY IN AMERICA: TURNING A BLIND EYE TO INJUSTICE

American Civil Liberties Union, December 10, 2007

http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/humanrights/cerd_full_report.pdf

According to this report, racial and ethnic discrimination and inequality are ongoing and pervasive in the U.S. Policies at the federal, state, and local levels often burden “racial and ethnic minorities and non-citizens, immigrants, low-wage workers, women, children, and the accused.” This report offers a “Convention” to U.S. policymakers to rectify these discriminatory policies.

POLICING IN ARAB-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES AFTER SEPTEMBER 11
National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, July 2008
http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/221706.pdf
Many Arab-Americans were troubled by increased government scrutiny of their communities following the terrorist attacks. Some Arab-American communities said they were more afraid of law enforcement agencies, especially federal law enforcement agencies, than they were of acts of hate or violence, despite an increase in hate crimes. They specifically cited fears about immigration enforcement, surveillance and racial profiling.

RACIAL PROFILING AND GENETIC PRIVACY
Center for American Progress, July 2008
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/03/pdf/racial_profiling.pdf
Racial profiling and genetic privacy are two related issues that together present a singular problem for policymakers: How do we reconcile our desire for excellent police work with maintaining criminal investigation protocols that respect the rights of citizens? Two recent criminal cases, one in Virginia and the other in Louisiana, encapsulate the problem.

HOMETOWN ASSOCIATIONS: AN UNTAPPED RESOURCE FOR IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION
The Migration Policy Institute, July 2008
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/Insight-HTAs-July08.pdf
With global migration rates at historic highs, the informal associations that immigrants create for social, economic development and political empowerment purposes are becoming more numerous and better networked. Though much of the policy and research focus on the immigrant organizations, known as hometown associations, is on their development potential for their home countries, a new Migration Policy Institute (MPI) report concludes that the groups play an important role in immigrant integration.