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World Trade Organization (WTO): Issues in the Debate on Continued U.S. Participation
[Excerpt] Following World War II, the United States led efforts to establish an open and nondiscriminatory trading system with the expressed goal of raising the economic well-being of all countries and bolstering world peace. These efforts culminated in the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1948, a provisional agreement on tariffs and trade rules that governed world trade for 47 years. The World Trade Organization (WTO) succeeded the GATT in 1995 and today serves as a permanent body that administers the rules and agreements negotiated and signed by 153 participating parties, as well as a forum for dispute settlement and negotiations.
Section 125 of the Uruguay Round Agreements (P.L. 103-465), which is the law that approved and implemented the agreements reached during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, provided that the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) must submit to Congress every five years a report that analyzes the costs and benefits of continued U.S. participation in the WTO. The USTR submitted its report to Congress on March 1, 2010, triggering a 90 legislative day timetable in which any Member of Congress may introduce a privileged joint resolution withdrawing congressional approval of the WTO Agreement (to date no withdrawal resolution has been introduced in the 111th Congress).
Most observers maintain that U.S. withdrawal from the WTO is at best highly unlikely for both substantive and procedural reasons. Substantively, the withdrawal of U.S. participation could undermine a multilateral system of trade rules and practices, formulated and implemented under U.S. leadership, that on balance has contributed to increased economic prosperity and security at home and abroad. Procedurally, a withdrawal resolution would have to pass both the House and Senate and then surmount a likely Presidential veto via an override with a two-thirds majority vote. Nevertheless, such a resolution provides an opportunity for Members of Congress periodically to debate “whether the WTO is an effective organization” and ways it could better serve U.S. interests.
The purpose of this report is to analyze some of the main issues in any debate on U.S. participation in the WTO and to address some of the criticisms leveled at the organization. Academic studies indicate that the United States benefits from broad reductions in trade barriers worldwide, but some workers and industries might not share in those gains. Decisions in the WTO are made by member governments, which determine their negotiating positions, file dispute challenges, and implement their decisions. However, some argue that smaller countries are left out of decision-making and that governments tend to represent the interests of large corporations disproportionately.
The United States has been a frequent participant in WTO dispute proceedings, both as a complainant and as a respondent. There have been complaints that countries do not adhere to decisions and that U.S. trade remedy laws have not been judged properly. It is also argued that this multilateral dispute settlement process is unique and that the United States has successfully used the process to advance its economic interests.
Certain advocates for the environment, food safety, labor, development, and financial regulation have criticized the WTO. Much of the criticism is based on interpretations of various WTO agreements or rulings that have been controversial. An appendix sets out the legislative procedures for the WTO withdrawal resolution. This report will be updated as events warrant
Design of space-type electronic power transformers
Both open and encapsulated varieties of high reliability, low weight, and high efficiency moderate and high voltage transformers were investigated to determine the advantages and limitations of their construction in the ranges of power and voltage required for operation in the hard vacuum environment of space. Topics covered include: (1) selection of the core material; (2) preliminary calculation of core dimensions; (3) selection of insulating materials including magnet wire insulation, coil forms, and layer and interwinding insulation; (4) coil design; (5) calculation of copper losses, core losses and efficiency; (6) calculation of temperature rise; and (7) optimization of design with changes in core selection or coil design as required to meet specifications
Chiron: Evidence for historic cometary activity
The non-asteroidal brightening of (2060) Chiron, first noted by Tholen in 1988 is now ascribed to cometary activity. Photometry since 1988 has revealed a broad surge in brightness that peaked in 1989 about 1.0 mag above the brightness in the mid-1980s. The surge is evidently due to sporatic formation of dust coma, which is itself driven by the presence of extremely volatile ices at or near the surface. CN emission was recently reported. Since Chiron is now nearing perihelion, there is interest in determining whether it has exhibited anomalous brightening in the past, particularly at greater heliocentric distances. Photographic plates dating back to 1895 are known to contain images of Chiron. Using some of these archival material, the initial results are presented for a project to determine Chiron's brightness history over orbital timescales. A particularly homogeneous and high-quality set of plates taken prior to and around the time of Chiron's discovery in Oct. 1977 at the 1.2 m Oschin Schmidt telescope at Mt. Palomar Observatory were examined. Images of Chiron were identified and digitized using a PDS microdensitometer, and images of field stars around Chiron were both similarly digitized and photometrically calibrated using recently acquired B and V band CCD frames. As a result of the present work, eleven new data, including estimated errors, were added between 1969 and 1977. The implications that Chiron can be active at any heliocentric distance in its present orbit suggest that the active volatile is either N2, CH4, or CO, and that a substantial degree of mantling may have developed. Further historical data is presented, the error bars discussed, and possible mechanisms suggested for the observed activity
g-Factors of the SH (0-0) Band and SH Upper Limit in Comet P/Brorsen-Metcalf (1980o)
Since H2S was detected in Comets Austin (1989cl) and Levy (1990c) in the microwave range, there has been increasing interest in searching for SH, which is the prime dissociative product of H2S. We present g-factors for the A-X (0-0) band of SH as a function of heliocentric velocity at r = 1.0 AU. We derive an upper limit production rate, Q(SH)/Q(H2O) less than 0.017, for Comet Brorsen-Metcalf (1989o) and calculate a dissociative lifetime of 105 sec at a heliocentric distance, r = 1.0 AU, and at a heliocentric velocity, v(r) = -28.5 km/sec
The 15 years of comet photometry: A comparative analysis of 80 comets
In 1976, a program of narrowband photometry of comets was initiated that has encompassed well over 400 nights of observations. To date, the program has provided detailed information on 80 comets, 11 of which were observed during multiple apparitions. The filters (initially isolating CN, C2, and continuum and later including C3, OH, and NH) as well as the detectors used for the observations were changed over time, and the parameters adopted in the reduction and modeling of the data have likewise evolved. Accordingly, we have re-reduced the entire database and have derived production rates using current values for scalelengths and fluorescence efficiencies. Having completed this task, the results for different comets can now be meaningfully compared. The general characteristics that are discussed include ranges in composition (molecular production rate ratios) and dustiness (gas production compared with Af(rho)). Additionally an analysis of trends on how the production rates vary with heliocentric distance and on pre- and post-perihelion asymmetries in the production rates of individual comets. Possible taxonomic groupings are also described
Planetary astronomy
The authors profile the field of astronomy, identify some of the key scientific questions that can be addressed during the decade of the 1990's, and recommend several facilities that are critically important for answering these questions. Scientific opportunities for the 1990' are discussed. Areas discussed include protoplanetary disks, an inventory of the solar system, primitive material in the solar system, the dynamics of planetary atmospheres, planetary rings and ring dynamics, the composition and structure of the atmospheres of giant planets, the volcanoes of IO, and the mineralogy of the Martian surface. Critical technology developments, proposed projects and facilities, and recommendations for research and facilities are discussed
Optical/IR from ground
Optical/infrared (O/IR) astronomy in the 1990's is reviewed. The following subject areas are included: research environment; science opportunities; technical development of the 1980's and opportunities for the 1990's; and ground-based O/IR astronomy outside the U.S. Recommendations are presented for: (1) large scale programs (Priority 1: a coordinated program for large O/IR telescopes); (2) medium scale programs (Priority 1: a coordinated program for high angular resolution; Priority 2: a new generation of 4-m class telescopes); (3) small scale programs (Priority 1: near-IR and optical all-sky surveys; Priority 2: a National Astrometric Facility); and (4) infrastructure issues (develop, purchase, and distribute optical CCDs and infrared arrays; a program to support large optics technology; a new generation of large filled aperture telescopes; a program to archive and disseminate astronomical databases; and a program for training new instrumentalists
The Value of Literacy Practices
The concepts of literacy events and practices have received considerable attention in educational research and policy. In comparison, the question of value, that is, ‘which literacy practices do people most value?’ has been neglected. With the current trend of cross-cultural adult literacy assessment, it is increasingly important to recognise locally valued literacy practices. In this paper we argue that measuring preferences and weighting of literacy practices provides an empirical and democratic basis for decisions in literacy assessment and curriculum development and could inform rapid educational adaptation to changes in the literacy environment. The paper examines the methodological basis for investigating literacy values and its potential to inform cross-cultural literacy assessments. The argument is illustrated with primary data from Mozambique. The correlation between individual values and respondents’ socio-economic and demographic characteristics is explored
Occurrence and population densities of yeast species in a fresh-water lake
Quantitative studies of yeasts present in surface and deep water samples from a fresh water body (Douglas Lake, Michigan) revealed 12 species ( Candida parapsilosis, C. pulcherrima, Cryptococcus albidus, Cr. diffluens, Cr. gastricus, Cr. laurentii, Rhodotorula glutinis, R. pilimanae, R. rubra, Trichosporon cutaneum, Debaryomyces sp., “black yeasts”). In two regions of surface sampling the population densities averaged 39.6 and 5.5 cells per 100 ml respectively, whereas the average deep water count was 40.3 cells per 100 ml. Yeasts of the genus Rhodotorula predominated.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41778/1/10482_2005_Article_BF02046074.pd
Attention Performance in an Epidemiological Sample of Urban Children: The Role of Gender and Verbal Intelligence
We administered a comprehensive attentional battery to an epidemiologically defined sample of 435 first and second-grade children to assess the influence of gender and verbal intelligence on attention. The battery included three versions of the continuous performance test (CPT), two digit cancellation tasks, three subtests from the WISC-R, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The results indicated that both gender and intelligence had an impact on attentional performance. Girls performed better than boys; they made fewer errors on the CPT and obtained higher scores on the digit cancellation task and the Coding subtest of the WISC-R. Children with higher verbal intelligence also performed better on the attentional tests, but this advantage was not observed across measures or levels of performance. For example, children with limited verbal skills performed significantly worse than their peers only in measures with high processing demands(the degraded CPT and the distraction version of the digit cancellation task)
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