| Environmental Federalism in the European Union and the United States. In both the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) responsibility for the making of environmental policy is divided between federal and EU institutions on one hand, and local institutions on the other. The former is comprised of the EU and the American federal government while the latter consist of state and local governments in the US, and member states and sub-national authorities in Europe. This paper explores the dynamics of federal environmental policy making in both the United States and the European Union. At what level of government are new standards initiated? Under what circumstances do state regulations become diffused to other states and/or become adopted by the central authority? Under what circumstances can or do states maintain regulations more stringent than those of other states? By David Vogel, Michael Toffel and Diahanna Post. | By GLOBUS Institute for Globalization and Sustainable Development, Netherlands. | Governance Policy Resource. |
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Private Health Insurance. Canada's restrictions on the role of private health insurance for publicly insured physician and hospital services are unique among countries with universal, publicly funded health care systems. Some argue for a relaxation of these restriction in order to reduce pressures on the public system and increase efficiency through greater competition. "Parallel Private Health Insurance in Australia: A Cautionary Tale and Lessons for Canada" explores the experience of the Australian system of parallel finance for inpatient hospital services. By Jeremiah Hurley, Rhema Vaithianathan, Thomas F. Crossley, and Deborah Cobb-Clark.
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By Centre for Economic Policy Research, Australia, Canada.
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Health Policy Resource.
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| Globalization and Tax Competition
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Does globalization undermine the fiscal basis of the welfare state? The conventional wisdom believes so: open borders cause tax competition, which in turn leads to a race to the bottom in capital taxation. However, the data show that revenues from capital taxation are fairly stable in OECD countries. Some observers conclude from this that globalization does not pose much of a challenge to the welfare state. Philipp Genschel argues this conclusion is unwarranted because it overlooks that tax competition was not the only challenge facing welfare states during the 1980s and 1990s. There was also slow growth, rampant unemployment, and high levels of precommitted spending. "Globalization, Tax Competition, and the Fiscal Viability of the Welfare State" is published by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies. | By Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies., Germany. | Macro Economic Policy Resource. |
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