December 22, 1999

Border crossings
Russian loan guarantees on hold
U.S. pays U.N dues in nick of time...
Sports pork reaches a new level

Border crossings

Authorities arrested two more foreigners crossing the U.S. border from Canada -- this time into Vermont -- with traces of explosives in their car. The Algerian and Canadian woman were charged with immigration violations; this arrest follows on the heels of the arrest of another Algerian who crossed into Washington state with a carload of bomb-making materials.

In "Year 2000 Warning from Uncle Sam: 'Duck and Cover,'" Ivan Eland argues that that a more restrained U.S. foreign policy would greatly reduce the chance of terrorist attacks. "In the post-Cold War security environment, profligate U.S. interference in the business of other nations and groups may, in fact, reduce the security of Americans," Eland opines.

Russian loan guarantees on hold

The Clinton Administration has put on hold the approval of a $500 million loan from the Export-Import bank to Russia, reports today's Washington Post. The loan, to the Tyumen Oil Company for credit guarantees, was opposed by Western investors who claim they are being "swindled" out of their investments in Russia, as well as human rights groups "dismayed" by the Russian bombardment of Chechnya.

In "U.S. Assistance for Market Reforms: Foreign Aid Failures in Russia and the Former Soviet Bloc" Janine R. Wedel finds that aid for market reforms in the region has been largely ineffective. "The United States and other donor countries should not continue their dubious aid-for-reform approach if they wish to encourage the development of democracy and true market reform," she writes. In "The Case for a Russian Currency Board System," Steve Hanke examines ways the stabilize the Ruble and allow Russia's economy to stand on its own two feet.

U.S. pays U.N dues in nick of time...

The United States paid the United Nations $151 million -- "enough to save its vote in the General Assembly," reports Reuters. The remainder of the dues ($826 million over the next three years) has been approved by Congress on the condition that the U.N. carry out reforms and cut the percentage of the U.N. budget the U.S. pays.

Ted Galen Carpenter examines the role of the United Nations and America's relationship to it in "Delusions of Grandeur: The United Nations and Global Intervention."

"It is not isolationism, much less know-nothingism, to insist that the role of the United Nations -- and America's relationship to the world body -- be carefully examined and that the U.N.'s performance be subject to a rigorous cost-benefit analysis," he writes. Read more about what should be the U.S. policy toward the United Nations in the latest edition of the Cato Handbook for Congress

Sports pork reaches a new level

The scandal-plagued 2002 Winter Olympics may cost taxpayers more than $1.4 billion in infrastructure and security costs, making the Salt Lake City games more expensive than the Atlanta summer games of 1996, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The figure is almost 50 percent higher than what was spent in Atlanta, according to a report from the General Accounting Office. The report led Rep. John Dingell to question whether some of the federal expenditures include "a fair amount of gold planting."

In "Sports Pork: The Costly Relationship between Major League Sports and Government," Raymond J. Keating takes a hard look at $15 billion in government subsidies already spent on major league ballparks, stadiums, and arenas during the 20th century. He suggests a measure requiring voters -- i.e. the taxpayers -- to approve government subsidies for sports.