Robert J. Shapiro
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Dr. Shapiro is co-founder and chairman of Sonecon Inc., and is also a senior fellow at Georgetown University School of Business, adviser to the International Monetary Fund, director of the Globalization Center at NDN, and chairman of the U.S. Climate Task Force.

From 1997 to 2001, Shapiro was U.S. undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs. He was also the principal economic adviser to the Clinton, Gore, and Kerry presidential campaigns.

For more information about Dr. Robert Shapiro, please visit: http://sonecon.com/about.php

Blog Entries by Robert J. Shapiro

A Primer on the Eurozone Crisis and How It Could Affect Us

(8) Comments | Posted May 16, 2012 | 5:45 PM

The economic viability of the Eurozone continues to slowly leech away. The latest iteration of the crisis originated again in Athens. Last week, voters there chose parties on the left and right that agreed on one thing: No more austerity, including measures already agreed to in exchange for another bailout...

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Protectionism Remains a Danger to Economic Recovery

(0) Comments | Posted September 22, 2011 | 12:21 PM

Tough times almost always raise the pressure for trade protection, and the current global economic troubles are no exception. President Obama has generally resisted this impulse, asking Congress to approve new free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Still, Congress has yet to act. And here and around the...

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Proposed Broadband Fund Merits Serious Consideration by FCC

(0) Comments | Posted August 8, 2011 | 12:57 PM

In a move last week little that went unnoticed by most American, a coalition of telecom companies proposed a new approach to delivering broadband service to the most remote rural communities in the United States. If it works as advertised, the plan could ensure real broadband access to virtually every...

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Given Argentina's International Scofflaw Status, Why Would Jubilee Campaign for It?

(1) Comments | Posted August 3, 2011 | 7:26 PM

Mr. Dearden's HuffPost UK piece, "Vulture Funds - Coming to a Country Near You?" wrongly compares Argentina with poor countries that have not the means to pay and whom Jubilee seeks to defend. Furthermore, the piece contains many other inaccuracies.

First of all, Argentina is not poor; it...

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New Net Neutrality Framework Will Free FCC to Refocus on Universal Broadband

(6) Comments | Posted December 14, 2010 | 10:58 AM

Much like the compromise on taxes reached by the White House and Republican congressional leaders, the new approach to "net neutrality" announced by Federal Communication Commission (FCC) chair Julius Genachowski represents the logical middle ground. It provides a framework that should encourage broadband providers to ramp up their investments in...

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The New Fight Over Access to Higher Education

(0) Comments | Posted September 30, 2010 | 2:39 PM

As President Obama focuses this week on education, criticism has escalated regarding the levels of government assistance for the fastest-growing segment of American higher education, the private for-profit colleges, universities and institutes. From 1995 to 2008, the student bodies of private for-profit institutions increased from 240,000 to 1.8 million, a...

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Midterm Advice for Congress: Tax Carbon Instead of Jobs

(33) Comments | Posted August 17, 2010 | 10:03 AM

It is now abundantly clear that the unemployment rate will largely determine the fate of the Democrats and their policies this fall and beyond. Public concerns over jobs and the economy overshadow everything else, to the point that just two years after the historic 2008 election, much of the administration's...

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FCC's Bold, Risky Move to Regulate the Internet

(32) Comments | Posted May 27, 2010 | 2:39 PM

The Federal Communications Commission moved aggressively last week to open a new round in the debate about the extent of its regulatory sway over the Internet. Until this month, the Commission had never claimed a sweeping and specific statutory right to regulate the Internet, because Congress has never provided it....

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Goldman Scandal Erodes Case For Cap and Trade

(9) Comments | Posted April 28, 2010 | 10:38 AM

By Robert J. Shapiro and Elaine C. Kamarck

All of us who care about climate change must ask ourselves the following question: Given what we've learned in the past few years -- and especially in the past few weeks -- about how Wall Street operates, do we really want to...

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Tax Day Prompts Rethinking on Climate Policy

(2) Comments | Posted April 12, 2010 | 12:53 PM

It's tax time, and millions of Americans will steel themselves to send Washington more of their hard earned money than they estimated they'd have to. It may feel galling, perhaps because the benefits of our taxes often go unnoticed. We come to expect drivable roads, clean water, responsive police and...

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Irony in Advocating Financial Reform and Cap and Trade

(7) Comments | Posted March 24, 2010 | 2:21 PM

Testifying before Congress following the collapse of such major Wall Street institutions as Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson noted "we have not in our lifetime dealt with a financial crisis of this severity and unpredictability." Yet, mere months after delivering those cautionary remarks,...

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