Sustainable Economic Policy

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Afghanistan
Delegate Name: Abby Foss
School: Williamston High School

In recent years Afghanistan’s economy has started another decline after the collapse in 2002. The economy never fully recovered after the control of the Soviet Union in the early 1990’s. Now the Afghan government is dealing with many issues such as high levels of the population unemployment, higher levels of import than export, disagreements in the government, and thirty-six percent of the population below the poverty line.

Unemployment is at thirty-five percent, and is so high because the main industry is farming and agriculture. Only ten percent of the land is available for farming because a large portion of the land was damaged during warfare in the 1980’s-‘90’s. The few agricultural jobs there are go towards mainly harvesting and processing opium poppy and hashish, both grown for the illegal drug trade. Other jobs include oil refineries, mining, and livestock. Since the economic collapse there has not been much improvement in the unemployment rate and job market.

Thirty-six percent of Afghanistan’s population is below the poverty line. Afghanistan is one of the poorest and most impoverished nations in Asia second to only Bangladesh. Poverty is most concentrated in rural areas with only twenty-nine percent of households with accessible electricity. Illiteracy is also another big issue. In the province of Pakita (rural, located on the southern border) illiteracy is at seventy-three percent, a seventy-one unemployment rate, and a seventy-six percent poverty rate. Poverty rates are lower in urban areas but are still high. Another contributing factor to the high poverty rate is the low rates of female attendance in school. In seven of the thirty-four provinces the literacy rate for women is one percent.

In conclusion the Afghan government needs to focus more on creating more jobs, distribution of wealth, more education and electricity options for rural areas, and equal education opportunities for males and females. The government could do this by not using their time together more wisely, instead of focusing on their own personal problems, they could focus more on the greater issues at hand. To create more jobs, the government could find more areas of untapped oil, and create more refineries. In the past the Afghan government has said that they have found many areas of untapped oil. To help with financing, the government could ask other countries for financial aid as a loan and then when the country is back on its feet it can pay the loaner back.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Angola
Delegate Name: Owen Slubowski
School: Forest Hills Northern High School

The great nation of Angola has had a flourishing economic experience ever since it has gained its independance from the Portuguese government. The nation of Angola has a very stable and large economy, it is so large that it is in the top five largest economies in Africa. Angola can attribute most of this economic success to it’s vast and valuable natural resources, resources such as oil contribute as much as half this nation's GDP and 90% of angolan exports. The other biggest export that angola relies on is the export of diamonds, which makes up 5% of angola's exports.

The nation of Angola is working on rebuilding and improving infrastructure and removing landmines, both these goals are not only vital to economic productivity but they are also vital to the securing and well being of the people of Angola. The nation of Angola would look unfavorably upon the UN regulation of loans and international monetary assistance , for Angola's infrastructure improvement is heavily reliant on the Chinese loans. These changes will undoubtedly assist Angola with the transition from an oil based economy to a well balanced diverse economy. The nation of Angola has taken sizeable steps to ensure that it has a well protected sustainable economy. Some steps include, continued investment into the extraction of oil, and conservatively pricing oil and the aforementioned infrastructure improvements.

Angola is heavily against nations taking more debt than they can handle, Angola’s policy is consistent with this belief by keeping its debt to less than 25% of it’s GDP.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Argentina
Delegate Name: Alexandria D’Antonio
School: Royal Oak High School

Argentina’s economic development has experienced times of both increasing growth in demands and also times of stagnant ones. The nation of Argentina has nearly doubled its economic growth from 2002 to 2011 with an average increase of 7.2%. The neoliberal economic policies the nation had upheld wasn’t very effective and had only prevailed for a short period of time between 1983 and 2001. Monetary policy during that time was mainly exercised through the use of a currency board as the peso was initially pegged with the US dollar. The limiting of money supply and much deregulation may have seemed to aid in Argentina’s economic development, but from the year of 1998 to 2002 the result of these previous policies greatly contributed to the nation’s recession during those years. With the election of president Kirschner in 2003, national economic performance increased as with a shift in monetary policy. His wife, Cristina Kirschner, was elected to succeed him in 2007, continuing a more social democratic economic policy for the nation.

On March of 2012, the new Ley Organica central bank was established and was passed by both houses of legislature and signed by the president. This central banking system incorporated and allowed for a counter-cyclical monetary policy. Such a policy tries to slow the economy down during rapid expansion and speed it up during a contraction from the business cycle. This eliminated the strict link between Argentina’s foreign exchange reserves and the money supply. The policy also enables rational debt management, allowing the central bank to coordinate its interventions in the currency market with some medium and long term development policies of the nation. This offers more room for the stabilization of the economy as well as increases the growth of trust of investors.

For other governments to promote sustainable economic development a stable economy within the nation must first allow for the increase of productivity for growth. As the nation of Argentina works to maintain the economic growth of the nation, it will also “… continue with the administered floating forex policy to contain financial volatility, lower inflation and promote development,” as said by Alejandro Vanoli, Argentina’s central bank governor.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Australia
Delegate Name: Zachary Willoughby
School: Kalamazoo Central High School

The Commonwealth of Australia prides itself on being very self sufficient from foreign entities. We have the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development that tracks the growth and development of infrastructure throughout the multiple sectors within our economy. Governments should consider similar institutions within their governmental systems in order to accurately gauge the severity of failing economic sectors. In doing so, they can take the proper action to boost the failing or failed sector without the "guiding hand" from other foreign entities. These institutions allow a country to maintain sovereignty within both their economic and political systems without the need of a large economic bailout, as seen in Greece earlier this year.

Governments should not spend more money than they raise in taxes in order to avoid crippling debt within the economic system. The trend of spending more than the raise in taxes creates a public debt that most countries cannot recover from. This trend causes a very strong need of foreign economic aid, although most countries would prefer to remain economically sovereign. Situations like these create a very strong sense of depravity among citizens who prefer foreign aid and those who do not prefer foreign aid. This was again seen in Greece, with many citizens having dissenting opinions, leading to a very close national vote that could have resulted in national riots. Countries should practice austerity, which results in very strong economic policies that work to cut national deficit through tax rises or spending cuts.

The Commonwealth of Australia has implemented many measures within our our national budget. These include a 5 billion dollar tax relief to developing and small businesses within our economy that are striding towards excellence. This stride will also be boosted by a 5.5 billion dollar Jobs and Small Businesses package that was implemented on May 2nd, 2015. Within the same budget, we implemented the Multinational Anti-Avoidance law, which stops businesses from artificially avoiding tax. This creates equality in the taxation within Australia, and thus provides steps towards a better economy. We are also focusing on the lower and middle class families in Australia with a 4.4 billion dollar boost to sectors that benefit families. We delivered a 3.5 billion dollar reform package that makes child care more reliable, flexible, and accessible, which promotes more participation in our workforce. We funneled 843 million dollars into our preschool programmes to ensure students get a solid start and a bright future at a young age. All of these things have led to a steady government surplus, despite a 52 billion dollar write-down in tax receipts. With this success, the deficit is steadily dissipating with every fiscal year.

The delegation of Australia looks forward to working with other delegations to resolve the issues or confusion that lies within sustainable economic policy, and hopes to convince other delegations to consider programs implemented by the Commonwealth of Australia.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Bahamas
Delegate Name: Sydney Walters
School: Mattawan High School

The Bahamas is proven one of the wealthiest Caribbean countries there is, relying most on both offshore banking and tourism. Tourism itself makes up 60% of the Bahamas GDP. With both construction and advancement of the tourist areas, half of the islands’ population is employed both directly and indirectly. On the other side, financial and business services make up 35% of the Bahama’s GDP. One tenth of the GDP is made up of manufacturing and agriculture, even despite the government’s attempts to grow those areas. Between 2007 and 2011, the Bahamian economy has reduced at a rate of .8% each year, yet the pillars of their national economy remain under control. The tourism pillar still continues to slowly grow each year due to new marine activities, and it promises good economic growth and job opportunities.

In 2008 when the US decided to let up on their financial industry, allowing their citizens to take out loans at their will, they hurt the Bahama’s economy. People in the US didn’t have enough money for the things they were buying. They were buying more than they were spending, which lead to more and more loans from the banks. Luckily for them, the US government bailed them out. What they didn’t know, was that this would cause many other countries to go into a panic. The Bahamas relies on tourism, and many tourists come from the US. Since they were spending money on products and housing, they weren’t able to take as many vacations as normal, causing the Bahamas to lose income.

The Bahamas supports an overall strong plan that will lay out the goals of the national governments and how they should go about helping their citizens. The goal the Bahamas hopes to pursue is to stop overzealous spending by the national governments, and instead find a responsible plan that puts some responsibility on the people. There are still many opportunities to explore in solutions, but something needs to be done soon, keeping in mind that this needs to be a plan for every single country and not just the large P5 nations. The Bahamas has already helped solve some of this problem within the country by producing more job opportunities and explorations in tourism, but still hopes to see growth in the future.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Bahrain
Delegate Name: Peter Cullen
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School

2008 brought the largest worldwide economic recession in 80 years. The sudden fall in the price of real estate in the United States led to a lack of trust in banks internationally and to people becoming less willing to spend. Like the rest of the world, there was a visible effect on Bahrain’s economy. Our steadily decreasing unemployment rate spiked from 5% unemployment to 7% unemployment, and between the years 2008 and 2010 there was an 11.5% decrease in GDP. Despite this, Bahrain rebounded considerably faster than many other large economies. By the year 2010 Bahrain’s GDP regained the lost 11%, continued a steady increase. This is due to our insured protection for our central bank’s depositors being increased. Increasing the protection of deposits increases the trust depositors have in the bank, which helps maintain a stable inflation while keeping a low unemployment rate. It is this reform which led to Bahrain’s healthy recovery from the international crisis of 2008.

Bahrain’s economy demonstrates versatility in its ability to react effectively to this crisis. Our use of a central bank led to immediate executive decision countrywide and thus a faster recovery. Our decision to ignore regulation of other aspects meant our continuous growth in GDP could continue. The continuation of our bilateral trade meant our exports in oil and other resources could continue uninhibited, allowing for stable recovery. The specialization of our economy on the export of oil meant interfering could have had massive repercussions on our country long into the future.

As a member of EcoFin, Bahrain encourages other countries to follow these functional solutions in the future. While we also must try to prevent a crisis like in 2008 from happening again, understanding how to combat an economic crisis is important, too. Increasing protection of bank deposits and avoiding the regulation of trade leads to a fast, connected, and more efficient economy for everyone.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Bangladesh
Delegate Name: Brianna Wetherbee
School: Forest Hills Central High School

For Bangladesh has such a low economic level, that our main goal is to raise the GDP per capita. Bangladesh seeks to promote sustainable inclusive development. This country focuses on the promotion of cultures of all ethnic and other minorities and their own languages where appropriate; on the promotion of the rights and prospects of women and children as the cross-cutting groups; and on the socio-economic development of various disadvantaged groups. National Education Policy 2010 provides for inclusive quality education, identifying the needs of each of the above mentioned groups along with those of the majority as well as the ways in which these identified needs will be met.

The economy of Bangladesh is mainly agriculture based. To increase economic sustainability, more jobs need to be created to produce more agriculture. However, the negative effects of the continuous global economic crisis may create more of a strain on the Bangladesh economy. The prices of essentials and fuel are on the rise or at high levels in the international market. The high prices of petroleum products have affected the generation of electricity where power generation had been a perpetual problem. It has put industrial production as well as other sectors at risk. Bangladesh has to move forward cautiously based on these developments. The Government implements various programs to assist the most poor of people.

Bangladesh remains a Least Developed Country. Currently, it is making strides to move to Middle Income Country status. In fact, we have made significant progress in terms of income growth. The country hopes to achieve middle income level within the following decade. Bangladesh is beginning to get significant success in population control. But the problem of population growth continues. Going further, Bangladesh is focusing its resources on bettering the population and getting people jobs.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Bolivia
Delegate Name: Keaghan Bacon
School: Forest Hills Central High School

As the ECOFIN committee, it is our duty to improve the world's economic policy. Most countries have the ability to reach a high degree of economic growth, so it is up to us to figure out how to get to that point. There are multiple ways that the economy can grow. Some include, using a sustainable amount of that country's natural resources, increase the amount of jobs, fix the amount of distribution in the world and much more could be done. The essential goal of development as an increased ability to access basic needs like food, water, clothing, shelter, medical care, and education. All countries need different things to have a sustainable economy.

Bolivia is an example of a country that has just started growing and who will not stop growing. A unique characteristic in Bolivia is the large percentage of indigenous social groups within the population — almost 60 percent of the Bolivian population is Quechua, Aymara, or from other indigenous tribes (including Guarani and Chiquitano). These groups in the past have not been involved in almost any decision making of Bolivia's economy. So, a criteria of development in Bolivia would be participation in decision making. 65.2% of Bolivia's population was below the poverty line in 2006. The Bolivian context for sustainable development includes aspects of participation, poverty alleviation, and addressing social inequality, all of which occur within a physical context determined by Bolivia’s environment. Natural resources are the backbone and vital organs of the economy, and the environmental toll of Bolivia’s resource extraction industries (including mining, hydrocarbons, timber, and agriculture) is significant. Bolivia has recently seen an increase in global engagement; including their trading partners and underlying trading policy. They have also increased their volume of trade and the value.

What Bolivia needs most is preferential tariffs, whereby importers decrease tariffs on goods that have been produced in an environmentally sound manner. This action would support the growth of environmentally sound industry in exporting countries by increasing market access.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Burkina Faso
Delegate Name: Grant Sizemore
School: Royal Oak High School

We the nation of Burkina Faso are in need of help with finding a sustainable economic policy. We also notice that other developing nations like our nation the nation of Burkina Faso are in need of the same help as our nation the nation of Burkina Faso. We think the United Nations could be able to help our nation the nation of Burkina Faso and those other nations like our nation the nation of Burkina Faso.

We would like to ask the UN for some help. We would like to ask that the United Nations

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provide Developing nations with a person from the United Nations to help these nations with finding a sustainable economic policy.

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help them with other economic problems.

We would like this help from the United Nations very much. And we feel that other developing nations just like our nation the nation of Burkina Faso feel the same as our nation the nation of Burkina Faso.

We think that this will help the developing nations including our nation the nation of Burkina Faso in finding a sustainable economic policy. And we the nation of Burkina Faso feel that this is not to much to ask for from the United Nations. We feel that this will help impact the world greatly in a positive way. And we the nation of Burkina Faso thank you for your greatly appreciated consideration.

Royal Oak High School

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Colombia
Delegate Name: Joe Economos
School: Mattawan High School

Today, Colombia boasts one of South America’s highest GDP’s and an overall stable economy. Like all nations during the 2008 economic collapse, Colombia suffered, but not to a degree that caused alarm. The GDP went down at a sharp rate, but also made a speedy recovery. The government’s national budget/income was not hurt too badly, due to the fact of many public assets being repurposed for private use, which helped to maintain a steady cash flow. Thankfully, the education/health budgets didn’t suffer detrimentally either for the same reason. The economic crisis mainly slowed a lot of the growth that was happening in Colombia, like GDP and poverty progression.

Colombia is heavily dependent on petroleum exports, as around 45% of its exports are inspired by this. Other major money generators include shipbuilding, fibre optic, and manufacturing. Like many other countries, Colombia plays to its strengths when looking for ways to earn money. Diversification is a principle that should try to be installed into all economies, as having multiple sources of cash is something that will surely be of benefit if one of the money sources is to fail. Since 2010, this government has put forth efforts to exporting modern Colombian pop culture, like television, music, and food, so that this nation may diversify its economy and promote its image. So far, this method must be considered successful. The nation of Colombia would like to ask the United Nations to help Colombia put research into diversifying its money sources and looking for ways to continue to lead its economy in the right direction.

This nation believes that the United Nations should set guidelines and goals for nations so that countries stay on the right track in terms of not potentially ruining their own economies, the economies of nations around them, and therefore the entire world economy. Regular inspections and checks may be a good idea as to a way that ensures this happens. Countries shouldn’t be allowed to spend too much money over their revenue if it does not have a widely accepted purpose or objective. Clear communication and constant world economy monitoring is at the core of Colombia’s idea for a sustainable world economy

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Congo
Delegate Name: Lauryn Stasiak
School: Forest Hills Central High School

There are issues with sustainable economic policy all around the world. For the Republic of Congo, it is a very familiar thing. Our government remains involved in leading economic sectors, and institutional constraints force many small entrepreneurs to operate informally. Lack of a judiciary system and a regulatory environment, hinder the development to private areas or sectors. This affects all of the Republic of Congo by causing poverty. We rely on foreign affairs to help us with this problem, whether it be advice or money.

In the year 2000, the Republic of Congo joined the United Nations in the “Millennium Declaration” which defines as a vision of sustainable human development, in turn also goes with sustainable economic development. This did help our country especially by putting the idea into the society’s minds.

What the Republic of Congo would like to see is more help from other nations. As in money or consuming more of our resources like oil in turn for help. Also, the Republic would like to strengthen the attack of these proposals like the Millennium Declaration and the Nouvelle Esperance.

Since the United States of America funds so many other countries, we see that it is necessary that we receive funding from them as well. Especially because we obtain a large amount oil that we could provide in return. Also we believe that our neighboring countries should step in as well because they share much of the same issues as us.

On the other hand, the United States of America could potentially oppose the idea of providing for us or “lending us a hand” so to speak. This is because the U.S. mainly gets their oil from Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela and Nigeria, therefore they might not be willing to change to buying from the Republic of Congo.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Croatia
Delegate Name: Nathan DeBoer
School: Mattawan High School

In 2008, the United States experienced a huge recession. This recession then affected the rest of the world because the dollar fell. With the U.S falling Europe soon fell, too. China seemed exempt for some time, until there unrealistic economic growth became unsustainable and they too experienced an economic downfall.

Croatia specifically has felt this economic depression. Before 2008, Croatia’s economy was growing steadily and things were looking good for the future. Then, when the recession hit in 2008 Croatia’s economy tanked. For 6 years they were an economic recession, and have never truly rebounded. They have been financially unstable since then. Currently, unemployment sits at 17% which is not helpful for economic growth. In order for the economy to grow people have to spend money, so it can be circulated around. However, with such a high unemployment that is difficult. In 2013 Croatia joined the EU hoping that would help pull them out of economic recession. That didn’t fix the problem, as Croatia’s economy has continued to decline.

Croatia’s main banking and debt are kept fairly well under control as foreign owners and the EU have set of rules and regulations to keep things in order. The main issue is how to create an economic growth. Croatia has done a lot to try and stop their declining economy, now they have to find a way to make it grow again. They need to bring back confidence from foreigner investors to put money into the market, and to create healthy businesses that will supply jobs and bring more money to the economy. However, with its recent track record this could prove to be a difficult task.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Cuba
Delegate Name: Alex Brinker
School: Royal Oak High School

Cuba believes that a sustainable economy is very important. However that does not necessarily mean that “aid” from other countries is a terrible thing. Cuba exports services in order to gain income, and other countries trade goods for such services. However, Cuba has a very strong service sector, where the other two sectors of resource extraction and manufacturing are weaker. In all countries, to boost the economy, a country has to improve upon the failing sector.

To have a good economy, a country must have a balanced infrastructure. Plans to fall back on if the economy collapses. Relief funds in case of emergencies. General improvement funds. Simple plans to improve federal stations. This is how other countries have a sustainable economy.

It is almost common sense to not spend more than a country makes in taxes. If a country were to do so, they would face massive debt. If this were to happen, the odds of a country recovering from this error are slim. Granted most countries want to stay “economically sovereign,” but to follow this path of over-spending leads to a need of (foreign) economic aid. To avoid this, countries could attempt to either raise taxes, or cut spending to some areas.

Having a strong , self sufficient economy is important. Debt should be handled as soon as reasonably can. Granted cuba has borrowed money to help write off it’s debt, Cuba works to become more self-sufficient. If all countries could follow the ideal of don't spend more than your country makes from taxes, many more countries would be doing better financially.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Delegate Name: Ben Velarde
School: Grand Blanc High School

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s economy has been doing well ever since 2010 after peace had been mostly established and the World Bank and the IMF approved a debt relief plan. Although the GDP has been increasing steadily a sustainable economic plan requires infrastructure development to help bring diversity to the economy. Our country has the potential to be very wealthy and the only barrier remaining is the structural makeup of this country. Financial aid has been granted before, it worked and continues to work improving the Democratic Republic of the Congos financial state.

Currently the country has many riches, there are rich deposits of minerals, large rivers, huge forests, and a sizeable agricultural sector. The only problem is accessing these resources and making them accessible to employees. Along with roads sustainable energy is necessary to build affordable living in urban areas. As a result of the roads, schools would be more accessible ultimately producing higher wage jobs by increasing the skilled labor force. A recent project from the African Development Bank aimed to harness the hydropower from the Congo river, the $10 billion investment would transform the inefficient site existing to help supply energy for the whole country. There are many things that could be done to build infrastructure.

Spending on infrastructure, yearly, has equalled about 10% of the GDP but that is not enough. To keep from falling into debt financial aid needs to be granted by the IMF and the World Bank, as well as regional banks like the African Development Bank. These aids should be aimed at debt relief and foreign corporate investment so as not to create a system where We are owned by a handful of corporations. These solutions could help bring about a developed nation in a region where stability is needed. The DRC sets a strong example in terms of real GDP growth and it is time that wealth reflected the quality of living and the country was stabilized.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Denmark
Delegate Name: Nikolas Zazula
School: Vicksburg High School

The government regulation of economic policy is something that can significantly alter the course of a nation’s economy. While economic freedom is important to have a free-flowing and prosperous economy, it is vital for the financial stability of a nation to utilize the implementation of regulations in order to both establish a stable foundation for taxation and the collection of financial resources for the government, but to also contribute to maintaining a healthy economic structure. In the case of nations with failing economic sectors, it is of dire importance that their economies be constructed around reliable resources, whether that be environmental or human.

The 2008 debt crisis had a drastic detrimental effect on the economy of Denmark. Due to the fact that there are no significant natural resources in Denmark to contribute to economic growth, we rely largely on human services. Denmark relies heavily on the areas of manufacturing, tourism, and real estate. When the housing bubble burst in 2008, along with the lack of strong financial regulation in the economy, the financial crisis hit harder in Denmark than the majority of other nations in Europe. Denmark implemented several different procedures in order to find the most effective way to financially recover from this situation. By stabilizing housing taxes, and implementing stricter regulations regarding bank loans, the government was able to gradually stabilize the nation’s economy by thinly spreading out the loss over the entire banking system.

When a nation is in debt, it starts a small downfall that can lead to drastic and desperate situations if the trend continues. Government debt is necessary for being able to have a functional system of government within a nation, but too much can lead to a situation much like the world has observed in Greece. This kind of drastic debt can be avoided by carefully implementing government regulations to control spending. In the case that this isn’t enough, then the government must take careful measures in order to increase taxes without harming the economy as a whole. In the case of failing economic sectors, Denmark has found that it succeeds largely in the areas of human services, such as tourism, and utilizing manufacturing efforts of imported goods as important factors in the economy. It is important for nations to adapt their economies to their environment. The resources that the economy of a nation relies on must be reliable in order to create a stable form of income for its people.

The country of Denmark believes that governments can help promote sustainable economic development. By carefully implementing economic regulations relevant to the available resources of that nation in order to stimulate the economy without damaging the financial income of the government itself, and providing limitations to add stability and reliability to a nation’s economy, governments can promote growth in GDP without hindering either side of their economy. Denmark hopes to see that these kind of ideas can be implemented in nations struggling with their financial situations so they become more economically stable, and that other nations won’t be drawn into risky situations.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Egypt
Delegate Name: Rahma Iqbal
School: Grand Blanc High School

Egypt had a highly centralized planned economy with a focus on import substitution. Egypt’s participation in the Gulf War coalition, as well as multiple International Monetary Fund agreements helped relieve external debts which greatly improved the country’s economy. The country’s economy began to move out of infantry and began to become more of a market oriented economy. This prompted increased foreign investment and Egypt’s economy began to grow. Unfortunately, due to a corrupt government, the benefits of the exceptional economy were not trickling down or helping the economic conditions of the mass of the general population. A growing unemployment rate in the country only worsened the economic situation of the general population. As a result of this and many other factors, the 2011 revolution of Egypt occurred and greatly harmed the economy.

The Egyptian economy is just beginning to pick itself back up after the revolution. Under President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has a bright outlook on the future of Egypt’s economy despite still being on the rocks. With plans to revitalize the economy through major expansion of the Suez Canal, the future of Egypt could possibly include extensive economic growth. Although, the success of the economy growing through the expansion of the Suez Canal is dependent on foreign global trade flows. Fortunately, the recent discovery of a massive gas field in the Mediterranean is sure to stimulate global trade flows. The government is also planning on introducing a value added tax as an effort to restore fiscal sustainability, all as a part of the economic reform program. Egypt’s current economic policy aims to deliver a faster pace of job creation in order to bring the unemployment rate beneath double digits, promote and have higher rates of domestic development, and inflate the Central Bank of Egypt.

Egypt is promoting sustainable economic development and avoiding the possible need of a bailout by following an economic reform program. The objective of this economic reform program is to bring Egypt’s economy back up to a point of a boosting economy, but allowing a trickling of exceptional economic conditions down to the general population. The Egyptian government plans that with the introduction of value added taxes and the promotion of domestic investment, there will be little to no routine spending of more money than raised through taxes. The economic reform program is an effort to address the current financial crisis and to prevent future financial crisis. With the aims of restoring fiscal sustainability and promoting domestic investments, the future of Egypt’s economy looks bright.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Estonia
Delegate Name: Demetria Coleman
School: Flint Southwestern Classical Academy

In December of 2010 Estonia became the 34th member to join the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. A few months later, in January of 2011, we begun the transition from the Estonian Kroon to the Euro. A requirement Estonia is taking, in order for a stable economic development, is macroeconomic stability, which will support both internal and external balance. Through increasing economic flexibility, the supporting of the business environment, and improving the efficiency within the labor market we have become the key factors that help guarantee sustainable economic development. Our goal is to carry on with a responsible fiscal policy that will ensure a low level of government debt is maintained, which is a prerequisite for ensuring the long-term sustainability of public finances. Estonia hopes to continue and maintain rapid growth since our economic growth turned positive in 2010 and the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.6% compared to the previous year. According to Statistics Estonia, in 2013 the annual GDP increased by 1.6% (in 2012 – 4.7%, in 2011 – 8.3%) compared to the previous year. In 2014 the Estonian economy grew 2.1% compared to the previous year. We are also seeing a decrease in unemployment within Estonia with the unemployment rate falling for the second quarter of 2015 to 6.5% from same period in 2014. In 2016-2017 Estonian economic growth is expected to stabilize at around 3.0%! One of the goals expressed in Estonia's State Budget Strategy for 2015-2018 is to reduce the implicit tax rate on labor to 33.2 percent.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: France
Delegate Name: Tanvi Sharma
School: Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy

The 2008 financial crisis shocked the world and has had repercussions that can be felt even today. France’s economy is still recovering; however, we have taken measures to further regulate our financial system to prevent an even worse economic crash. We have created a specialized council specifically to monitor the financial market and evaluate systemic risks within the financial sector. It contains representatives from many of the prominent financial entities in France. One significance of this council is that it has no power to regulate and its only purpose is to advise the French government. The reason for this is to prevent another great financial power from entering the political arena and possibly falling victim to systemic corruption. This council’s only purpose is to advise in the best interest of the French people and, by extension, in the best interest of the world market. France also believes that governments should endeavor to eliminate any budget deficit that they have. However, this can be unrealistic, especially in times of economic hardship. In these times, it is important to ensure that the economy does not collapse and that the people are not left destitute. In this case it may be necessary to bail out banks and to strengthen the social safety net that nations have in place. This can increase or create a budget deficit temporarily, but this should be remedied as soon as realistically possible.

France has also passed a law to increase the authority of the AMF, France’s financial regulatory system. Financial systems can only be stable when the interests of investors are put first. If the AMF perceives risks, it has the authority to implement restrictive measures in order to protect the market. The AMF will also now cooperate more closely with European regulatory authorities. This will also be preventative toward further financial crashes. France is of the opinion that greater international financial cooperation will only be beneficial to the general welfare of the world economy. In the face of economic hardship, many countries implement austerity measures. While they can be effective in certain cases, it is important not to punish the citizens for the mistakes of a government. Austerity measures stifle the economies of a country and make the people unable and unwilling to participate in the economy. Governments should always act in the best interests of their people. This means that while some social programs may need to be cut, they should not leave the people destitute.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Germany
Delegate Name: Timothy Bennett
School: Forest Hills Central High School

“Each generation must solve its own problems and not burden the next generations with them. It must also make provisions for foreseeable future problems.” This is Germany’s basic rule for sustainable economic policy. Through the recessions and bailouts that have occurred in the past years, Germany has seen that many countries need to adopt austerity measures in their respective economies. Germany stands in support of green initiatives to promote the sustainability of commodity extraction, budget stringency so that government revenues are equal or greater than government spending, and privatization and diversification of industries in a nation.

Germany’s economy continues to experience steady growth (over 15% from 2003 to 2015). This is aided by the government funded Forschungsprogramm Nachhaltigkeit, or FONA research program. This program has found that the sectors of the economy that are expected to experience the greatest growth are green, or eco-friendly programs. The global green market was valued at € 2,044 billion in 2011, and it is estimated that it will reach € 4,400 billion by 2025. Germany intends to lead this market by developing codes of responsibility when it comes to the extraction of raw materials, and creating new sources of green sustainable energy.

Sustainable economics come from moderation on the part of governments. When it comes to international economic models, many countries would be swayed to support laissez-faire economics or purely socialistic policies. Germany has proved that truly sustainable economies come from a balance of both principles, evolving into the “Social Market Economy” that has pushed Germany to the forefront of developed nations. In this system, the government provides minimal influence in market affairs, but provides a fair playing ground for all businesses by preventing the creation of monopolies. To truly model Germany’s economic prowess, it is important that a nation takes care to assure that government spending is less than annual revenue.

Germany’s market proves to be an excellent economic model because of the diversity that exists. This diversity is prompted by the government support allotted to small to midsize businesses, known as the Mittelstand. By encouraging these businesses to find success in their respective markets, our government successfully diversifies the economy, leading to more sustainability. Even in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, Germany’s economy will persevere because of the strong foundational economy built on the widely diverse Mittelstand.

In this committee, Germany seeks to aid struggling nations, while striving for a sustainable future. We must solve the problems of today and safeguard all nations against the problems of tomorrow.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Greece
Delegate Name: Charlie Uchno
School: Roeper School

Hello fellow delegates. When trying to achieve sustainable economic policies within individual nations, Greece feels that it is the duty of stable nations to look after and assist nations who have been put in tougher economic and political situations. By building up the economies of less stable nations, it is possible not only to increase the standard of living in that nation, but also to better all surrounding countries.

Greece feels that though there have been attempts to re-acclimate the country with other Euro Zone countries, more action is needed so Greece can fully stabilize. The 2008 global financial crisis, hit Greece much harder than other nations because of our large dependency on both the shipping and tourism industries. Because of the disproportional toll taken on the Greek economy when compared to other European nations, Greece feels that countries such as Germany and France should be more understanding of our struggles and have patience while Greece attempts to stabilize its economy. Governments can assist Greece, and other nations who are trying achieve economic stability, by helping them diversify their economies and workforces in multiple industries. In addition, when nations are deeply indebted, relieving them of some of this debt allows economies to find alternative sources of revenue in an attempt to revive. Additionally, Greece believes that governments should not routinely spend more money than they raise in taxes because they believe this upsets the overall stability of global economies.

In conclusion, Greece feels that it is crucial to assist nations who do not yet have stable economies and hopes to work cooperatively with all other nations in the global effort to achieve sustainable economic policies.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Guatemala
Delegate Name: Ethan Fraley-Burgett
School: Kalamazoo Central High School

Guatemala feels that they should be economically independent. Guatemala believes this because if we borrow from larger more economically stable countries then we will soon add up debt and the debt would be very hard to repay when you are a developing country. If a country is offering support after a crisis that is a different story altogether.

If someone is offering support after an economical or other kind of crisis Guatemala will probably need all the support that it could get due to half of the country being in poverty over the past decade. If Guatemala were to be in debt in that time then it would have never survived after 2000. Guatemala is not willing to give out loans either due to the current economical situation.

Guatemala also believes to get more money in taxes than the government spends is to put taxes into sound investments such as global markets to improve ones economy even more than it was before to slowly make taxes smaller but also put more taxes on richer people and less on poorer or people below the poverty line.

Guatemala prevents any further financial crises by not taking loans from greater financial countries. By not doing this Guatemala has little debt and makes many prophets off of taxes but a lot of the money Guatemala makes comes from the global market in which the exports have outpaced GDP.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Haiti
Delegate Name: Mallory Snyder
School: Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy

Sustainable economic policies should be a topic of major focus for all countries. The first portion of this paper will address the main problems Haiti has faced trying to have a sustainable economic policy, such as the lack of a stable banking system, keeping a healthy environment, and poor education. The second portion of the essay will address issues such as spending sustainably to avoid a financial crisis.

The lack of stable banks prohibit Haiti from having a stable economy. Most Haitians do not have access to loans and banks collapse often. The UN and other organizations are trying to make credit available to a larger population. Haiti had a large growth in banking in the 1970s, but political instability make the population insecure about investing, and the bank suffered as a result. In 2000, President Aristide promised investors a 10% rate of return, which is unsustainable. As a result, Haitians lost over $200 million US dollars in savings. This shows that unsustainable economic policies are not beneficial to developing countries.

Haiti's main industries are agriculture, forestry, and fishing. However, these industries are currently not sustainable. There is not enough water or fertile soil to support the amount of crops grown. Haiti has minimized some of these problems by uniting the farmers to protect the watersheds. Farmers have also been educated with sustainable farming practices, in order to preserve the soil. Haiti is the site for some of the worst overfishing in the world. This has caused massive die-offs of entire ecosystems. Haiti has collaborated with many research teams on the best way to prevent these die-offs while still reaping the economic benefits. Keeping the environment healthy is a necessary part to having a sustainable economy.

Education is also a major issue. Young Haitians will not have the proper knowledge to succeed. Only 29% of Haitians go to secondary school. The average amount of schooling is 4.9 years. This amount of education is not sufficient to allow sustainable economic policy. Many teachers do not have proper training and most schools are managed privately. However, there is a operational plan in action to put 1.5 million students into schools. The ToTAL project (All Children Reading or Tout Timon Ap Li) will help many children in 1st-3rd grade learn to read. These children will be able to enter the workforce and live better lives. This contributes to sustainable economic policy because there will be a more educated workforce that can contribute to the economy more than the current uneducated workforce.

A country should not spend more than it makes in taxes on a regular basis. If a country spends more than it makes in taxes, this could cause a major financial crisis. The country could owe so much debt that it needs its debt forgiven by the larger countries and banks it owes money to. This is unacceptable because eventually the larger countries and banks will have forgiven so much debt that it will harm their economies.

Haiti has had its debt forgiven many times, mostly by the United States, the World Bank, and IMF. Haiti is trying to keep spending low, but enforcing tax laws is extremely difficult. Haiti depends upon these loans from stronger powers. While Haiti's economy is currently growing slowly, more debt is being created. Haiti's policies to educate the workforce and create new jobs in manufacturing will eventually create money to pay off the massive amounts of debt.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: India
Delegate Name: Luke Steiger
School: Roeper School

The effects of the U.S financial crisis were felt globally, and India is no exception. Extensive global analysis and scrutiny have revealed much of the causation. A key aspect being that banks utilized loopholes in regulations to practice irresponsible policy. It is in the better interest of India and the world to avoid future economic collapses. However, the complex nature of international financial relations essentially guarantees that no matter which market crashes, a destabilizing affect will follow globally. For this reason primarily, it is essential that nations take steps to optimize responsible, sustainable, growth.

Consistent with its socialist roots, India’s largest bank, the State Bank of India, is in the public sector. The State Bank of India resulted from a fusion of a handful of government owned banks in 1980. This nationalized conglomerate has a mass of locations and capital, making it the primary lender in the country. India has a complex regulatory system for private banks, most of which specialize in industry expansion. That is to say, these banks mostly deal with corporations and investors, many of which do not even accept personal accounts or loans. This system functions well because it allows for investment and industry to transact smoothly, leaving government owned banks to work with private citizens. Furthermore, if a commercial project defaults on its loan, it will likely cost a private, rather than public bank. Presently, India is in the progress of improving infrastructure, agriculture, and natural resource production. All of which contribute to a more stable economic future.

India recognizes corruption within its own banking sector as well as in the international communities. Such conflict is inherent to the nature of banking, the money involved is enormous, and the sheer volume of transactions leaves plenty of opportunities. Corruption and embezzlement are huge problems in the financial sector of India and other nations. More transparency is needed with regulatory bodies governing finance. India, along with many other nations, is currently running a slight budget deficit. Obviously, a deficit is not sustainable and steps must be taken to either reduce spending or increase taxation.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Indonesia
Delegate Name: Alexandra Mark
School: Fishers High School

The great nation of Indonesia has twice suffered severe economic crisis, once in the 1930’s during The Great Depression and again during the 1997/1998 Asian Financial Crisis. After the Great Depression, Indonesian exports suffered greatly. Other nations could no longer afford Indonesian products leading to a massive drop in prices across the board. The government of Indonesia responded with a significantly more conservative fiscal policy than the liberal system they had employed since the 1870’s. This led to an era of prosperity and growth for the nation that went uninterrupted until the arrival of the Asian Financial Crisis. The great nation of Indonesia had long been a prosperous nation with one of the best debt to GDP ratios in all of southeast Asia, so the toll that the AFC took on the nation came as a major shock. Despite the nation’s best efforts, the Indonesian government was forced to ask the IMF for a loan on 8 October 1997. On 31 October 1997, the IMF complied, agreeing to lend Indonesia $40 billion in an attempt to rescue its declining economy. In March of 1998, the IMF began delaying loan payments after Indonesian President Suharto did not uphold his end of the bargain. Protests were held and citizens began clearing store shelves trying to stock up on food and supplies. The United States soon came to the aid of the Indonesian people sending food and medical assistance in an attempt to minimize the recent riots. A third deal was made with the IMF and loan payments continued, but after months of riots, crises, and political upheaval, President Suharto resigned.

Indonesia was fortunate to have not suffered greatly during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis due to the policies that it established in light of the AFC. Indonesia has established a relatively self-sustaining system which has allowed it to avoid a crisis in light of the 2008 GFC (Global Financial Crisis). Indonesia has a relatively low share of inter-regional trade, and relatively little of its growth stems from manufactured exports. After the GFC, Indonesia was one of only three G20 (Group of Twenty) nations posting growth, the others being China and India. Aside from their lack of manufactured exports, one of the major reasons that Indonesia was nearly immune to the effects of the GFC is that it was not and is not heavily reliant upon American banks, the European Union or the like. So when these groups suffered crippling consequences, Indonesia was far enough removed so as to avoid the backlash. Indonesia has been fortunate enough to experience years of economic growth, but its growth rate is slowing.

Indonesia believes that the United Nations should encourage its member states to establish self-sustaining economic policies that rely primarily on specified exports. While manufactured goods are essential to maintain current standards of living, Indonesia promotes the exportation of natural resources above all else. This prevents needing to increase imports as well in order to obtain the materials that cannot be found within its own borders. The more contained a nation’s economy is, the less susceptible it is to international financial crises such as the AFC or the GFC.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Iran
Delegate Name: Reuben Glasser
School: Kalamazoo Central High School

Iran’s economy has been killed due to the United States of America. Not because of the failure of their own economy that created a ripple effect throughout the world, but because of the petty sanctions put in place by their nation along with their European allies. The United States ruined the economical trust worldwide with their self-minded decision of pushing-off all other world economies into an abyss. Instead of internally solving the United States economical issue; it rudely decided to spread the “wealth” or in this case the opposite, poverty. Furthermore, the United States has decided to put an even further strain on the economy of the world with their sanctions. These sanctions have destroyed the Iranian economy. In 2010, 27.3 billion (U.S.) dollars totaled the account balance of Iran. In 2015, the national account balance is 6.9 billion. As a nation, we have struggled but prevailed in maintaining a progressive economy. Even though our account balance has decreased at a severe rate, it is still much above zero, and in the same five years that we lost so much revenue our GDP also increased. Luckily, the sanctions that crippled our national bank did not stop our continual growth in GDP. They did indeed interfere and stunt this growth but our gifted leadership and nationalistic willpower did in the end prevail.

Iran’s strong economic ethics puts us on the right path for all generations to come. Also, Iran boasts a top-notch trade system with a major export of oil and crude natural resources. We are also a founder of OPEC, an organization of the petroleum exporting countries. Other nations in this organization are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. As a nation, we have worked with others as much as warranted and that is the reason why Iran has prevented a national financial crises. A recent example of this would be the “Iran Deal” as many delegates will know it by which places limits on the Iranian nuclear program. We urge other nations to follow our lead and the lead of our closest allies–China and Russia–to better all nations economically and stand in solidarity against any nation that proclaims national arrogance and takes it upon themselves to worsen another nation.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Iraq
Delegate Name: Hudson Yu
School: Williamston High School

In recent years, economic recession, poverty and inflation has plagued the global economy. With worsening economic issues, the world’s economy has questions that must be answered. First and foremost, is creating a sustainable economic policy that promotes economic growth while avoiding bailouts of failing economic sectors. Second of all, in most countries, government spending exceeds their tax deficit. These issues are growing in urgency and they must be resolved as soon as possible.

In Iraqi soil, our government has been avoiding foreign trade and investment in corporations overseas, but the economic system has been undermined by political uncertainty. Iraq is slowly being pushed to an economic recession. This is caused by two primary factors. First of all, The Islamic State, or ISIS is launching an invasion throughout Iraq. Controlling its spread has been very expensive and the war against terrorism has drained Iraq’s economy. Second of all, dropping oil prices has been painful for the economy of Iraq. Crude oil accounts for 84% of the Iraq’s exports, so needless to say, it is a centerpiece of the Iraqi economy. Iraq’s economic stability is critical to the stability of global oil markets since Iraq is the 4th largest exporter of oil globally.

However, Iraq hasn’t had any major corporate bailouts and in recent years, the oil industry has carried Iraq’s economy and restored economic stability to a historically violent country. However, after the Iraq war launched in 2004, Iraq’s economy took a huge hit. It has since recovered, but given the pressures ISIS applies and several other factors, Iraq is in need of financial support from more powerful western countries.

To add on to Iraq’s economic issues, their national debt has been steadily rising. The largest contributor to this issue is Iraq’s poorly enforced tax laws. Also, compared to many other countries, Iraq’s tax rates are relatively low, but in exchange for low taxes, the national debt increases. To resolve this issue, Iran plans to have enforce its tax laws and increase corporate taxes. With more tax revenue, Iraq’s national debt should steadily decrease yearly.

As of now, Iraq suggests that military aid is sent to stop the tide of Isis which has been ravaging the Middle East, and Iraq also requests financial aid to help wipe out the national debt. On a global scale, all countries are responsible for each other. For the advancement of the world and the advancement of our own countries.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Italy
Delegate Name: Braden Porterfield
School: Royal Oak High School

Italy was greatly affected by the 2008 financial crisis, its economy collapsed along with the rest of the world’s. The crisis affected the lower and middle class, whose average income was slashed so low that most families couldn’t afford a house, car, or additional family members.

Italy tried to soften the blows of the crisis using austerity and financial stability, which was a concept that is normally used in Italy during economic recessions. during this time a “New Deal” was proposed, which cut government spending: almost exclusively from the pay of public employees.

Italy believes that to recover from the economic crisis of previous years, and to prevent further crises: all countries must take actions ensuring that bankers don’t have as much freedom as they did in 2008. If bankers are governed by UN regulations, economic crises can be diverted. The crash of ‘08 was due to bankers lending money as they pleased, causing a depression across the world.

Of course, not all countries will agree to this system, so all nations that have banks functioning under our guidelines will be unaffected, while countries that don’t follow UN guidelines for running banks will be put on an “unauthorized trade list.” This list will have all nations with an unstable economy, or nations that don’t comply to the set rules. This will discourage international businesses from expanding into these countries, hopefully encouraging nations to comply by the set rules.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Kazakhstan
Delegate Name: Katlyn Ratzlaff
School: Mattawan High School

The way that nations determine a fair interest rate and fair leniency on loans provides the primary issue with international debt. The loans that mid to poverty stricken countries often times occurs during a time of desperation. Generally, the creditors represent well-off countries who do not heavily rely on the loaned money. The problem comes when the interest rate is extremely high on the loans, thus rendering it impossible for the country to pay back their debt. The steps taken towards making a fair system for both the well-off countries and the poverty ridden countries needs to be discussed in this session.

Kazakhstan takes the stance of more leniency in the terms of international loans and debt. Today, the system for International trade is unfair between the well-off countries and countries who are still developing. Some developing countries have no ability to provide to the high demands that some loans entail. Creditors have a more strategic understanding of loans and know how to take acquire the amount of loans they desire to receive. On the other hand, lower class countries do not fully understand how international debt works long-term, nor do they care because the government works diligently and desperately to keep their citizens from becoming malnourished due to the small supply of resource availability. When one of these countries borrows money internationally, the money cannot always be repaid, because they may not receive the same revenue as others. The loans alone are difficult to pay back for countries experiencing a decrease in their economy, and then adding high interest rates makes it implausible for the country to pay their debts.

For instance, leading up to 2007, Kazakhstan relied heavily on borrowing money from foreign countries such as Netherlands, Great Britain, and the USA. This was how our country rapidly boosted the economy through high interest rates on deposits. Eventually, the debt reached around 50 million dollars. In order to combat this debt, the Republic of Kazakhstan’s government announced that Kazakh banks had to pay out $12 billion of foreign credits by the first of September in 2008. For these reasons, we were forced to cut back on educational development for the uneducated in our country. This caused drastic, recovery measures that ceased our country’s productivity. If there was more leniency in the terms of repaying our debts, then we would have been able to keep funding education in our country while paying our debts.

Yet, Kazakhstan is not suggesting that the solution is voiding the debt all together. Speaking on behalf of Kazakhstan, we do not want other countries handouts; we simply want a reasonable loan agreement. Kazakhstan believes that in-debt countries will willingly return the the money borrowed for a reasonable price.

The solution lies in a court-like system that hears to the issues of each country has about reimbursing their debts. In other words, we need a mediator that hears to the disputes of international debt. In this way, countries who took out loans because of desperation, or countries who want to pay for the debt when their economy can support it, should be heard by a nonbiased group. In this way lower class counties will have the ability to have a voice in the equality of international debts, while the creditors still will receive their rightful return on their money.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Kenya
Delegate Name: Carter Wade
School: Roeper School

The Republic of Kenya believes that for a country to create a sustainable economic policy, said country would need to make sure that their businesses can create income originating from trade both within their own economies and exports to surrounding nations. In addition, in order to keep a friendly relation with one’s neighbors, a government needs to have low import taxes such that a cycle of revenge taxes being put into place to discourage imports does not come into play. Such a cycle is exactly what caused the Great Depression of the early 1930s to early 1940s to nearly destroy the previously booming economy of The United States of America to suffer so badly and for the depression to last a whole decade. As far as sustainability of sources of income, taxes should be placed on those things which may contribute to climate change or are based on using up a limited supply of resources. A country must also keep a balanced budget to make sure that a debt problem does not arise. No government should ever spend more money than it has the ability to generate from tax revenue. The Republic of Kenya has addressed each of these necessary components of a sustainable economy over its fifty-two year life time. Firstly, The Republic of Kenya has kept exceptionally close ties with many of its neighbors; including, but not limited to, Tanzania and Uganda, whom almost became a single country with The Republic of Kenya in 1967. Even though the proposed union fell through, The Republic of Kenya has maintained close ties to its neighbors in recent years. Secondly, The Republic of Kenya has kept import taxes as low as sixteen percent. Finally, The Republic of Kenya has kept its budget balanced and avoided risky investments.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Kuwait
Delegate Name: William Fleming
School: Fishers High School

Kuwait’s economy has been doing well ever since the the United States liberated us in the Gulf war from Saddam Hussein. Due to large amounts of money that is pulled in from the oil trade, money from all over ther world comes in for the crude oil in the middle east. The main issue for the economy however, is the rise of new energy and fuel sources, such as electric cars and wind power, plus oil from other sources, such as fracking in the US. They way that Kuwait balances out is with a large fund, known as the Fund for Future Generations. The fund was created as a cushion if oil prices fell, and is funded with 10% of the government revenue.

A very integral part of good economies is a well designed infrastructure. The nation of Kuwait has a 123.6 billion US dollar plan to improve roadways, add a new metro from Kuwait to Silk City, and a causeway. Another huge undertaking is the development of new public housing, which hopes to hold around 110,000 people. The need for this stems from our government to keep a sustainable economy with a very strong infrastructure.

We have also kept a very tight leash on the debt of the nation. The government of Kuwait has around 1 billion US dollar of debt accumulated. This model shows that a government should not have to spend more than they tax, as the government not only has kept control on the debt, and maintained a large budget to create the infrastructure that is has been able to create. Thanks to the infrastructure developed from the money.

Kuwait believes the way to a sustainable economy is through an efficient infrastructure system, where workers have a quick method of getting to and from their workplaces. This method of dealing with the economy is very effective, and we encourage other countries whom have developed to follow our model. The idea is to not spend more than you tax, and on a mucher larger scale, keep the country out of debt.

Kuwait would hope to have all countries that have developed adopt a plan similar to our own, and would like to say that the style of economics we have developed has proven very beneficial to us, and we would hope to help other countries adopt are plan.

Oxford Business Group. "Kuwait Pushes Ahead with Infrastructure Build out." Oxford Business Group. Oxford Business Group, 21 July 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015

The World Factbook 2013-14. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2013 .

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Libya
Delegate Name: Abigail Wheeler
School: Mattawan High School

Government plays an important and even critical role if we are to have a sustainable future. Good government can provide vehicles for informed decision-making and invest in and maintain the checks and balances of a democratic system. Good government can develop and maintain strategies, policies, and programs that will help us all find a future that works. One of the challenges of good government is to find the political and bureaucratic flexibility to create and maintain accountable policies and programs. The ability to adapt constantly to new circumstances is fundamental. Good leaders have to find ways to maneuver through the checks and balances. To our way of thinking, promoting sustainability through government means continuously and proactively investing in democratic principles. Good government can promote sustainable economic strategies. Good government can provide for safety and security, promote well-being, education, and understand that the bottom line is a healthy environment. Governments including Libya should never consistently spend more than we make in taxes. That could cause Libya and other countries to go into debt. Libya believes to avoid crises, a country needs both sound macroeconomic policies and a strong financial system. A sound macroeconomic policy framework is one that promotes growth by keeping inflation low, the budget deficit small, and the current account sustainable. As a formal matter of debt dynamics, the sustainability of the current account depends on the economy’s growth rate and the real interest rate at which the country can borrow. Current account deficits financed by longer-term borrowing and in particular by foreign direct investment are more sustainable.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Lithuania
Delegate Name: Oscar Luna
School: Instituto Educativo Olinca

Nowadays Lithuania is a country with an open growing economy. Although Lithuania was part of the URSS, since 1990, when Lithuania recovered its independence, it started a process to open the economy to private investment. This process has proved successful, since in 2015 the World Bank Group´s Doing Business classified Lithuania as the twenty-first best country in the world to start and make businesses and its GDP grew 3% that same year. Despite the good results is true that now the main problem in Lithuania is unemployment.

In order to keep a sustainable economy Lithuania has ensured the quality of the public services such as electricity and water. The electricity and water supply infrastructure in Lithuania, according to World Bank data, is one of the best ones in all of the eastern European countries. With this good infrastructure it is possible for Lithuania to efficiently connect firms to their customers and suppliers, and allows the use of modern production technologies.

Even though in 2009 Lithuania suffered an economic crisis, in 2010 the country started to grow again thanks to the austerity measures that consisted on reducing the public spending, the government salaries and the minimum wage up to 25%.

This policies are based on the principle of a balanced budget. That means that the government must not spend more money than that levied by taxes. By doing so, the government reduces its reliance on both foreign and domestic debt. On the opposite, a government that heavily depends on foreign or domestic debt will face rising interest rates because investors will consider that country as a riskier investment demanding a premium on the interest rate. That in turn will increase the cost of capital reducing investment.

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/lithuania/#close

http://www.enterprisesurveys.org/~/media/GIAWB/EnterpriseSurveys/Documents/Profiles/English/lithuania-2013.pdf

http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2013/08/02/actualidad/1375453151_179987.html

http://www.datosmacro.com/negocios/doing-business/lituania

http://www.upv.es/contenidos/ORI/info/U0649425.pdf

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Nepal
Delegate Name: Tyler Larson
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School

Following multiple earthquakes in April and May alongside with many years of civil war between the Maoist and the former monarchy of Nepal, a shadow of doubt has been cast over the future of Nepal. These event have left the country unstable and weak. The Maoist, now controlling Nepal, have created a new government that utilizes Federalism and Communism to provide equal opportunities for recovering citizens.

Sustainable Economic Policy is crucial for the elimination of fear and panic of collapse within individual countries, also including global economies. With the dramatic decrease in unemployment and the equal economic opportunities provided for citizens, the new communist economy in Nepal has started to prosper with these concepts. The new constitution, established on September 16, 2015, effectively takes advantage of these economic principles. With 25.2% poverty in a country that has some of most difficult terrain, it is important to help out the lower classes stuck in a cycle of poverty. Communism is able to equally advance different citizens of different backgrounds and create an almost perfect utopian society. If done on an international level, people of lower classes could become financial equals with the rest of the world, thus creating stability and order under government control.

Many countries across the world are stuck in a cycle of capitalism and entrepreneurship, but how does this help the masses? The gains of entrepreneurship affects individuals, not the general public. In order to create sustainable economy, people must be treated financially equal and given identical opportunities to advance their society.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: New Zealand
Delegate Name: Sam Hostetter
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School

During the 2008 financial crisis, developed economies around the world tumbled. With an economy as large as the United States hanging on a thread, people all around the world lost faith in banks and spent less of their money, resulting in a negative shock on GDP seemingly worldwide. New Zealand too was affected by the crisis, with GDP falling $16 billion (USD) and a decrease in exported goods reaching about half a billion dollars between 2007-2009. However, these decreases were small in comparison to the worst hit economies. New Zealand’s GDP growth rate recovered by over a full percent more than the world average and exports recovered to pre-2008 amounts by early 2009. Free trade agreements with regional economies allowed for specialization to subsist and for traded goods to continue selling, since tariffs and regulations did not get jumbled with international financial instability of the time. The prompt regulation utilized by the New Zealand government–the management of the Official Cash Rate, or general domestic interest rate–prevented a further spiral of economic conditions and kept inflation at a stable rate of about 2 percent. This government regulation and the stimulating nature of free trade allowed New Zealand to sustain a solid economy even during international crisis.

The economy of New Zealand holds a dominant example of a stable economy. In response to the skyrocketing amount of housing loans being distributed worldwide pre-2008, the New Zealand government placed strong restrictions on banks giving out housing, causing the acceptance rate for mortgages to drop by about 20% since 2008. This selective process allows the right loans to go to the right people; therefore, banks are less likely to go under when mortgage loans go unpaid as they did in 2008. Another way New Zealand sustains its economy is through free trade. We hold free trade agreements with many of our regional trading partners, notably Australia and China. and are currently pursuing agreements with other large-scale economies such as Russia and India. The free trade dynamizes the fundamental economic concept of specialization, prompting economies to take comparative advantages in their respective production.

As part of the Economical and Financial Committee, New Zealand hopes to share these sustainable ideas with the world. New Zealand’s government holds an important role in regulating banks and only banks, letting small and medium sized businesses flourish and the middle class to advance. This discourages expensive intermingling of the financial and business sector and allows one to keep thriving if the other struggles. We implore that the EcoFin Committee keeps this separation in mind as we develop a model for economic sustainability.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: North Korea
Delegate Name: Eric Payerle
School: Mattawan High School

Throughout its history the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has done nothing but grow its economy independently. The people of the DPRK have worked tirelessly towards creating sustainable economic growth throughout our great nation. We have completely reconstructed and revitalized our nation's economy after our country was unjustly devastated by war from interfering powers. It has been a long and challenging struggle but the DPRK has constructed a strong, self reliant, economy founded upon socialism. The recent financial crisis of 2008 has sparked conversation about maintaining economic policy. Problems are arising now that countries who have become indebted to one another are now reaching a point where they may be unable to pay back those loans without further assistance. This present many problems for the international community.

The DPRK has always been focused on building a strong self-reliant economy. This approach has been one that has proven successful for the DPRK in the past and shall continue to remain successful in the future. In 2008 the number of banks who had money in US mortgages and investments were negatively affected when the US housing market collapsed. This illustrates that when countries rely on the economies of others it carries great risk. The DPRK is confident that solutions should focus on making economies self reliant. For an economy to be sustainable it must be able to support itself meaning that the ideal economy needs no outside influence. This is the model the DPRK has focused on developing as it has proven beneficial and sustainable in our country. Any solution must focus on the need for self reliant economies free of foreign influence.

This issue is important to the DPRK because we wish to continue to provide a sustainable economy for our people. The DPRK has worked from the beginning to build a strong foundation for a sustainable economy with our nation. Economic sustainability is essential to our people and continuing our nation’s glorious revolution.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Norway
Delegate Name: Noah Weller
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School

According to Robert Goodland of the World Bank, economic sustainability is usually defined as the idea of responsibly growing one’s economy with thought for both the current economic requirement and the potential needs of future generations (this process is generally achieved through a country producing more resources than it consumes). It can also include the process of a government spending only as much as it can afford to without entering perpetual debt. Due to the globalization and interconnectedness of the world’s economies and financial systems, a great deal of international cooperation on sustainable economic planning is required in order to prevent another worldwide economic crisis, such as the one experienced in 2008. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs maintains targets of sustainable economic growth, strong financial institutions, and labor rights, with their plan of economic goals stretching nearly twenty years into the future. Additionally, organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund perform economic audits on nations around the world in order to analyze the health of their economies. On a smaller scale, Norway, a country with an economy largely based on a finite economic resource, has, since the 1970s, prioritized a state-guided economic plan in order to secure financial security, both now and into the future.

Norway’s economy is based largely on the extraction and refinement of fossil fuels, especially oil and natural gas. With this said, it has always been of the highest priority for this finite resource to be properly monitored and managed, so as to preserve the financial well-being and way of life for future generations. While it is inevitable that the oil reserves will eventually run dry, the government of Norway regulates the amount of oil that can be extracted, buying more time for alternative economic plans to be drawn up and implemented. Additionally, Norway’s largest oil company, Statoil, is owned mostly by the Norwegian government, mostly with the intention of using its profits to provide an economic safety net. This ideology is embraced through the Government Pension Fund Global, or Statens pensjonsfond Utland, a fund into which the government of Norway deposits the excess profits from its state-run oil holdings. The GPFG / SPU is said to be the largest stockholder in Europe, holding shares in various businesses around the world (and increasingly in developing countries), and has a total value of nearly 7.25 trillion krone, or 857 billion 2014 US dollars. Norway is not solely focused on the sustainability of its own economy, however. For instance, in 2011, Norway entered into an economic agreement with Brazil, in which one of the stipulations was that Brazil continue to limit the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest, both in order to increase greenhouse gas absorption and to provide for responsible economic gain in the future. Another stipulation was for the Brazilian government to coast, protecting a fish population so that it can continue to thrive and be fished from for years to come.

Recognizing the grave danger of uncontrolled economic decisions and deeply concerned by the relative lack of economic safeguards worldwide, the Kingdom of Norway calls upon the world to change both in theory and in practice. Ideologically, Norway would advise each nation to take upon a responsibility of economic restraint, either requiring or encouraging all major non-service industries and economic institutions to balance their level of production with their level of consumption, in order to both prevent a possible economic failure (should there be a major hiccup in trade), and to allow for an environment of financial well-being for future generations. Furthermore, Norway would advocate for partial state ownership of one or more companies or industries, the profits of which should be placed into a pension fund or other account in order to provide both additional funds for the government’s budget and, more importantly, to provide a safeguard and “emergency fund.” should the current economic structure become either unsustainable or obsolete. This strategy is even used in newly industrialized nations such as South Africa, where the Department of Public Enterprises owns a number of companies, including some involved in the energy, mining, and transportation sectors. These state-owned enterprises provide additional funds for the South African government’s budget, which the government in turn uses to improve infrastructure while limiting strain on its coffers. On a related subject, Norway would urge the governments of the world to refrain from spending over their budget on a regular basis, in order to limit debt and free up financial resources for use elsewhere. To conclude, in terms of economic sustainability, a relatively small effort on today’s governments’ part will prevent enormous problems for the governments, economies, and people of tomorrow.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Pakistan
Delegate Name: Jennifer Bell
School: Grand Rapids City High School

Pakistan’s economy and GDP have been slowly on the rise, moving in an upward trend. As of 2014, Pakistan’s GDP was at 246.8 million, in U.S. dollars. Comparatively, the U.S.’s GDP was at 17419 million dollars. Pakistan’s largest exporting industry is textiles, accounting for 24% of the GDP, and most of their exports. Domestically, their main industry is agriculture. Pakistan’s economy is very similar to the economies of Bangladesh and Turkey. Pakistan being a mid point between the two, with Turkey having a much higher GDP, of 822 billion US dollars, and Bangladesh having a GDP of 150 billion US dollars. Although Turkey is a much wealthier nation than Pakistan, they both follow similar growth trajectories and inflation and deflation rates, with their money carrying similar weight. Bangladesh is poorer than Pakistan as a nation, but has similar GDP per capita and unemployment rates, facing some of the same economic struggles as Pakistan.

As a nation struggling with poverty, Pakistan is involved with the Millennium Development Goals, that focus on ending poverty. The guidelines for these are set out by the United Nations. To meet these goals, which are, eradicating hunger and poverty, improving equality, education, health, and becoming more sustainable, Pakistan has taken on many projects focusing on promoting welfare and creating jobs for its citizens. One of the most important of these is the Third Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund Project. Through this, Pakistan works to provide services to its citizens by creating job opportunities and giving training to its citizens. It is self sustaining and focusing on micro-economics, that not only alleviates poverty, but stimulates the economy.

Pakistan’s government should not raise taxes, but work to improve the economy so that the nation will become both sustainable and wealthier. Although raising taxes seems like an easy solution, Pakistan already has a 9.5% tariff rate, and a corporate tax of 35%, and with most of the nation living off of a per capita income of $1085 US dollars, it would not make business sense to raise taxes. Doing so would put the nation further into poverty, or dependent on low paying jobs to survive. This would help out corporations, by creating a need for more jobs, but it would not improve the economy from a long term perspective. Infrastructure projects would be the best option for economic success, putting the power in Pakistan’s government, as well as creating jobs, and eventually revenue through increased wealth of citizens. Through this, citizens could accumulate enough wealth to open businesses, improving the economy, as well as the well being of the nation through cultural improvements and economic prosperity.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Palestine
Delegate Name: Rachel Westrick
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School

The global financial crisis of 2008 left in its wake detrimental effects on the world economy and a series of smaller downturns that have emerged in recent years. These recent slowdowns affect both advanced countries and emerging and developing countries (EDCs) and result from the several challenges in the global financial system as it heads back to financial stability. Many advanced countries approved several monetary policy measures to combat the global financial crisis and euro-area sovereign debt problem. However, when these countries returned to conventional monetary policies, the global financial system had not yet gained sufficient stability, and the advanced countries continued to provided markets with monetary liquidity on concessional financing terms. To prevent further financial instability, it becomes important to discuss viable methods of monetary and fiscal policies and how governments can promote sustainable economic development.

The Palestinian economy operates within an unusual and unstable environment that poses various threats and challenges: numerous trade and movement restrictions imposed by the intrusive Israeli occupation, unexpected changes in the inflow of foreign aid, the absence of a Palestinian currency and the use of three different currencies in trade (new Israeli shekel, the Jordanian dinar, and the US dollar), the inability of the Palestinian Monetary Authority to implement independent monetary policy (with the absence of an official Palestinian currency), and severe internal instability caused by Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. However, other than the detrimental effects the Israeli occupying power has on the Palestinian economy (stemming from the Palestinian use of NIS and dependence on Israeli imports), developments (or lack thereof) in the global financial system have only a limited effect on the loosely-connected Palestinian financial system. Due to an increase in tourism, Palestinian officials actually reported an economic growth of 4 to 5 percent and a drop in the unemployment rate by at least three percent during the global 2008 financial crisis. They also report that wages rose by more than 20 percent and trade by 35 percent. Moreover, the Palestinian Monetary Authority has issued several supervisory instructions that have successfully shielded the Palestinian banking system from the effects that afflicted the global banking system and financial markets. While Palestine is able to stay independent from the global economy, its forced dependence on the Israelis have serious consequences: the Israeli occupying power disrupts the transfer of clearance revenues to the Palestinian Authority, the Israelis hinder Palestinian trade, they control and deny the Palestinian workforce in Israel, and the occupying power restricts Palestinian banking activities. The challenges faced by the Palestinian banking system have intensified since mid-2007, when the Israeli occupying power used the Palestinian split to force an attack on the Gaza Strip and declare it a hostile entity. This declaration was used by Israeli banks to terminate banking relations with branches operating in Gaza. Since 2009, the crisis has spread to banks operating in the West Bank. By doing so, Israel violated principles and arrangements made between itself and Palestine in the Paris Protocol of 1994. The Paris Protocol mediates economic relationships between Palestine and its occupying power through four main channels: check clearing, inflow and outflow of transfers to and from Israel, issuing and executing letters of credit in NIS through Israeli banks, and management of cash liquidity for the NIS. However, the present unstable dependence on Israel’s economy and Israel’s violation of economic agreements puts a severe strain on the Palestinian economy and inhibits its ability to develop, much less sustain.

Because of the virulent pressure the Israeli occupation puts on the Palestinian economy, it has been difficult to address issues concerning sustainability; however, the State of Palestine has added some significant advancements to the banking sector's infrastructure and has some recommendations for maintaining stability in countries not characterized by oppressive occupation. In order to transform the Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA) into a full-fledged central bank, the PMA has made several different accomplishments with regard to various areas: legislation, instruction and supervisory systems, completion of several major projects, updating banking supervisory systems, promoting financial and banking inclusion, and implementing the various phases of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision guidelines. One of the most prominent accomplishments of the Palestine Monetary Authority is the establishment of the Palestine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC). The PDIC puts in place a financial safety-net and acts as a major determinant of financial and banking stability in Palestine. It aims to protect depositors with a deposit insurance ceiling set by law, which will reinforce confidence in the Palestinian banking system.

Palestine would like to propose a few approaches to sustainability to the Economic and Financial Committee and other United Nation Member States. Advanced nations– especially the United States– should revert to conventional monetary policies to avoid financial stability risks. EDCs should restore financial balance to their monetary policies to evade external financial risks. Distressed countries in the euro area should advance financial integration and improve financial assets’ quality. Palestine also supports a complete execution of “Abenomics” in Japan intensified fiscal stimulus, radical expansionist monetary policy, and structural reforms to reinforce private sector as a sound way to achieve sustainable growth and stabilize inflation rates. If these measures are promoted by the General Assembly and followed by member nations, global economic policies will become more sustainable, and future financial crises can be averted.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Philippines
Delegate Name: Kayla Hunnewell
School: Forest Hills Central High School

The exponential population increase has led to the overuse of natural resources. Sustainable economic policy is when an economic growth rate is established on pure consumption rates rather than human happiness, and takes into account the short-term and long-term needs of a country. The Philippines is fully aware of how the environment affects the economy and is implementing policies to create a more sustainable economy.

The Philippines is highly involved in APEC’s push for sustainability. “We envision a regional cooperation to narrow the gap in economic development of our economies while sustaining growth with equity,” said Environment Secretary Paje at the 2015 APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Food Security and Blue Economy. The Philippines desires to accomplish a more sustainable fishing industry so as to not over consume the available fish supply. By protecting the coastal and marine ecosystems, there can be investment in the “blue economy” by ensuring a sustainable fish supply and the biodiversity of the ocean. Utilizing these resources well is vital for the economic health of the Asian Pacific since the region accounts for two-thirds of the world’s capture fishery production and 80% of global aquaculture production.

Climate change is another environmental factor influencing in the state of world affairs. The effect of global warming has caused a multitude of issues for the Philippines. The increase in the mean annual temperature has increased annual rainfall, causing flooding and landslides. The frequency of cyclones entering the Philippines Area of Responsibility has increased by 4.2 more, whereas the rice yield has decreased with the increased temperature. In order to appease this disastrous trend, the Philippines has proposed some helpful policies: creating a system to account and monitor humanity’s carbon footprint. By decreasing the impact humans make on the environment, the Earth’s systems will rebalance causing favorable conditions.

The Philippines encourages the enactment of policies on sustainable economics. Such programs will improve climate for the better by promoting more regular weather patterns and higher crop yields. The preservation of the ocean, by limiting copious fish intake, will help assist the blue economy and maintain fish in the Pacific Ocean for years to come.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Poland
Delegate Name: Mark Wassink
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School

Poland was the first country to fall to Nazi rule in the second World War. Until 1989, it was controlled by the Soviet Union (1945-1989) or Nazi Germany (1939-1945). When it was under rule by the Soviet Union, it was a communist country with poor living conditions. When Poland switched to a mixed economic approach after they gained independence from the Soviets, they have experienced strong economic growth and improving living conditions. Before the 2008 economic crisis, Poland’s economy grew 177% after rule by the Soviet Union. Unlike Poland’s neighboring countries in the european union, Poland’s economic growth slowed during the economic crisis of 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 by 4.8%,1.9%, 3.8% and 4.4% while the rest of the EU averaged .8%, -4%, 1.8%, and 1.6%, according to the CIA world factbook.

Similarly to other economies with some regulation, Poland has a flourishing economy and a manageable amount of debt due to a mixed economy with low taxes and helpful government regulation. Poland believes any country with strong economic policy is prepared for the current and the future. By reducing taxes, but ensuring wage laws, Poland is sure that people will not live in poverty, but also ensure that people will be able to receive jobs. This economic system grants the best of both worlds and because of the stability of some businesses, companies will avoid bailouts. To make economies run more efficiently, Poland believes that it is best to liberalize trade, cap government wages, and most importantly, the zloty was made exchangeable. With this regulation, Poland’s 2014 economy grew 3.3% and unemployment went down 1.8%.Poland believes that the government should help the working class, so they believe the rich should pay a little bit more to help the working class. It would not be fair for the rich to be paying the same taxes as the poor while some of their money can be used to pay for everyday needs of the poor. These tax dollars will go towards those who need the money and will use it to help themselves get off the ground and find decent jobs. Although the government may not be able to pay for this solely with tax dollars, they can spend more than they bring in and pay it back later. It would be difficult to cut spending so drastically that the government does not spend more than it brings in. It is more important that people in a country are well, than it is to have no debt. Recently, one of Poland’s biggest companies, LOT airlines, was in trouble and many jobs were at stake. Many of those who worked in LOT airlines would be jobless without some form of government help. To help its citizens and save many jobs in this airline, the Polish government used its power to give aid to the company. In this scenario, the polish government used their power to help their citizens and their economy, benefiting everyone. It would be unreasonable to believe that this would not work on a global scale given that companies are often international.

With sustainable economic policy, such as creating exchangeable currency, capping government wages, creating a safety net for middle income families, providing job programs, and liberalizing trade, Poland believes more countries can be key players in the global economy and benefit from the economic policies that have been proven to work well by Poland. Poland believes that If countries are willing to accept positive regulation for the economy, yet regulate with caution, they will be able to make positive growth for their economy and poor economies will be better fit to excel and expand.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Portugal
Delegate Name: Hannah Cooperider
School: Mattawan High School

Economic sustainability relies on responsible usage of resources in order to maintain functionality and profit over a long period of time. Global sustainability relies on the connections between individual nations; therefore, steps must be taken to ensure each nation’s economy is strong in order to promote the success of the global economy. If these steps are not taken, or not addressed properly, the success of the global economy can quickly plummet, leading to crises.

When the United States bailed out their banking industry in 2008, this creating a domino effect, negatively affecting all countries linked the the United States mortgages, as these mortgages were not being paid by the United States citizens. This directly affected two of Portugal’s banks, Banco Português de Negócios (BPN) and Banco Privado Português (BPP), which had already been struggling due to fraud and bad investments. This forced Portugal to request a bailout in 2010, where it agreed to cut its budget deficit from 9.8 percent of GDP in 2010 to 5.9 percent in 2011. After receiving 78 billion euros, Portugal exited the bailout in 2014; however, it is still working to maintain its positive changes. Portugal’s main industries revolve around agriculture, forestry and fishing as well as automotives and tourism. The increase in the ratio of debt to gross domestic product caused an increase in unemployment, creating further issues for Portugal, as its citizens could no longer help contribute to the flow of money in its economy.

Portugal is open to different types of solutions; however, it would like to avoid supporting the idea of nations spending more than they are taking in, if possible, for we have experienced this type of economy in the past and those hardships should not be repeated. Creating nations that are able to support themselves, without the help of outside countries, is vital for economic success. Focusing on the development and growth of the industries of countries as well as creating a strong foundation for each country’s economy will help prevent a crisis such as that of 2008 to occur again.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Russia
Delegate Name: Alex Niculescu
School: Royal Oak High School

The world economy is the cumulative result of the interactions between all economies, and in turn every individual nation’s decisions. This culmination of every country’s economies is directed through certain hubs; major economies or industries that are culminations unto themselves. Oil, for instance, is an industry that projects the economies of many nations and links them together. The Eurozone too, is a hub in which many economies connect and interact very tightly- in all these hubs, there is an undeniable fact: one nation’s decision can cause ripples that become waves in a nations across the world.

The Russian economy has been one of peace- meaning that it has tried to grow to the best of its ability while benefitting neighboring economies and key industries with its output. Russia remains a leader in oil and natural gas, despite falling prices around the world, and is also very competitive in the chemical, wood, steel and military manufacturing industries. Agriculture and civilian manufacturing are focused on domestic consumption as those sects are small. In our own economy, when businesses fail, or if it is for the common good, some companies or industries have been nationalized-only benefitting the tumultuous market economy. In recent years, after the global oil crisis of 2008, Russia’s economy has faced some tough obstacles, and suffered many ailments. In 2014, the U.S., much of the Eurozone, and others, took the irresponsible action of placing trade sanctions on the Russian economy. Soon after, the Russian ruble plummeted in value, and inflation rates soared. This has had a negative effect on Russia and her neighbors.

When a company, industry, or even whole economy needs bailing out to have potential to survive, multiple factors need to be considered before a decision is rendered. Firstly, if the failure is due to “natural” economic causes, such as demand dropping or supply running dry, it is the economically sensical decision to allow that failure to exist. An economy cannot be healthy if it is made up of proxy industries or firms. However, when considering economic failures due to “unnatural” causes, the laws of a basic economy do not apply in making the decision to bail. Sanctions placed on nation’s economies are the prime source for “unnatural” economic failures. When a nation puts sanctions on another nation’s economy, it not only tries to doom that economy’s inhabitants to hardship, but it automatically hurts the economies of other nations not meant to be the target. This is the situation that calls for bailing out; when the decisions of a few misguided leaders or malevolent nations negatively affect the lives of innocent people with whom they have no quarrel.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Saudi Arabia
Delegate Name: Qusay Omran
School: Forest Hills Northern High School

Saudi Arabia is very well aware of the sensitivity of the world economy to the irresponsibility of particular nations in regards to their financial systems. Thankfully, the economic and financial power of the nation of Saudi Arabia is in capable hands that consider the consequences of all actions on the economic stability of other nations. The central bank of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) has managed to curb inflation in spite of a growing economy and has maintained a stable economy and healthy Riyal (Saudi Arabia's currency). The state of Arabia's debt is now only 19% of its total real GDP, a safe ratio in the eyes of any intelligent economist.

Since the discovery and beginning of extraction of oil in the 1930s, Saudi Arabia has played a central role in the world economy by having considerable influence over oil trade. Specifically, in the creation of the Organization of the Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC), Saudi Arabia has demonstrated that it acknowledges the power of cooperation while also showing the world that it will not hesitate to regulate the supply of oil. Steps like the creation of OPEC and SAMA are representative of smart commercial, business, fiscal, and monetary thinking, which surely bring success to a nation and ensure the health of its economy.

Most especially, in the experience of Saudi Arabia, the key to this health and success is the production of goods and the sale of resources the country creates and/or extracts. In the case of our nation, it is almost without a doubt the sale and production of oil that allows for our people to prosper so. The United States is well known for its consumerist economy, and what goes hand in hand with consumerism is the constant production of goods. Germany is notable for its efficient industry and for exporting well-made, durable cars and automobile-related products. Our belief is firmly in that of production. It is understandable that many nations simply do not have the industrial capacity to support such manufacturing industries, or perhaps not even the political or economic stability to encourage production, and this is the quagmire we will have to deal with in the ECOFIN committee.

Saudi Arabia does have some ideas to avoid crises like the emergency Greece is currently in the midst of. We recommend leaving fiscal and monetary tools in the hands of experienced and intelligent men, avoiding corruption by the hands of bureaucratic, democratically-elected officials who do not have a real grasp over the implications of interfering with the natural economy, and (for countries that are members in an international organization, as in Greece and the EU) it is especially encouraged that the umbrella organization conduct audits as frequently as possible to ensure there is no distortion of facts or misalignment of interests by the member country. These steps will bring change to nations troubled by financial crisis and may indeed avoid bailouts and austerity measures that only bring discomfort to all and waste well-needed money and time.

While Saudi Arabia does not rely on taxes in the same capacity as Western nations, relying moreso on the profits from the sale of oil, our nation looks down upon governments that spend more in one year than their annual revenue (in most cases). It is simple economics that a deficit will result and simple human nature that setting precedents like that will only make it easier to accumulate greater debt. Saudi Arabia is guilty of having done so in the mid-1900s, yet the creation of a stable central bank allowed the government to keep its debt under control, grow its economy, and invest in public works projects and public institutions like schools and hospitals. One of the rare cases where spending should be tolerated to an extent is in the case of depressions in a nation's economy, however even in this case it must be well-managed, not in the form of irresponsible money-stimulus packages that are loosely tied together, but in the creation of jobs and institutions that will bring the economy back around in the long run.

Saudi Arabia recognizes that financial crises like that the world went through recently in 2008 are often inevitable and despite all care will likely always plague societies well into the future, yet even so our nation works to avoid them as we naturally should. Our government has set series of five-year plans since 1970 to organize the economic growth and development of our economy and financial sector. These plans can be seen as policies addressing the possibility of economic downturns because they do allow for measures to alleviate recessions and the rare depression. Tools such as government spending and monetary policy allow our central planners to protect our people from the dangers associated with low economic performance: unemployment, inflation, and a general feeling of possibly intense discomfort which may lead to civil unrest. In the Middle East it will not do any good to allow for more political turmoil than the region already faces, so Saudi Arabia is determined to avoid economic instability at all costs.

In the end only those nations that are wise will survive the invisible hand of economics.

Chowdhury, Anis, and Iyanatul Islam. "VOX CEPR's Policy Portal." Is There an Optimal Debt-to-GDP Ratio? N.p., n.d. Web. Nov. 2015.

"Development Plans." Development Plans. Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, n.d. Web. Nov. 2015.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Slovakia
Delegate Name: Lisa Kim
School: Grand Blanc High School

Sustainable economic policy is as important as it is difficult. As seen with the recession of 2008, sustainable economic policy one of country, or lack thereof, affects the entire world. In today’s interconnected world, it is of the utmost importance that countries focus on maintaining stable and productive economies not only for the health of their own country, but the health of the entire world itself. Slovakia believes that this sustainable economic policy starts with a stable government, particularly one that is free from corruption, and policies that promote domestic, as well as foreign investment and growth.

Slovakia is continuously taking productive steps towards eliminating corruption, improving business freedom, and increasing labor freedom. Since the mid 1990s, Slovakia has consolidated its budget, joined the European Union, made significant reforms to social welfare and healthcare, and has facilitated a foreign investment boom with business friendly policies. Reforms that started in 1998 have privatized nearly all of the previously state-owned firms, including US Steel’s purchase of the former Eastern Slovakia Steel Works. In recent years, stagnant growth in the GDP has been targeted with pro-growth reforms. Additionally, Slovakia, as a part of the Europe 2020 strategy for a smart, sustainable and inclusive European Union economy, submits a national reform programme annually in order to pinpoint problems and recommendations for solutions. All of these efforts have contributed to the flourishing economy Slovakia has today.

Slovakia would like to see all other countries operate on an efficient budget, meaning that governments should take every available measure possible to ensure that they do not spend more than is raised in taxes. In addition, countries should be, at the bare minimum, reviewing economic policies at least annually in order to identify and solve problems systematically. Slovakia’s hope is that this long term commitment to economic freedom, prosperity, and stability is one that can be shared by all.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: South Africa
Delegate Name: Jakob Grubb
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School

The 2008 economic crisis led to severe problems in global economies. Extensive deregulation of the financial industry in the United States allowed to people to purchase homes by taking out loans they would be unable to pay off, and also made it possible for banks to make high-risk deals with the loans, and the United States government bailed out the banking industry, reduced interest rates, and passed new regulations in order to prevent such a situation from happening again. As a result, banks from across the world with ties to U.S.-based mortgages started to lose money and were forced to look towards their national governments for bailouts, creating an on-going crisis within Eurozone nations.

South Africa was not hit as hard by the 2008 economic crisis as many other industrialized nations, and was hit later than most other nations due to a relatively rigid regulatory environment. Interest rates, domestic stock prices, commodities, and oil prices rose in South Africa while other nations were hit by the 2008 economic crisis, but the above plummeted to all-time or near all-time lows. Low external debt and a flexible exchange rate helped cushion the blow of the economic crisis for South Africa compared to other developing nations such as the Baltic States that were hit especially hard by the economic crisis due to high external debt with developed nations. Due to a later hit by the economic crisis, South African companies and investors were able to better prepare for the crisis and avoid ‘knee-jerk’ reactions, a luxury given to few other nations of South Africa’s size and power. After the recession, South African unemployment and poverty levels greatly increased, although growth was quick to resume. The central government of South Africa was of the greatest help for the nation’s economy and its people prior to, during, and after the recession as a result of prudent management of finances, not cutting spending on essential social services, increased public investment in economic infrastructure, and defining a new growth path after the nation began to recover.

We must prevent another global economic crisis similar to the 2008 economic crisis by avoiding housing and banking economic bubbles in all nations, especially those which are more industrialized and rooted in the global economy, and avoiding large dependency on other nations for vital economic support. Each nation’s government must protect its poor, create employment, invest in infrastructure, promote competitiveness, and create fiscal sustainability if it is to sustain a stable economy.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: South Korea
Delegate Name: Claire Netemeyer
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School

Within the last decade, many nations have encountered a series of economic problems, the worst being the financial crisis of 2008. Although many Asian countries felt the repercussions of the economic crisis, the Republic of Korea was severely hit. By the end of November 2008, the Korean won had depreciated by 25.4% in dollar terms while the stock price collapsed by 27.2 %. To counter the ramifications of the crisis, Korea took a series of financial actions.

The Korean government began by cutting taxes and increasing fiscal spending. Government spending has a greater effect on the economy than raising taxes; high tax rates discourage work, entrepreneurship and savings. Decreased savings lead to less money in banks, which jeopardizes economic sustainability. The Korean tax cuts and increased fiscal spending led to the appreciation of the Korean Won and the increase of the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) by 61.4%. Since the economic downfall of 2008, the Republic of Korea has shown tremendous growth. Korea has learned valuable lessons from their economic turmoil; in fact, they have a significant history of it prior to the 2008 crisis.

In 1997, the Republic of Korea suffered from a serious economic crisis that left the nation in a condition that resembled the Great Depression in the United States. On the brink of economic failure, the nation turned to the International Monetary Fund for help. The bailout package closed banks and industrial companies; numerous workers were laid off. It even prompted citizens to donate their gold to the national treasury. The United States intervened and encouraged the IMF to enter a new round of negotiations, and led G-7 countries to roll over their short-term credits to Korea. This strategy along with implementation of financial and corporate reform programs such as the Non-Performing Asset Resolution Fund directed Korea to economic success.

The Non-Performing Asset Resolution Fund was created in November 1997 with the intentions of clearing bad loans from the accounts of financial institutions. By April 1998, the Financial Supervisory Commission was established with the purpose of integrating supervisory and regulatory mechanism over the banking, securities and insurance sector. By 1999, the nation’s GDP had increased by 2,298.48 USD. The path to economic success was initially gradual. However, the Republic of Korea is now a G-20 country and has the fourteenth highest GDP in the world. As a member of the OECD, the Republic of Korea aims to help developing nations by promoting economic sustainability. With the many economic lessons Korea has learned, the nation advocates the development of financial supervisory programs and loose fiscal policy in order to support sustainable economic development.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Spain
Delegate Name: Jacob Converse
School: Vicksburg High School

A financial crisis is a broad term used to describe the event, “in which the value of a financial institutions or assets drop rapidly.” The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 was a result of the growth of an economic “bubble,” as more people began to apply for loans from banks to pay for mortgage. The demand for for housing rose hand-in-hand with the demand for loans causing an inflation in the price of both until it was eventually realized that the bank was distributing more money then it was making so that when loans were unable to be payed back to the banks, a financial crash ensued. The crash resulted in a global effect due to the decrease in global demand of too many countries that rely on the United States to import as well as export products.

Spain’s economy crashed as well during the Financial Crisis of 2008 similarly due to the inflation of pricing in the housing market and the inability to pay back loans. In Spain, our government had relaxed supervision of the financial sector in order to support an idea of “critical development,” however, banks used this opportunity to, “hide losses and earnings volatility.” Banks were able to mislead regulators, analysts, and investors causing them to believe the banks had more money than they actually had resulting in an imbalance in the flow of cash. Our banks, as well as the rest of our nation, was punished as an outcome of the crash in 2008 as our economy dropped severely, unemployment increased, and many major companies went bankrupt.

Spain eventually turned to the “European Stability Mechanism” (ESM) applying for a €100 billion bailout. Spain was able to recover financially from the crisis by instituting strict reforms that “renew credibility and increase exports from the country.” Spain’s economy has been able to recover so well that economic growth in Spain this year (2015) is predicted to rise 2.3% due to its “cheap euro and low interest,” leading to a decrease in unemployment as jobs become a higher demand.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Sri Lanka
Delegate Name: Charlotte Emily Mathias
School: Forest Hills Northern High School

Sustainable economic polices have been an especially relevant topic since the 2008 financial crisis. It is essential that each nation address the financial crises occurring within their own borders. It’s the United Nation’s responsibility to discuss the methods of promoting sustainable economic development without depending on bailouts, and encourage nations to implement these methods. Sustainable economic policies will help each nation by initiating economic growth and preventing future financial crises.

Sri Lanka has been experiencing one of its worst-ever financial crises due to the immense foreign debt, as much as 80% of GDP in the nation, owed to China. In order combat this massive debt and promote economic growth, The Sri Lankan government has been pursuing large-scale reconstruction and development projects, developments of small and medium enterprises, and an increase in agricultural productivity. The Sri Lankan government has attempted to bring the money back within the borders of the nation by supporting domestic corporations and working toward funding their own infrastructure projects, with the help of funds from the World Bank, instead of depending on China and therefore becoming more in debt. Following the end of a 26-year conflict with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009, the economy in Sri Lanka has been growing strongly, despite the debt to China. This is largely due to the measures the Sri Lankan government has taken to promote economic growth.

As a member of the Group of Fifteen (G15), Sri Lanka would look favorably on help from the United Nations in promoting sustainable economic developments in order to enhance economic growth and prosperity, especially in developing nations like Sri Lanka. Nations can develop economically and avoid needing a bailout by attempting to bring their nations money back within the borders of their nation by supporting domestic corporations, as Sri Lanka is trying to do. Although governments should not routinely spend more money than it raises in taxes, in some cases it is necessary in order to for the nation to make the necessary changes to get them out of a financial crisis, such as the struggle with debt that Sri Lanka is facing currently.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Sudan
Delegate Name: Mitchell Cole
School: Forest Hills Central High School

All over the world, many countries are relying on short-term economies. Sudan plans to part from this group of nations. The economy of Sudan has recently boomed from the exportation of crude oil. Even after a majority of the available oil was lost after the split with South Sudan, the Republic of Sudan’s future can depend heavily on oil. The traditional economy that relies mostly on agriculture is currently a sustainable one, but may not encourage growth nearly as much. Which is why Sudan believes it should focus on increasing industry and human capital while it has the natural resources to pay for these endeavors.

Sudan has had a lot of achievements financially recently. After clearing most of its debt from the World Bank, Sudan seeks to build up its infrastructure and power with the money made from its natural resources. With help from larger nations, such as the United Kingdom (who is already willing to help), Sudan’s economy can be made into an example for all of Africa to follow. As an important diplomatic nation in sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan's future actions can impact almost every sovereign nation in Africa. Which is why Sudan wishes to partake in a slow, safe buildup of a sustainable economy that has been historically proven to work.

Sudan proposes that the UN provides support to all developing countries requesting financial aid in building a suitable infrastructure and increasing education/human capital. With some help from the UN and from crude oil, Sudan believes that its economy can grow out of poverty and agriculture.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Sweden
Delegate Name: Ryan Hilbert
School: Forest Hills Central High School

In the recent decade countries all over the world have experienced economic shortcomings due to their unstable economic policy. From the 2008 housing market crash, to the decline of the world economy, to the recent stock market failures in many countries, the need for change is greater than ever. In order to correct the largely failing world economy it is necessary to promote sustainable economic development in the afflicted countries. Sweden has one of the world’s most sustainable economies, but this has not always been the true. In the late 20th century Sweden had an economy that was riddled with inflation and overspending. This led to the implementation of several economic reforms that established budget ceilings and also created the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council to help manage the national economy.

Regarding the issue at hand, let’s take a look at Greece. In 2010 Greece was essentially bankrupt and filed for a bailout totalling several hundred billion dollars. Greece’s crisis was not the result of one or two poor economic decisions but rather years of neglect and mismanagement in regards to its economic policy. As of now, Greece is slowly recovering because of a massive bailout from the Eurozone, and Sweden recommends that Greece, as well as any other country coming out of an economic crisis, implement similar policies as to those that Sweden put in place during its recovery from the 2009 downturn. The policies put into effect by Sweden lowered the national debt, increased foreign investment by nearly 10 billion, and limited its debt-to-GDP ratio at a modest 40%.

It is in the best interest of not only Sweden but the world as a whole to inculcate and maintain economic policies that promote internal growth while increasing global trade. Sweden advises the creation of a UN committee similar to the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council that can offer expert economic advice to countries in need. As stated by Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven, “The adoption of the new sustainable development goals and the new financial framework must not be seen as the end of a process. On the contrary, it is the starting signal for more intense, and absolutely essential, efforts to achieve increased sustainable development at global, regional and national levels.”

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Switzerland
Delegate Name: Brett Bauman
School: Forest Hills Northern High School

The economies of many countries are growing, but they may not be sustainable. Countries often resort to tactics such as manipulating their currency and seeking bailouts amid financial crises, such as that in 2008. These policies do not promote a sustainable economic policy, and instead they are just temporary fixes that have larger consequences in the end such as inflation and having to pay back loans. Countries in financial distress must instead use sustainable economic policies to help get them out of their financial troubles

The country of Switzerland has had a flourishing economy for many years. Switzerland has incredibly low unemployment rates, exceptional infrastructure and a very high GDP per capita. The Swiss economy also has efficient and transparent regulations and the economy supports diversified economic growth. The Swiss economy is very stable and relies primarily on the services sector and manufacturing. During the 2008 financial crisis, the country acted quickly and efficiently and therefore avoided the crisis that the rest of the world felt. Switzerland tightened the reins on the banks, and when disaster struck the stock market, the government nationalized some of USB’s (One of the larger Swiss banks) assets and set the interest rates at 0% and the economy rebounded relatively quickly compared with the surrounding countries. The Swiss economy continues to rely on that of surrounding countries because the surrounding countries purchase over fifty percent of Swiss exports.

Switzerland and the World Bank have supported sustainable economic development in projects such as The Fiscal Management and Accelerating Growth Program Project for Malawi in which money was given to Malawi to promote fiscal management. The fiscal management reforms were created to help strengthen the Government's capacity to meet stabilization targets.

Switzerland does not believe in countries spending more than what they earn in taxes. Switzerland also stresses the importance of a country having fiscal responsibility. Switzerland also employs a no-bailout philosophy with cantonal and federal governments. If a canton is in need of a bailout, they are forced to find their own way out of the situation. This system is used because of the government were to bailout a canton, the federal government’s creditworthiness would be weakened and it would have to pay higher interest rates. the fiscal discipline in Switzerland can be explained through this no-bailout policy and it shows the position of Switzerland on the bailouts of other countries.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Syria
Delegate Name: McKenna Swanson
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School

The 2008 financial crisis caused by the collapse of global banks and the lack of investment banking regulation almost brought down the world’s financial system. Prior to the crisis, the extensively deregulated financial industry was allowing United States citizens to purchase homes by taking out immense loans, to the banks making these high risk deals it became clear that these loans were likely to never be repaid. In response, the United States government began to bail out banks. In an attempt to prevent a collapse, the banking industry reduced interest rates on government loans and passed new banking regulations, but it was too late. Across the globe, countries whose banks had invested in United States based mortgages began losing money. Similarly to the U.S., these banks turned to their governments for help. Within the Eurozone some financially weaker members such as Spain, Ireland, and Greece, began borrowing money from wealthier countries of the Eurozone. After a near decade of economic stability in the Eurozone it became clear that these countries could nether bailout domestic banks or pay back loans taken from other countries. Facing collapse, Germany agreed to to bail them out on the terms that they cut funding to public welfare and privatize government services. While the Eurozone was hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis, China seemed to maintain its long-standing economic growth with only minor setbacks. Since adopting state capitalism in 1978, China’s economic and financial growth has lead it to being the world’s second largest economy. The 2008 financial crisis slowed China’s economy, in response, China’s government changed course focusing more on domestic growth and stabilizing the slowing economy. In the last decade the responses such as regulations, bail outs, and budgets have offered insight into the workings of sustainable economies worldwide in the 2008 financial crisis.

Despite modest reforms and growth, Syria's economy confronts a unique set of interconnected problems that cannot be solved simply by prescribing traditional textbook economic policies. Over the past decade Syria’s economy has suffered from international sanctions, widespread infrastructure damage, diminished domestic consumption and production, and high inflation causing problems between both state-society relations and international development relations. While it is true that since 2010 Syria has made some progress in addressing these issues, the regime still struggles with a number of interconnected economic challenges. The financial crisis in 2008 brought about a period of isolation and a decrease in oil reserves, a major export in Syria. But with the adoption of a Social Market Economy, an economic system based on a free market operated in conjunction with state provision for those unable to sell their labor (such as people who are elderly or unemployed), Syria has established a socio economic tradeoff of reducing state subsidies while encouraging unaccountable big-business endeavors.

In the opinions of Syria and in the best interest of its economy, it is requested that sanctions specifically enforced by the United States be lifted to allow for the economy to further develop the three branches. These sanctions and heavy regulations include but are not limited to; the prohibition of exporting or selling services to Syria by U.S. persons, the monitoring and regulation of petroleum or petroleum product imports of Syrian origin, and the prohibition of U.S. persons from involvement in transactions involving Syrian petroleum or petroleum products. But while the United States Office of Terrorism Finance and Economic Sanctions supports these heavy regulations and bylaws, the Syrian government does not. In addition, Russia does not trust U.S. intentions in the region. It believes humanitarian concerns are often used as an excuse for pursuing America's own political and economic interests. Though these U.S. mandated regulations have held back the Syrian economy from making trade deals with U.S. it has not kept it from making deals with other countries such as Russia. In the last year, Moscow signed a $550 million deal with Syria for combat training jets. But while this is a step forward for Syria, other countries continue to struggle through similar economic challenges. Therefore, Syria would like to call upon the developed nations of the world to limit their number of politically-charged sanctions placed against them, in order to prevent the further stunting of their economy.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Togo
Delegate Name: Alex Woznicki
School: Royal Oak High School

Economic stability is essential to any nation. Yet for many, economic fluctuation has become commonplace, with the prosperity of the country changing sometimes quite drastically. As with many other economic matters, there is often not a universal solution. Countries are extremely varied in their financial sectors, and therefore any solution must be very varied. Nevertheless, there are two major factors which influence any country's stability and prosperity: Self-sufficiency and trade.

No country can be completely self-sufficient, nor can it rely solely on trade for income. As a member of the World Trade Organization, as well as a proponent of trade with numerous other countries, Togo recognizes the need for trade with other countries, and believes that expecting total, or near total self sufficiency will fare well for no countries. However, a majority of the growth that the country has experienced in the past two years has been due to an increase in industry, agriculture, as well as civil infrastructure. It is due to this primarily that the GDP has increased by over 5% for the past two years, and is expected to continue to rise. Togo recognizes, therefore, the need for independence on the part of any country, as well as the need for increased expenditures on the part of the government, especially for developing countries. Increasing infrastructure is necessary for self-sufficiency and economic stability. Often the only way that can be done is to have more expenditure than revenue, which leads to increased stability in the future.

. Any successful resolution must therefore emphasize the necessity of self-sufficiency, while still strongly advocating trade with other countries, as these are the two key components of financial stability . We strongly hope that the EcoFin Committee will consider the obligation of balancing both trade and infrastructure when seeking to increase economic stability.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Turkey
Delegate Name: Madeline Kugler
School: Williamston High School

Eight years prior to the 2008 financial crisis people were allowed to purchase homes by taking out big loans and not paying it back. The banks paid high risk deals with the loans. When it was clear that people were not paying their loans, the United States government bailed out there banking industry. This spurred an on-going crisis within the Eurozone. The nineteen countries in Europe are faced with the common currency of the Euro. This brought weaker countries like Greece, which is borrowing money from other countries. As weaker European countries came to disaster, countries like Germany agreed to bail them out. The one condition included cutting funding for public welfare and privatizing government services.

Leading up to 2008, China had built a long policy of unsustainable economic growth, once is now one of the largest economies globally. Although, over the past few years, China's economic growth has slowed significantly. China is changing its course by emphasizing domestic growth and consumption. In the last decade, the United States, Eurozone, and China have offered insights into the options available to countries seeking to address financial crisis. If a country had debt or failing economy, a country can seek a bailout from foreign countries or cut government spending.

Turkey has one of the largest upper middle-income partners of the World Bank Group. Turkey has a GDP of 799.54 billion, and is the 17th largest economy in the world. Turkey’s GDP shrank 5.8% in 2009. One of Turkey’s major concerns is the black market; the international monetary fund believes that Turkey’s black market makes up approximately one-third of the GDP. The black market is an illegal traffic or trade in officially controlled or scarce commodities.

Our country plans to increase government spending on local cities and health benefits for the people of Turkey. Turkey’s government hopes this government spending will stimulate the growth of their GDP.

The nation of Turkey hopes to reduce the black market to have more tax revenue generated and be beneficial in controlling the country’s debt.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Turkmenistan
Delegate Name: Kaichen Tang
School: Grand Blanc High School

In 2008, there was a financial crisis in the world where too much money were being borrowed. It started in the US, where they started giving out immense loans for houses that seemed unlikely to pay back, but the banks took the risk anyways. Eventually, banks all over the world with investments related to US based mortgages started losing money too. This led to countries borrowing money from other wealthier countries, weakening everyone economy. In the next paragraph, it will talk about how Turkmenistan is related to this, and how they dealt with Turkmenistan has the 4th biggest oil reserve in the world. Turkmenistan is also one of the top 10 cotton producers in the world. Relating to the 2008 financial crisis, Turkmenistan managed avoid the financial sinkhole due to it’s lack of financial debts, expansion of export markets for natural gas, and the increase in foreign currencies revenues. Turkmenistan is also very isolated and only pumps oil to Russia.

We weren’t really involved with this issue. We have kept ourselves isolated and distanced ourselves from the danger of owing debt to other countries. The best thing other countries should do too, is to stop borrowing money unless it’s very necessary. We have managed to limit our debts as small as possible, while other countries have mounted theirs, resulting in the financial crisis it put them in today. Debt is never good for a country’s growth and economy. Avoiding debt is the best advice my country can give you because that’s what we have done and we have managed to be one of the only ones that has dodged this financial crisis. Follow our lead and your country will be saved just like ours. Build a nation with small debt, be the one to stand out from all other countries.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Ukraine
Delegate Name: June Battjes
School: Williamston High School

The reason sustainable economic policies are currently hard to maintain is because of the economic downfall our world has faced in previous years. Due to various factors, such as the failing of banks, governments have been forced to rely on hefty loans from other nations to sustain their national economies. These loans have rapidly added up and now contribute to the worldly debt of 59.7 trillion dollars that exists today. It is necessary that The United Nations create a strong resolution that sets up precedent for sustainable economics in our world that is attainable.

The Ukraine is highly interested in resolving this issue mainly because of the countries own worsening economic conditions. From 2003 through 2015 the Ukraine has averaged about 92077.55 USD million in external debt. After the collapse of The Soviet Union the Ukraine struggled to make the transition to a free market economy. The government was not strong enough to design and implement economic policies constructively. To make matters worse in 2009 the Ukrainian economy crashed again, forcing the country to except loans in which they are still unable to pay back. Due to inflation, the currency in the Ukraine depreciated causing banks to drain and close. The Ukraine has also been dealing with corruption, in which political figures steal large sums of money from the government. All of these factors contribute to the Ukraine’s worsening issues with debt and the economy, which need to be resolved.

The Ukraine proposes that The United Nations assist in creation of sustainable economic policies for countries that are struggling with economic issues. These policies would regulate things such as taxing, spending and the flow of currency. The Ukraine also requests that previous debt may be forgotten if the country in question is clearly in no position to pay. The Ukraine expects countries such as Poland and Italy to support their efforts.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: United Kingdom
Delegate Name: Austin Jacks
School: Mattawan High School

The United Kingdom is well aware of the financial crisis of 2008. Not only did it have a great impact on the United States, but on the world economy as well. This event opened the eyes of many people blinded to the fact that economies can fail no matter how big or influential they are. With poor business practices and unethical ways of trying to promote growth as much as possible, this can lead to an economy collapsing on itself pretty quickly. The focus of this committee needs to be stressed on preventing such calamities from ever happening because the world is truly a connected place. If one region struggles from economic downturn or collapse, this can ripple and spread in areas across the globe.

As a very sustainable and important economy among the world’s elite factions, the United Kingdom can offer a lot of insight in combating the problem head-on. David Kerns, chief economist of the British Chambers of Commerce, viewed the economic crisis of 2008 and other factors believing it was necessary for, “A proper economic policy in the United Kingdom be formulated by national government, the Monetary Policy Committee, and the Bank of England so that there is some sort of economic recovery achieved by the United Kingdom.” With this view and additional information from leading economists, any economic policy of the United Kingdom has to incorporate stringent and uncompromising corrective measures so that effects of present global financial downturn can be handled properly.

Based on the experiences the United Kingdom has faced within the last decade on a pure economic basis, the best way to have a sustainable economy is to endorse proper restrictions, consequences, and accountability for the issues of the problem. In addition, government oversight needs to be present but not necessarily active. Businesses need the freedom and laissez-faire style environment in order to grow naturally and further propel the economy forward by creating jobs, money circulation, and development. However, this can only be passed by the overseers if they are not pursuing selfish practices for quick economic gain or are compromising the integrity of the economic system. The United Kingdom would like to work with the countries within the EU and hefty economic leaders like the United States and China to formulate methods of achieving sustainable economic policy.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: United States
Delegate Name: Adam Barnhill
School: Fishers High School

The United States, as the most powerful economic force in the world, is an incontestable expert in the field of sustainable economic policy. The people of the United States believe that the most sustainable economies are based on the government promoting the development and prosperity of small and medium sized classes, and supporting the economic standing of the middle class. The people of the United States also believe that the government should have some role in the economy: in the construction of infrastructure, in education, and trade.

The people of the United States have suffered through two devastating economic crises in its young and noble history: the Great Depression and the recent recession. Before the Great Depression, the government took a largely laissez-faire approach to the economy, allowing wide spread materialistic spending and poor banking policies. Eventually, the world economy crashed, and the people fell into the Great Depression. The American people eventually pulled themselves out of the economic rut, by increasing government spending on public works, providing more government jobs, and increased economic regulation under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Therefore, the people of the United States believe that a government should outspend its budget in times of economic crises in order to artificially stimulate the economy.

The people of the United States also believe in strong, self-sufficient economy. Governments should avoid needing bail-outs on debt by developing a strong, balanced economy as opposed to focusing the economy on specific industries such as tourism, oil extraction, or manufacturing. The people also believe that a government should restrict its spending as much as possible, thereby decreasing the need to default on debts. The United States believes that when the government interferes in the free market, the economy usually takes a turn for the worse, by upsetting the market equilibrium.

The American people also believe that one of the greatest challenges faced by developing and undeveloped nations is the unaccountability of government officials, who pocket tax money instead of using it to pay off public debt or develop public necessities such as infrastructure or education. The United States therefore believes that nations must develop an accountable government, which serves the interests of the people and businesses.

Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Zimbabwe
Delegate Name: Nicholas Sherard
School: Forest Hills Central High School

Sustainable economic development enhances equitable local income and employment growth without endangering local fiscal stability, degrading the natural environment, or contributing to global climate change. It challenges the model of growth based on pure consumption rather than human happiness, takes into account long-term goals as well as short-term needs and is sensitive to local context and history. The country of Zimbabwe clearly sees the state and welfare the country is currently in, being held back by the ties and tariffs that are still currently in place that take away the possibility of socio economic stability within Zimbabwe and its people. Several problems sprout from the economic setback and those who are holding back the possibility of sustainable economic policy directly make themselves apart of the several human rights violations that are a direct consequence of taking such an opposing side.

The country is relatively well endowed with natural resources (forest, agricultural lands, livestock, water resources, wildlife and minerals). The problems associated with the management of these resources are common to many African countries, for instance overgrazing, deforestation and soil erosion. Environmental degradation in the communal and resettled areas is a result of an increasing land shortage and poor management practices combined with a land tenure system which promotes overgrazing.Zimbabwe has a well developed and diversified industrial sector, but particularly the mining sector has damaged the environment. The unregulated establishment of mines has created large waste dumps, and runoff from these has contaminated soil and water bodies. Further, migration from the rural areas to the urban centres has led to overcrowding, but in contrast to other countries in the region, urban sanitation is adequate.

My country has taken into account many policies that have and are going to be of great positive effect to natural resources and sustaining other valuable areas. Draft environmental policy, when economic activity leads to pollution and overuse of common property resources, government intervention can improve social welfare. This has been adopted to my country back in 2003 and it makes for a solution to the industrial infrastructure that is highly polluting Zimbabwe. The DEP(Draft environmental policy) is not the only act that has been taken by Zimbabwe just recently the country has seen the Natural Resources Act whose main objective is to control the use of resources, and the Mines and Minerals Act which will keep high watch on the pollution and overconsumption of resources. Through these several policies Zimbabwe is looking in the right direction in terms of great policy making for Benefit of the economy and natural and non renewable resources.

The country of Zimbabwe is doing the best of jobs when it comes to policy making for the benefit of its resources. Zimbabwe looks to enact and improve upon all policies such as the draft environmental policy, natural resources act and the Mines and mineral act.