Rob Howse

This is the third in a trilogy of posts on Hillary Clinton and trade policy. In recent days, some of the highest-profile US critics of the TPP have refocused their sights on the provisions of the agreement that call for investor-state arbitration.  Elizabeth Warren, for example, singled out the inclusion

Besides stopping TPP, the focus of my post earlier this week, Hillary Clinton is responding to Trump on trade with proposed measures to counter offshoring by US companies.  Once again I cite her recent economic policy speech in Detroit: Right now, when a corporation outsources jobs and production, it can

Based upon a re-examination of the case by Greece's highest court, former statistics chief Andreas Georgiou will again face criminal charges in relation to changing the estimates of Greece's deficit made by his staff:  it is apparently alleged that Georgiou, a long-time IMF technocrat who was

This is the first of three posts on the challenges that Hillary Clinton faces on trade in campaigning against her rival Donald Trump. Heading to Detroit last week fast on the heels of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton outlined her own economic plan and took some effective swipes at Trump'

The usual suspects will doubtless be outraged by Trump’s economic policy speech today in Detroit, where he declared in almost no uncertain terms autarchy (a purely national self-sufficient economy) as the goal of his economic plan:  “American cars will travel the roads, American planes will connect our cities, and

Whenever discontent with globalization erupts, so does the myth of a world-dominating tribe that dare not say its name: the tribe sees itself as “elect” and deserving of world mastery, with a mission that is  universal and thus not bound by the normal (territorial) rules of tribalism. In the past,

What is the source of Bernie Sanders' ability to raise tens of millions of dollars, bring out to rallies supporters in the tens of thousands, and run neck-and-neck in national polls,having been an unknown but months ago?  To understand the consequences of the current political environment in the

On trade, Bernie Sanders is usually portrayed as an arch-protectionist who, like Donald Trump, seeks to trash existing trade agreements and erect new walls against imports. The truth is much more complex.  Of course, Sanders has faulted recent trade agreements, and the normalization of trade relations with China under the

I've been saying for some time now that Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is, contrary to conventional wisdom, a shrewd negotiator and tactician (see my post on this blog last summer  bit.ly/1HqHRyA).  These traits were clearly on display this last week, when Europe'

The WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) is at the heart of a controversy in the UK surrounding the boycott  by some local councils of products and services associated with illegal settlements in Palestine.   It has been widely reported in the UK press that the government is imposing severe legal penalties