Simon Lester

My Cato colleague Jim Harper is a bitcoin expert. He explained bitcoins to me once, and I think I understood it all briefly, but it has now escaped me. But now that international trade rules might be relevant, I may take another look.  Here he is explaining how there may

For all you scholars out there hoping to get cited by the WTO Appellate Body, here is the abstract of an interesting paper by Sondre Torp Helmersen, entitled The Use of Scholarship by the WTO Appellate Body: This article examines the use of scholarship by the WTO Appellate Body. While

This is from Indian economist Natasha Agarwal: In a turn of events, on 7th July 2016, the United States made a request pursuant to Article 22.2 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) seeking authorization from the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB)

From the BBC: President-elect Donald Trump says the US will quit the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on his first day in the White House. He made the announcement in a video message outlining what he intends to do first when he takes office in January. I've

According to Trump's transition web site, trade lawyer Robert Lighthizer is on the USTR "landing team" that is organizing the transition for USTR. Just to give everyone a sense, here is something Lighthizer wrote in 2011 (when Trump was also considering a Presidential run): With Donald

Here is a Brexit conference organized by Luca Rubini at the University of Birmingham on Feb 24, 2017: This conference has two goals. The first is to explore the important legal and political questions about the new role of the UK in the international trade context, and in particular with

This is from the NY Times: Diplomats from around the world converged here this week with the plan to put details on last year’s Paris climate accord and move the globe closer to controlling the industrial emissions that are heating the planet. Instead, with the election of Donald J.

This is from a letter from trade critic Senator Sherrod Brown to President-elect Donald Trump, offering advice on general trade policy and specific thoughts on a NAFTA renegotiation: ... American manufacturers have been harmed by provisions that allow antidumping and countervailing duty determinations to be reviewed. Presumably this refers to

This is from my friend Luke Peterson of Investment Arbitration Reporter: Freelance analyst wanted Investment Arbitration Reporter is looking for one or more persons to join our team of freelance contributors. Since 2008, our publication has offered specialized reporting on developments in the field of international investment law. We read

From China: US president-elect Donald Trump would be a “naive” fool to launch an all-out trade war against China, a Communist party-controlled newspaper has claimed. During the acrimonious race for the White House Trump repeatedly lashed out at China, vowing to punish Beijing with “defensive” 45% tariffs