Simon Lester

I wish there were a lot less talk of the TPP leading to massive job losses or job gains, and instead people said more sensible things like this, from Ted Moran: But economists are taught—as a matter of theory—that trade agreements cannot be expected to create a greater

We discussed what Australia's Productivity Commission thought of ISDS back here.  Now they have something more to say, but I couldn't do anywhere near as good a job explaining it as Esme Shirlow did over at the Kluwer Arbitration Blog.  Here's an excerpt, but

I've always assumed that when you have an international investment treaty, which sets out obligations that states have to follow (and are subject to legal claims when they do not), this is public international law.  That is the case even if the "judges" hearing the claim

People keep asking me what I think of the TPP.  Given that, aside from a few leaks, I haven't seen the text, I'm a little unsure how to answer.  It kind of depends what's in it.  Nonetheless, I offered some preliminary thoughts here.  An

I wanted to mention two new books on WTO law.  The first I've been reading; the second is in the mail and I'll read it soon. The one I've been reading is A History of Law and Lawyers in the GATT/WTO: The Development

This is a guest post from Geneva trade lawyer Adarsh Ramanujan:“Rebuttable” presumption of Article 2.2 inconsistency arising from Article 5.1 inconsistency? Continuing from my earlier post on the AB Report on India – Agricultural Products, I found another finding of the AB to be an interesting one – this

This is a guest post from Geneva trade lawyer Adarsh Ramanujan:‘Interpretation’ of the scientific standards? Thoughts about India – Agricultural Products I finally got around to reading the AB Report released earlier in June in the India – Agricultural Products. I found one of the claims raised by India to be

From ELSA: ELSA International invites proposals from prospective case authors to write the Moot Court Case for the 14th edition of the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law. EMC2 is a simulated hearing of a World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel. Teams of interested students from all over the

As you have all have probably heard by now, at long last we are done with the tedious TPA debate: President Barack Obama signed into law on Monday legislation that gives him "fast-track" power to negotiate trade deals and speed them through Congress, ... I will leave commentary on

Over at AJIL Unbound, they are talking about the EC - Seal Products case, with contributions from Joel Trachtman, Don Regan, Julia Qin, Alexia Herwig, William J. Moon/Alec Stone Sweet, and Michael Fakhri.  No doubt all of the contributions are very interesting, but I confess to being bogged down