Simon Lester

A couple months ago, I noted how the Australia - Apples panel "accepted" an amicus brief: "the Panel notified the Parties that it had decided to accept the unsolicited communication received from APAL, and would inform that entity accordingly."  However, today's Thailand - Cigarettes (Philippines) panel

President Obama: "countries with large surpluses must shift away from an unhealthy dependence on exports and take steps to boost domestic demand". Is domestic demand too low in China and other countries with trade surpluses?  Or is domestic demand too high in the U.S. and other countries

Japan might join.  And Korea is thinking about it as well. Is an expanded Trans Pacific Partnership a good development for trade agreements, helping create an important new free trade area?  Or will adding these large economy countries with sensitive agricultural sectors cause the TPP negotiations to get bogged down

There has been some talk about the Tea Party and free trade.  Dani Rodrik says: "Republicans who support the Tea Party are even more hostile to trade agreements than the rest."  He cites to this Pew poll.  Similarly, Robert Lighthizer says: "Strangely, for a movement named after

The ASIL International Economic Law Interest Group conference on "International Economic Law in a Time of Change: Reassessing Legal Theory, Doctrine, Methodology and Policy Prescriptions" is coming up on November 18-20, at the University of Minnesota Law School.  I see lots of big IEL names and interesting

If you can call them that.  This is from the official communique: Currencies: Monetary and Exchange Rate Policies: We reaffirm the importance of central banks' commitment to price stability, thereby contributing to the recovery and sustainable growth. We will move toward more market-determined exchange rate systems and enhance

I think it's safe to say that there is some disagreement about whether quantitative easing will lead to economic growth.  Personally, I'm a skeptic.  I would rather focus on measures that promote long-term growth, for example those that can lead to productivity increases.  To me,

President Obama: "We want to be known not just for what we consume, but for what we produce. And the more we export abroad, the more jobs we create in America. In fact, every $1 billion we export supports more than 5,000 jobs at home. It is for