International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Climate Labelling under WTO Rules

From SSRN, here is the asbtract of Climate Labelling and the WTO: The 2010 EU Ecolabelling Programme as a Test Case Under WTO Law, by Erich Vranes Environmental labelling is increasingly used as an instrument of climate protection. This is underlined, for example, by the EU climate change programme, in

Workshop on Global Law and Economic Policy at Harvard

From June 2-11, 2010: The Workshop is an intensive ten day residential program designed for doctoral and post-doctoral scholars. The Workshop aims to promote innovative ideas and alternative approaches to issues of global law, economic policy and social justice in the aftermath of the economic crisis. The initiative

Film Production Subsidies

From The Economist: California has been worrying about “runaway production” since 1998, when Canada began luring producers and their crews away from Los Angeles with tax breaks. Other places followed, and all but seven American states and territories and 24 other countries now offer, or are preparing to offer, rebates,

Trade in Everything: Rush Limbaugh Edition

No, we're not trading Rush Limbaugh. Rather, he may be engaging in trade in medical services: Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh said this week he’d go to Costa Rica for medical treatment if Congress passes proposed reforms to the US healthcare system. That might sound like

The Proposal for Two Separate Legal Proceedings for AD/CVD Injury Determinations

Last week I mentioned Senator Specter's proposal to allow AD/CVD injury determinations to be made by federal district courts rather than the ITC. At the time, I said I didn't see any WTO violations in such a proposal. However, having now seen the text of

More Currency Stuff

UNCTAD is not a fan of a floating exchange rate for China: Amidst continued financial crisis, the question of the global trade imbalances is back high on the international agenda. A procession of prominent economists, editorialists and politicians have taken it upon themselves to “remind” the surplus countries, and in

China Currency Times Two

Both the Financial Times and New York Times (hence the post title) have recent articles which refer to the Chinese currency issue. From the FT: True, Washington and Beijing are trading heated accusations over whether China’s continued policy of holding down the renminbi is responsible for global imbalances. But

Trade in Natural Resources: The Bluefin Tuna Ban under the TBT Agreement

In the spirit of the discussion of trade in natural resources that Melaku has been leading, I thought I would do a post on a very technical aspect of the proposed trade ban on bluefin tuna, which may soon be imposed pursuant to the United Nations' Convention on International

The Great Trade Debate: Fletcher - Reply #3 to Dan Griswold on Free Trade

by Ian Fletcher Dan has again dragged irrelevant issues into this debate; I shall let the reader judge whether I am guilty of Maoism! Dan’s conflation of protectionism with communism and related economic pathologies is telling: free traders of Dan's variety (ideologically-committed libertarians) habitually roll up

The Great Trade Debate: Griswold - Trade barriers rob from the many to benefit a few special interests

by Daniel Griswold As we wrap up our debate, let me grant Ian’s point that free trade alone is not a magic bullet that by itself delivers prosperity. Economic success also depends on secure property rights, the rule of law, stable money, functioning domestic markets, and moderate levels of