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Simon Lester

Peter Mandelson on Carbon Taxes

From a speech by Peter Mandelson: The elephant in the room when we talk about trade incentives for the right climate policy is of course the idea of a carbon border tax. This is intended to punish free-riders who don't sign up to a global climate deal and

The WTO is "like the Freemasons"

According to Jon Stewart: From an interview with Charlize Theron, star of the movie "Battle in Seattle," about the Seattle WTO protests. It's a couple minutes in before they start talking about the WTO. Which brings me to a related point. This is from an interview

The Spread of Bailouts

There is lots of talk about bailouts these days, mostly to the financial industry. Given that there are no subsidies rules for services, we are not likely to see many WTO disputes over this. However, when the government starts bailing companies out, sometimes it becomes hard to draw the line.

Policy Space for "Smart Protectionism"

We've talked before about policy space for developing countries, often in response to Dani Rodrik blog posts, but other times as well. The following piece seemed like a great case study of the issue: http://www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/commentary/data/000082 In a nutshell, the piece makes

Russia's WTO Accession and the U.S. Presidential Election

How would Russia's WTO accession progress under an Obama-Biden administration? Everyone is talking tough about Russia right now in relation to the Georgia situation, but Joe Biden has an actual trade dispute with them: United States Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) today issued the following statement after

WTO Rulings in EU Law: More from Bananas

EU law experts will probably have more insights into this then I will, but I thought it worth noting the latest developments in the case in which some European companies claimed compensation under EU law for financial damages arising from the U.S. sanctions in the EC - Bananas case.

State Tax Incentives on the Increase

I've complained before about the use of government tax breaks to lure investment. A new FT article indicates that such measures are on the increase among U.S. states (via Trade Diversion): Tennessee, for instance, has just disclosed that it agreed to give German carmaker Volkswagen $577m in

Esserman and Howse Rethink the WTO

At Forbes.com, Sue Esserman and Rob Howse rethink the WTO. One of their points is the following: Issues of global equity are simultaneously becoming more challenging; the WTO cannot afford to ignore the question of who gains and who loses and the fairness of those consequences. In collaboration with

Free Trade Unilateralism from Ron Paul

Ron Paul sets out his views on free trade in an interview with CFR: How would you approach globalization and trade differently from a McCain administration or the current Bush administration would? [Ron Paul:] I consider myself the strongest advocate of free trade. I don't want any tariffs

The Role of Precedent: What the WTO Members Think (Part 2)

A while back, I mentioned a discussion among the WTO Members, at a DSB meeting, on the role of precedent in WTO dispute settlement. This discussion was in the context of the U.S. - Stainless Steel (Mexico) dispute, where the AB made some statements that seemed to indicate a