International Economic Law and Policy Blog

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Simon Lester

Is Trade Skepticism on the Rise?

Perhaps, but it has a long history, as shown by this AEI paper that looks at public responses to trade-related polling over time. Here's one illustration: Do you think it should be the policy of the United States to restrict foreign imports into this country in order

Trade in Everything: Supermodels and Nobel Laureates

From an Economist article about a proposed U.S. law to give more work visas to fashion models: The visas for models bill is still far from becoming reality, and comprehensive immigration reform is a distant dream. Luckily though, supermodels like Gisele Bündchen are in the clear. They are eligible

Another Trade Law Job

VACANCY JUNIOR LEGAL RESEARCHER International Economic Law The Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and the Institute for International Law of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven are looking for a full-time junior legal researcher for an interdisciplinary research project on the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Human Development

Obama on NAFTA in Fortune

There's an upcoming piece on Obama in Fortune magazine, where he talks about trade issues. Here are some snippets about it on Fortune's web site. Fortune characterizes his views as "NAFTA not so bad after all." A lot of people are talking about it

Obama on Ethanol Tariffs

Via Peter Gallagher, I saw this NY Times article on ethanol subsidies, which referred to an old Obama speech where he said the following: Greater Brazilian production of renewable fuels could boost sustainable economic development throughout Latin America, and reshape the geopolitics of energy in the hemisphere, reducing the oil-

Obama on Chinese Steel Duties

From an Obama press release: U.S. Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement after the International Trade Commission (ITC) concluded that Chinese pipe producers have injured U.S. manufacturers for several years by dumping circular welded steel pipe exports into our market - a practice which has been enabled

McCain on NAFTA

From a McCain speech in Ottawa last week: We must also work to ensure reliable energy supplies and increase sources of renewable energy. As you all know, Canada is America's largest energy supplier. Not only does Canada have the second largest proven oil reserves in the world, 60

The Economist on Carbon Tariffs

The Economist has an interesting "Economics focus" piece on the use of carbon tariffs against countries that do not take measures to limit their emissions. The piece describes the issue as follows: ... how can policy ensure that legal limits on emissions do not put local firms at a

Do Prizes Constitute Subsidies?

I meant to post on this a while back, but never did (I don't see any record of it anyway). Suddenly, I find myself with a good opportunity. Last year, in response to this NY Times article, there was some talk in the blogosphere about the merits of

Two Intriguing Trade Law Jobs

For aspiring academics, a couple positions at the World Trade Institute: Assistant Professor of international economic law, with a specialization in WTO law and trade regulation Assistant Professor of international economics, with a specialization in trade and development Assistant Professor of international relations, with a specialization in in-ternational economic