Trachtman

Eric Posner has an op ed in yesterday's WSJ, saying that human rights don't do any good, and suggesting that the whole project be abandoned.  While there is lots to argue with, I wanted to note one point here. Posner suggests that the advancement of well-being

A new report from the Atlantic Council, prepared under the chairmanship of Stuart Eizenstat and Grant Aldonas, and with members including John Jackson, Claude Barfield and Kenneth Dam, is calling for significant changes in the international trade "regime."  An end to the "round" system, moving forward

Shameless self-promotion, yes.  Here is my recent podcast from the Fletcher School.  The subjects are Doha and migration.

Interesting new paper from Bagwell and Staiger: "What Do Trade Negotiators Negotiate About? Empirical Evidence from the World Trade Organization" Full Text: http://ssrn.com/abstract=948189 ABSTRACT: What do trade negotiators negotiate about? There are two distinct theoretical approaches in the economics literature that offer an answer

Chad Bown has an interesting piece in the Washington Post's "Think Tank Town".  Bown argues that KORUS is not about free trade, but about discrimination: "This discrimination is apparent when you examine how the free trade agreement proposes to grant Korean automotive and parts manufactures

Doug Irwin has a nice encomium to GATT in today's WSJ.  Here are the last few paragraphs: Over its 60-year history, the GATT has had many shortcomings. Agricultural trade has largely eluded liberalization. The current spread of preferential trade arrangements, in the form of bilateral and regional so-called

This article in the current issue of The World Economy looks interesting: How Do Differing Standards Increase Trade Costs? The Case of Pallets * Gaël Raballand 11The World Bank and * Enrique Aldaz-Carroll 11The World Bank * 1The World Bank Abstract The pallet is a platform used for storing, handling and transporting products.

Today's FT reports that the U.S.-Korea FTA may be held up because of unsatisfactory investment protection provisions: Against a backdrop of rising economic nationalism, the state audit board has called for the purchase [of Korea Exchange Bank by Lone Star, a U.S. company] to be

There is an interesting article by Alan Beattie in yesterday's FT.  Beattie first observes that dispute settlement is heating up in response to the continued failure to conclude Doha.  He then refers to Robert Lighthizers' complaints about the AB, which we have discussed before.  Then Beattie makes

For a wonderful tour d'horizon of the history of international economic law, albeit through the lens of the AJIL, see Detlev Vagts article at 100 AJIL 769 (October 2006).  Here is the conclusion: Looking back on the relationship between international economic law and the Journal, one wonders why