Trachtman

Today's NYT reports a settlement of the U.S.-Canada lumber dispute.  To say that this dispute has generated a lot of litigation is an understatement.   And I suppose that the fact that the parties were willing to pay for all this litigation suggests that it had an

It seems that the vultures are beginning to circle Doha.  Given increasing economic arguments that the potential surpluses of a Doha deal (a lot depends on what that deal eventually is!) are not so large, and that only a small portion would be captured by the poor countries, I can&

There are two things going on at the IMF. First, the IMF is turning its focus to global trade imbalances.  This suggests a return to the original Bretton Woods vision of coordinated trade and monetary policy.  See the Paul Bluestein story in the Washington Post.  I wonder how the IMF&

SSRN includes a post of a new paper by Daniel Rodriquez and Barry Weingast.  The abstract and reference are below.  The idea is that interest group strategies to expand the scope of regulatory statutes through adjudicative action have backfired:  they have made it difficult for legislators to agree on new

Sunday's New York Times has a piece by Eduardo Porter commenting on the literature evaluating the effects of immigrants on the wages of low-wage workers in the U.S.  See the excerpts on the Washington Monthly blog. As usual, there are several ways to view the situation of

This from the Wall St. Journal President Bush nominated Trade Representative Rob Portman as the White House budget director, turning to a Washington insider and longtime friend as part of an effort to re-energize the administration and boost the president's record-low approval ratings. Mr. Bush also selected Susan

From John Jackson, via the ASIL IELG listserve: I am writing to inform you that the Institute of International Economic Law (IIEL) at Georgetown Law has launched a new, non-degree course on WTO law and policy, to be offered as a week-long Academy beginning in Fall 2006.  The dates for

Preliminary conclusions of the Panel in the EC – Biotech Products dispute Much Ado About Little? Peter Van den Bossche Last February I have been amazed, and occasionally horrified, by the media and civil society reactions on the EC – Biotech Products dispute currently pending before a WTO dispute settlement panel in

I had a nice 5-hour drive from Boston to Cornell (Ithaca New York) Friday morning, and returned today. On the way, I listened to a "book on tape," which was a nice way to pass the time. I attended two conferences.  The first was organized by the very

Inside U.S. Trade reports that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) today (April 3) called on the Bush Administration to acknowledge that the ongoing Doha round of trade negotiations is completely stalled over European intransigence, and refocus its energies on completing negotiations for free trade agreements