The Economist reports that two libertarian groups are looking to develop libertarian cities in Honduras: ... In addition to a big special development region, the Honduran government intends to approve two smaller zones. And two libertarian-leaning start-ups have already signed a preliminary memorandum of understanding with the Honduran government to develop

From Reuters: Europe secured an historic agreement to draft a new treaty for deeper economic integration in the euro zone on Friday ... Twenty-six of the 27 EU leaders agreed to pursue a tougher budget discipline regime with automatic sanctions for deficit sinners in the single currency area ... "This is

From USTR: Today, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced that the United States is requesting that the European Union (EU) enter into consultations regarding the notification it made on December 1, 2011, claiming to have fully complied with the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling that subsidization of Airbus aircraft

The RDC v. Guatemala ICSID hearing can be viewed online here for the next couple days. Luke Peterson explains the facts: In 1997 RDC won a tender to operate Guatemala’s newly-privatized national railway. A concession agreement concluded with RDC’s local affiliate, Ferrovias Guatemala (FVG),  required FVG to rehabilitate

Here's an excerpt from an article by economist Mark Perry, arguing that Chinese currency manipulation is good for Americans: 1. China's currency manipulation is a form of foreign aid, and to the direct advantage of millions of U.S. consumers, especially low-income groups, and to the

The last two posts deal with the issue of China's non-market economy status under WTO rules.  I've been reluctant to weigh in on this, as there is a lot I don't know about the issue.  So, instead of taking a position, let me ask

I've been asked by a colleague to comment on this post by Bernard O’Connor at VoxEU. In the post, he claims that the view that China will automatically get market economy status (MES) after 2016 is "an urban myth that seems to have gone global. It

Over at vox, trade lawyer Bernard O'Connor argues that the end of China's NME status might be further off than many people think: There is nothing in the WTO rules, or elsewhere, to provide that China automatically gets market-economy status in 2016. The idea that it