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&

On April 18, 2006, the Appellate Body (AB) released its decision on the U.S. "zeroing" dispute which the EU initiated. (UNITED STATES – LAWS, REGULATIONS AND METHODOLOGY FOR CALCULATING DUMPING MARGINS ("ZEROING"), WT/DS294/AB/R) http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/294abr_

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

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

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

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

Having failed to promote the de-judicializing ideas included in its 2003 proposal on DSU review (jointly with Chile), calling for increased Member "review", "control" and "guidance" to/of the dispute settlement process, the US has recently introduced some new ideas to DSU review