Trade in Everything

More trade in everything, via Greg Mankiw: The financial crisis has hit Eastern Europe particularly hard, leading to strong depreciation pressure on exchange rates. As a result, traditional non-tradable goods have suddenly become tradable. The Polish village of Osinow Dolny at the Polish-German border has approx. 200 inhabitants, 100 of

Seema Sapra's excellent "India in the WTO" blog points me to this Journal of World Trade article that makes for a good "trade in everything" post: Christina Stephenson, 'Reproductive Outsourcing to India: WTO Obligations in the Absence of US National Legislation' (2009)

I didn't want to put the word "condom" in the post title because of all the undesirable search traffic (and resulting spam comments) it might bring in, but apparently USAID will be buying cheaper, foreign condoms: At a time when the federal government is spending billions

Via Marginal Revolution, I have a belated St. Patrick's Day edition of trade in everything: The shamrock (three-leaf clover) is one of Ireland's most recognizable symbols. But demand for "Irish" shamrocks is now so great that the small island nation must import clover seeds

From Jonathan Dingel: The US nominal average ad valorem tariff rate for (12 Days of) Christmas this year, which I calculated using the handy Harmonized (Tariff) Christmas schedule, is only 1.9%. I assume that Santa has MFN status. Drums 4.8% Pipes 0% Milking machines 0% Swans 1.8%

From the Palm Beach Post: The American Owl — the Chinese name for Hooters — has capitalized on such trademarks of American culture to prosper in China.  Since opening the first American Owl in 2004, owner Jim Li has expanded the chain to five restaurants in three cities. "Hooters has a

From the WSJ law blog, it looks as though the impact of trade is becoming a little more personal for us lawyers: The WSJ reports today that outsourcing legal work to India continues to be a booming business. As the economy has soured, the business has only picked up, since

From the Economist: The Caricuao zoo in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, is a shadow of its former self. Its last giraffe, Napoleón, died 15 years ago. Ruperta, the last elephant, has been alone for over two years. Gone are the zebras, kangaroos and ostriches. Its director, Carlos Audrines, attributes the

From the Washington Post Magazine: This was the fourth year that the county had hired teachers from the Philippines, an increasingly popular source of manpower for U.S. school systems. In Prince George's, the Filipinos were scattered throughout the county, teaching pre-kindergarten through high school, and all topics,

From MSNBC: It was eerily quiet at Aaron Waugh’s fireworks stand in Princeton, W.Va. “Pretty slow, pretty slow,” he concluded. “More people need to come in.” The solitude at Rocket World, which opened last week, is being replicated at fireworks shops and seasonal stands across the country. Just