Now or Never For an Asian FTA
C. Fred Bergsten (FEER) Mar 2007
Asia must act to make free trade a reality in the region.
Can Asia Avert a Globalization Crisis?
Valérie Engammare and Jean-Pierre Lehman (FEER) Mar 2007
Asian leadership is essential if globalization is to have any chance of survival.
Better Shape Up: Basel II Signals Change for Asia’s Banks
Philip D. Sherman and Corinne Neale (FEER) Mar 2007
Changes that Basel II will bring to Asia’s banks.
Mud in Mozambique
Colin Murphy (La Monde Diplomatique) Mar 2007
Mozambique ranks 168 out of 177 countries in the United Nations development index, with 54% of its people below the poverty line. Yet the statistics are improving - the economy has a steady annual 8% growth rate and there are megaprojects coming on line.
Money Mess
Anil K. Kashyap (WSJ) Mar 1, 2007
Japan's central bank is adrift.
Who Should Foot the Bill on Climate Change?
Scott Barrett (YaleGlobal) Mar 2, 2007
Debate heats up over whether developing or developed nations should bear the costs
Envoys meet to get trade talks going
IHT Mar 5, 2007
Ministers from world trade powers tried Sunday to advance stalled talks for a delayed deal to increase global commerce and ease poverty.
GOP Protectionists
Jack Kemp (WSJ) Mar 6, 2007
Isolationism isn't worthy of 21st century America.
Envoys meet to get trade talks going
IHT Mar 6, 2007
Ministers from world trade powers tried Sunday to advance stalled talks for a delayed deal to increase global commerce and ease poverty.
Managing Globalization: How fast China grows will affect everyone
Daniel Altman (IHT) Mar 7, 2007
Just how fast will the Chinese economy grow in the next 10, 20 or even 30 years? It is a topic of great disagreement even among experts, and not just because of the Chinese government's not-always-reliable statistics. It's also a crucial issue for all the other countries in the world, as the outcome will determine how much time they have to adapt to the stresses of Chinese purchasing and productive power.
High-level Talks Yield No Breakthrough on Doha
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 11, Number 8 Mar 7, 2007
The four major players in the Doha round -- the US, EU, India and Brazil -- met bilaterally, as well as with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, during 3-5 March in London and Geneva. This was the first gathering of the G-4 at the ministerial level since talks officially resumed a month ago and part of an effort to charter in a breakthrough by means of 'quiet diplomacy' among the key players.
Review of EU Trade Policy Reveals "Substantial" Barriers to Ag Imports Remain
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 11, Number 8 Mar 7, 2007
A report prepared for the WTO's biannual review of EU trade policy, held on 26 and 28 February, has identified 'substantial' barriers to imports of agricultural goods. Tariffs for some products have even risen since the last review in 2004, despite pressure on the EU to reduce tariff barriers as part of the Doha round of trade negotiations. During the meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body, Members further complained that the EU maintains an unwieldy number of regional trade agreements and trade preferences.
Meanwhile: Where did all that money go?
Viken Berberian (IHT) Mar 8, 2007
Working for a hedge fund and being surrounded with so much money, I never felt so poor.
Al Gore's Outsourcing Solution
Gregg Easterbrook (NYT) Mar 9, 2007
If our goal in legislating against carbon releases is about truly trying to reduce the accumulation of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, the main event will be in the developing world.
China to invest its foreign currency reserves
IHT Mar 9, 2007
A new agency would control the investment of up to $1 trillion in foreign currency reserves.
Get with it, Europe
IHT Mar 9, 2007
A significant number of European states are about to be left stranded by globalization.
Kim the Counterfeiter
Ed Royve (WSJ) Mar 10, 2007
How North Korea is undermining the dollar.
Protectionists Never Learn
Russell Roberts (WSJ) Mar 12, 2007
Why isn't Japan just as scary as China?
Bush sees bright side of Central American Trade Agreement
IHT Mar 12, 2007
But Guatemala's young workers, most of them poor indigenous people, say they often feel that nobody cares about them.
Quote of the Year
WSJ Mar 13, 2007
The "business model" that tariffs created.
Courting Trade
WSJ Mar 13, 2007
China wins big by losing.
Companies in Europe adapting to strong euro
IHT Mar 14, 2007
Driven by the need to cut costs and diversify globally, many European corporations have been turning the euro into what raw material prices have long been a manageable risk.
Farm Aid
WP Mar 16, 2007
An opportunity to reform subsidies and boost trade.
China isn't looking to replace U.S., prime minister says
IHT Mar 16, 2007
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China said Friday that his country was still struggling to overcome major obstacles to its internal development and would not seek to disrupt the world order dominated by the United States.
Trade and the Home Front
NYT Mar 17, 2007
It's time for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to use his powers of persuasion to solve the domestic side of the trade problem.
Venezuela plays numbers game with its currency
IHT Mar 18, 2007
Chávez bid to curb Venezuelan inflation baffles economists.
Protecting Wages in a Global Economy
NYT Mar 18, 2007
Traditional unemployment insurance must be improved before wage insurance - now a pilot program for a small subset of workers, age 50 and older, who lose their jobs to trade competition - is expanded.
IMF chief economist Simon Johnson
IMF Survey Mar 19, 2007
Plus: IEO report, Sub-Saharan Africa, Tom Bernes, Joanne Salop, exchange rate analysis, CGER, Jonathan Ostry, Belize, Malan report, IMF-World Bank cooperation, Bruegel, IMF goverance, Colin Bradford, global imbalances.
G-33 Ministers Call On Developed Countries To Take First Step To Break Doha Deadlock
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 11, Number 10 Mar 21, 2007
Members of the G-33 bloc of developing countries called on industrialised nations to take the lead in breaking the deadlock in the Doha Round trade negotiations by offering greater cuts to their farm subsidies, during a summit in Jakarta on 20-21 March.
WTO High-Level Meeting On Cotton Exceeds Low Expectations
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 11, Number 10 Mar 21, 2007
Participants at a 15-16 March WTO conference on cotton indicated that the meeting had been constructive and that a positive atmosphere had prevailed. However, they also emphasised that many of the cotton-producing countries had low expectations for the 'high-level session', and had not anticipated that it would produce any significant new developments on the crucial issue of US subsidies.
Trade Facilitation Negotiations Slowed By Lack Of Progress On Ag, NAMA
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 11, Number 10 Mar 21, 2007
Even the Doha Round negotiations on reducing red tape and other obstacles to the movement and transit of goods are being affected by the lack of progress in the agriculture and industrial goods talks.
EU trade chief urges top-level meeting next month
IHT Mar 22, 2007
The chief European Union trade negotiator said Thursday that he wanted to meet his counterparts from the United States, Brazil and India early next month to step up the pace of negotiations for a long-delayed global trade deal.
For a Europe remade, a celebration in uncertainty
IHT Mar 23, 2007
An appraisal of the EU, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of its founding treaty this weekend.
World Bank Job
WSJ Mar 23, 2007
A victory in the fight over fighting corruption.
Why "Fair Trade" Could Backfire for the US
David Dapice (YaleGlobal) Mar 26, 2007
Rather than erect trade barriers, the US must tackle its own bad habits.
Citigroup to focus on global operations
IHT Mar 27, 2007
Under pressure from shareholders, Citigroup is planning to shed thousands of jobs and sharpen its focus on operations outside North America.
Washington Harvest
WSJ Mar 27, 2007
You too can earn $2.5 million and still get farm subsidies.
Malaysia's Little Big Bang
WSJ Mar 28, 2007
Three cheers for financial market liberalization.
Capital Warfare
Heidi Crebo-Rediker & Douglas Rediker (WSJ) Mar 28, 2007
The U.S., China's new investment fund, and global influence.
Break Seen in Logjam Over Trade
NYT Mar 28, 2007
Democrats in the House proposed a series of revisions that won guarded praise from both organized labor and the Bush administration.
Ag Chair Plans New Paper To Spur Discussions, But Is Worried Negotiators Are Losing Hope
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 11, Number 11 Mar 28, 2007
The chair of the troubled WTO negotiations on agriculture told delegates on 23 March that he hopes to present them with a new paper in mid-April that could serve as a focus for future discussions. Ambassador Crawford Falconer (New Zealand) has also acknowledged that there was a risk that Members might simply give up on the talks.
US Democrats Unveil Trade Policy, Days Before Key Deadline
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 11, Number 11 Mar 28, 2007
Congressional Democratic leaders on 27 March unveiled a set of policy principles that they want incorporated into several pending free trade agreements (FTAs), as well as the country's broader trade agenda.
US Proposal Calls For Major Cuts To Commercial Fishing Subsidies
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 11, Number 11 Mar 28, 2007
The US on 21 March launched a far-reaching proposal to modify international trade rules to prohibit most government subsidies to commercial fishing, in an effort to halt the depletion of marine life globally.
Slouching Dollar, Hidden Inflation
David Ranson (WSJ) Mar 29, 2007
China's currency link is good. But it's also meant importing rising prices.
U.S. announces tariffs on Chinese paper products
IHT/NYT Mar 30, 2007
The administration of George W. Bush, escalating its trade dispute with China, confirmed Friday that it would impose potentially steep tariffs on Chinese manufactured goods, with a move to protect American paper producers from unfair Chinese government subsidies.
Rangel's Hour
WSJ Mar 31, 2007
Who runs trade policy for Democrats in Congress, Charlie Rangel or the AFL-CIO?