http://www.ecipe.org Welcome to Trade Matters - ECIPE's institute blog. Here you can find opinions and commentary by ECIPE scholars. You are encouraged to join the discussion by posting a comment or sending feedback to the author. All blog posts are made in a personal capacity and only represent the views of the author. daily 1 2009-02-20T10:16:18Z http://www.ecipe.org/blog/exports-its-a-whole-new-world By chance the IHT at the weekend (Feb. 20/21) had an article under this title. Quite a surprise that they actually publish an article in the area of trade which is generally not considered to be of consumer interest. No publisher roderick 2010-03-11T14:58:46Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/world-trade-creeps-up-the-agenda-after-a-year-adrift This is a headline in today’s Int.Herald Tribune and with a Washington byline, so probably in the NYTimes also. Verily, miracles will not cease. Not only a headline in a US newspaper on trade, but on page 1. No publisher roderick 2010-03-11T14:01:19Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/a-response-to-a-gazprom-response Gazprom responded to an article I placed in the European Energy Review. The article calls Brussels for antitrust cases in Central and Eastern Europe as a means to address energy supply security problems and to discipline Gazprom’s behaviour so that it avoid shutting the gas taps again in future. That an article by a modest analyst receives such an honour shows that the matter the article raised goes to the heart of a very important issue. No publisher iana 2010-03-02T17:01:42Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/increasing-prosperity-through-services-trade-putting-things-right In his article “An order of prosperity, to go” (Feb. 18, IHT), Michael Cox, who is director of the Center for Global Markets and Freedom at the Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business, rightly points out that increasing services exports are crucial for the future development of the US economy and that services should therefore not be overlooked. No publisher erik 2010-03-01T09:55:32Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/eu-eastern-partnership-can-it-ever-be-effective The EU should simplify its approach to its "Eastern partners" by adopting more low-key, targeted, unilateral policies to open its markets. Simple, practical, generous but targeted solutions for political realities of today should be the approach. Brussels should be bold in offering a solid FTA to Ukraine NOW. Cumbersome Association Agreements, a relic of the glorious past of EU Enlargement, should be sent to the dustbin of history. No publisher iana 2010-02-26T19:56:05Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/eu-2020-strategy Long time, no see. The Brussels campaign for a competitiveness agenda for the European Union is yet again revving up – this time for the so-called EU 2020 strategy. The economic crisis, some say, forced governments to deprioritise long-term issues such as competitiveness, but with the recovery looming they can now afford to look at conditions for long-term economic growth. That is to put it gently. The Lisbon agenda, the predecessor to the EU 2020 strategy, was a confused strategy with conflicting ambitions that silently left the centre of EU politics long before the crisis started. It existed as an agenda item – and its importance was praised by everyone. But it was honoured in the breach rather than observance. It was, to use Alastair Campbell’s memorable phrase about a Tory leader, forgotten but not gone. No publisher fredrik 2010-02-18T11:42:40Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/google-vs-chinese-censorship-what-are-the-trade-options-for-the-us-government Following the much-anticipated speech by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's on Internet freedoms last week, there is intense pressure on the US government to launch a case at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against China over its Internet censorship. The attention from media, free speech groups and governments has been overwhelming — and many point towards to a showdown in the WTO. No publisher hosuk 2010-01-26T15:51:29Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/international-trade-and-emerging-protectionism-since-the-crisis A stocktake of trade policy in 2009 -- Two thousand and nine was a crisis year for international trade, which suffered its steepest decline since the 1930s. Protectionism returned, reversing an almost three-decade trend of trade liberalisation. But, contrary to expectations, it has not returned with a vengeance, rather creeping to the surface in subtle ways. Time, therefore, to take stock of trade policy after the crisis, and consider its outlook at the beginning of this century’s second decade. No publisher razeen 2010-01-26T11:55:17Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/why-i-have-never-been-in-love-with-president-obama The American love affair with Barack Obama ended in Massachusetts with the shock upset victory of a Republican to take Edward Kennedy’s old seat in the US Senate. The global love affair with President Obama is not over, though it has lost its lustre. Cerebral commentators – including some whose judgement I used to trust – are still lovestruck, having suspended their critical faculties since the 2008 election campaign. I have never been in love with Mr. Obama, and can only say “Thank you, Massachusetts.” No publisher razeen 2010-01-26T11:43:06Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/what-the-eu-south-korea-free-trade-agreement-reveals-about-the-state-of-eu-trade-policy edited on 13/01/10 The EU South Korea agreement is the most ambitious bilateral trade agreement the EU has agreed to sign up to. But it is likely to be an exception, given that current EU trade policy is rather in dire straits. No publisher iana 2010-01-13T10:24:40Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/all-set-for-the-next-gas-crisis-in-the-eu Despite supply security initiatives launched after the last gas crisis in January, there are many reasons to remain worried about a new gas crisis. Gazprom has not suddenly mutated into just a normal market player, and the EU’s gas market is as weakly structured as ever. No publisher iana 2009-12-17T10:44:46Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/harold-james-on-financial-deglobalisation Review of Harold James, The Creation and Destruction of Value, Harvard University Press, 2009 In October ECIPE hosted a book forum for the Princeton historian, Harold James. These are my comments on his new book, The Creation and Destruction of Value. No publisher razeen 2009-12-11T12:24:58Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/transparency-and-human-rights-the-wtos-threat-to-sovereign-bad-governance Strengthening the WTO’ Trade Policy Review Mechanisms is not an easy task. Governments happen not to like transparency in trade politics, and even less international scrutiny. Three little quotations show that vividly. No publisher valentin 2009-12-11T11:02:53Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/light-on-a-dark-art On shoes, the sun and stupidities. No publisher fredrik 2009-12-06T22:45:02Z Blog Entry http://www.ecipe.org/blog/the-eus-view-of-china A little while ago I gave a talk in Hong Kong on the EU’s view of China. This is what I had to say. The EU views China with a combination of awe, ignorance, fear, confusion and ambition. It is awed by China’s rise. It is largely ignorant of China. Real knowledge of China, and Asia more generally, is pathetic in Brussels, as it is in all European capitals with the partial exception of London. European sophisticates constantly disparage American insularity, but knowledge of Asia is far superior inside the Beltway, and in think tanks and universities in the United States, than it is anywhere in Europe. Ignorance mixed with arrogance is not an American preserve; it is found in abundance on the Old Continent, as any visit to a Parisian intellectual salon will reveal. No publisher razeen 2009-12-06T17:00:25Z Blog Entry