The international wine market was a favorite subject for classical economists in the 18th and 19th centuries to help explain the benefits of free trade. Adam Smith advocated free trade in his opus, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. He wrote against the backdrop of mercantilism, which urged countries to export products to accumulate gold and import as little as possible so that they could husband their yellow metal.
(GENEVA) — The World Trade Organization ruled Monday that China unfairly limited exports of nine raw materials to protect domestic manufacturers. A WTO appeals body rejected China’s appeal of an earlier ruling in July that concluded the Asian economic powerhouse had violated international trade rules. The appeals body largely sided with the United States, European [...]
Twitter’s announcement that it could begin censoring tweets on a country-by-country basis drew criticism from free-speech activists. Other observers were less concerned, attributing the move to the realities of operating in a global environment. Then, on Monday, Twitter’s new policy received praise from a Chinese state-run newspaper. With friends like these…
In a recent special issue of TIME, I argued that India would eventually overtake China as the world’s premier emerging market. It’s a prediction that often produces snickers. How, skeptics ask, can India’s fractious democracy and inept governance overcome the clinical efficiency of China’s tight-fisted state? But I have always stood by that conviction.
Why are the markets so schizophrenic? Bond spreads are rising, signaling rich country solvency fears. Yet stocks are up (except when political ineptitude like the failure of the super committee to reach a debt deal knocks them temporarily down). The mixed signals aren’t as strange as you might think — they reflect the large and [...]
I wish there were a class called China 101 that every member of Congress had to attend. This would be the first lesson: if you really want the Chinese to do something, never pressure them about it in public. Loss of face is anathema in the Middle Kingdom. Which is why when the U.S. Senate passed a bill hinting [...]
There’s been a lot of talk this week in China about whether it should swoop in to save the eurozone. Loading up on Italian debt is one possibility, which could keep Europe’s overall bailout tab in check and boost market confidence. Another idea is to create an EU-China bond. Unlike an EU-only bond (a concept [...]
There’s a lot of finger wagging going on in the world about America’s profligate ways. And a lot of comparisons between the budget troubles of the U.S. and the horrors facing Greece. The West, the story goes, stupidly spent beyond its means while emerging markets wisely saved their pennies for rainy days like these. But [...]
The U.S. trade deficit climbed 6% in March, according to numbers out from the Commerce Department. But the widening trade gap, the highest since June 2010, may not be as worrisome as it seems. Much of the jump has to do with the recent uptick in oil prices, which makes the U.S. bill for oil [...]
Over the next two weeks, Cancun will be in the spotlight for something other than spring break madness. As host of the annual climate summit that once saw such promise in Kyoto in 1997, Cancun in 2010 is framed by the spectacular failure of last year’s Copenhagen talks and by the stark realization that nearly [...]
