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NYT gets it wrong on WTO

“Some Comments on a NY Times Op‐​Ed on the WTO” By Simon Lester, courtesy of the Cato Institute   Yesterday, Farah Stockman of the NY Times editorial board published an op‐​ed on the World Trade Organization entitled “The W.T.O. Is Having a Midlife Crisis.” The WTO is only 25 years old, so I’m not sure “midlife crisis” […]

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The absurdity of “self-sufficiency”

By Haig Simonian, courtesy of Avenir Suisse   Healthcare, travel and education are just three of the areas being reassessed following the COVID-19 outbreak. Most momentous of all, however, is the worldwide rethink about globalization.   Come a global disruptor like the corona virus, and the elaborate supply chains developed by industry over recent years […]

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COVID-19 triggered “cascading structural failures”

  By Martin Gurri, courtesy of the Mercatus Center   Like most people I know, I am presently trapped in social isolation, stuck in a dreamlike parenthesis between what was once normal life and the uncertain struggles lurking on the other side. We are huddled, most of us—the fortunate ones—in our hiding places, waiting. That […]

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Coronavirus, Butter and Oil: As We Brace for Pandemic, We Also Need to Inoculate Ourselves Against Group-Think

  Daniel McGroarty, TES GeoPolicy Editor   As the world wakes each morning to new numbers mapping the Coronavirus’ spread, along comes a piece by Andrew Butter provocatively titled, “What China Knows About the Coronavirus that Oil Traders Don’t Know.”  Read it in full at SeekingAlpha.   Butter watches global oil markets, and he’s noticed […]

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What coronavirus tells us about globalization (and vice versa)

  “The unintended consequences of coronavirus.” By Sergio Beraldo, courtesy of IREF   A new type of virus is holding the world in suspense by evoking images of the worst Hollywoodian nightmares. It is known that it spread out of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, China, and then quickly propagated throughout mainland China, at […]

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“EU must make every effort to keep Britain in the single market”

  Statement Brexit: “EU must make every effort to keep Britain in the single market” Courtesy of IfW Kiel   Kiel Institute President Gabriel Felbermayr considers the timetable for a free trade agreement between the EU and Great Britain to be unrealistic. In the event of a no-deal, he said, the EU would have much […]

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Post-Brexit, Imperiled Transatlantic Relationship More Important Than Ever

  By Dr. Alexander Görlach, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs   The UK’s impending departure from the European Union on January 31 creates at least one certainty.  Following the Tories’ resounding victory in the December parliamentary elections, any further talk of a second referendum is empty rhetoric; the idea was rejected […]

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No, the WTO isn’t dead, but it is on life support – and it could die this year

  “Will the WTO Survive 2020?” By Daniel Gros, courtesy of CEPS   The World Trade Organisation (WTO) did not die on December 11, 2019, but an important part is now missing: disputes among WTO member states can no longer be settled by an independent instance recognised by all parties. This was the function of […]

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The WTO is dead – should we revive it?

  “The WTO is dead: long live the WTO?” By Maria Demertzis, courtesy of the Bruegel Institute   The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is pivotal in enabling and protecting trade between countries. The recent US failure to appoint a judge at the WTO’s appellate court has meant that it will no longer be able to […]