Posts tagged…Protection
An empty G20 communique
Mon, Mar 16 2009Writer Chris Giles in the Financial Times explains the five tests of 'relevance and importance' for Ministerial Communiqués. On his reckoning (I agree) the G20 Finance Ministers failed all of them.
"[T]he final statement crafted by the ministers was an attempt to suggest a comprehensive action plan was working. It lacked credibility and that will not help. Worse, the lack of substance threatens to…
Read more…Protection by another name
Thu, Mar 12 2009Christopher Caldwell on the seductions of 'bailout' protectionism
"Protection generally means paying more money for lousier products. As such, it is a kind of tax. If there is a chance that less free trade will make the world economy less volatile or put a few million people back to work, then it is a tax that Americans are increasingly willing to pay." FT.com
Would web surveillance of protection work?
Tue, Mar 10 2009
In our paper for the Evenett and Baldwin book on 'murky protectionism', Andrew Stoler and I outline a surveillance mechanism for the G20 that we think will dissuade governments from making regulations that would harm world trade (further, see the graph at left.)
The mechanism we propose has not been used previously to expose protectionism but it is certainly in use in other contexts to bring…
Can the G20 halt ‘murky’ protectionism?
Sun, Mar 08 2009
What should the G20 do, when they meet in London next month, to put an end to the growing use of what I've been calling 'wiggle-room' protection? Is 'murky' protectionism causing the coming collapse in trade volumes? Or will protectionism rise as a result? Supposing that they wanted to, could the G20 really crack-down on actions that close markets or discriminate against imports but are not…
Slip-sliding summitry
Mon, Mar 02 2009If regional summits over the past day or so are any guide, the prospects of an effective commitment from the G20, next month, prohibiting protection are weak. At the ASEAN summit in Thailand this week:
"…Asean leaders made a stand against protectionism, [but] defended their own buy-local campaigns, saying those conform with trade rules, and are similar to the ”Buy American” clause in the $787bn…
Signs good and bad
Thu, Feb 26 2009China's Commerce Minister publishes and Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal that promises China will abide by the G20 (Washington, November 2008) undertaking on protectionism and continue to promote import consumption.
Next round of trade protection (Part II)
Sun, Feb 22 2009In this earlier post, I looked at three of the 'old standbys' that are likely to provide governments with all the 'wiggle-room' they need to increase protection while remaining nominally compliant with their WTO obligations.
This time, two more oldies but goodies that are still more likely, in my view, to figure in the coming round of trade protection. These two threaten high levels of…
The next round of trade protection
Thu, Feb 19 2009
Will there be one? You bet! The only questions are: how soon and how big?
With employment numbers in both industrialized and industrializing countries falling, world markets seizing up as a consequence of the credit squeeze, icons of globalization like Dubai bleeding debt (and emigrants) and governments rushing out 'stimulus' packages to prop up domestic demand, the scene is set for some…
Why don’t they say what they mean?
Sun, Feb 15 2009It's often open to question whether the G7—represented by their Finance Ministers in this case—mean what they say when it comes to trade policies. But it's a real puzzle that, despite the general skepticism of which they must be aware, they continue to think that they can get away with this by never saying what they mean.
"An open system of global trade and investment is indispensable for global…
A G-20 protection standstill
Wed, Feb 04 2009When they meet in April in London, the Group of Twenty largest economies will face evidence of a big fall in global production, tumbling world trade volumes and rising unemployment around the world. No-doubt they will be asked to make a more solid pledge on protectionism than they adopted when they last met in Washington last November.
"We underscore the critical importance of rejecting…
World trade: it’s not the 1930s
Mon, Feb 02 2009Some initial reactions of governments to the prospect of a dramatic downturn in world trade and production uncannily echo events of eighty years ago. Think of the 'no-new-protection' pledge at the November meeting of the 'G-20' group of governments in Washington. There was a similar event in 1929:
"In September 1929, the League of Nations recommended that member countries agree to a "tariff…
Professors prosecute protectionism
Sat, Dec 06 2008Two of the best academic analysts of the global trade system, Simon Evenett and Richard Baldwin, have rushed out an 'e-book' entitled "What world leaders must do to halt the spread of protectionism", containing brief prescriptions by sixteen professors and an industrialist. A powerful line-up. "Free" (as in beer). Deserves your attention and reflection.