By Daniel Ikenson
Not to get him in trouble with his boss, but U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk has been sounding like a free trader lately. I’m beginning to think Ambassador Kirk consumes the analyses we produce over here at the Cato Institute’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies. Well, let me rephrase: that he consumes [...]
Is the U.S. Trade Representative a Closet Free Trader? is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Daniel Ikenson
When China joined the WTO in December 2001, one of the many terms it agreed to was to allow the United States to continue to treat it as a “non-market economy“ under U.S. antidumping law for a period of 15 years. China has regretted that concession ever since, and there are precious few gestures that [...]
President Obama Could Improve Relations with China at the Stroke of His Pen is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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So you think you’re free? Thanks to big government spending and exploding debt, the United States — and indeed the world — is less economically free today than it was a year ago, according to the 18th annual Index of Economic Freedom, released yesterday by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. Economic freedom — the ability of individuals to control the fruits of their labor and pursue their dreams — is central to prosperity around the world. Heritage and The Wall Street Journal measure economic freedom by studying its pillars: the … More
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In this week’s Heritage in Focus, Heritage’s Kim Holmes, co-author of the annual Index of Economic Freedom, discusses this year’s index. Click here to listen.
How does the U.S. rank in economic freedom this year? How does economic fre…
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President Obama concluded 2011 by accomplishing the remarkable feat of making the United States look worse than Communist China when it comes to promoting global economic freedom. On December 29, the Obama Administration announced that sleeping bags from developing countries will now be subject to a 9 percent tariff. President Obama’s decision to hike tariffs on sleeping bags from developing countries came just one month after Hu Jintao, president of the People’s Republic of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, announced the elimination of tariffs on … More
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By Daniel Ikenson
Earlier this year, the Cato Institute published this paper, which describes the self-flagellating nature of the U.S. antidumping law. Nearly 80 percent of all U.S. antidumping measures imposed between 2000 and 2009 (130 of 164 measures) restrict imports of intermediate goods—inputs required by U.S. producers for their own production processes. Antidumping duties on magnesium, polyvinyl [...]
Solar Panel Case Shines Light on the Imperative of U.S. Trade Law Reform is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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By Daniel J. Mitchell
I’ve written several times about the foolish War on Drugs, which has been about as misguided and ineffective as the government’s War on Poverty. So when I saw a news report about a couple of Swedes getting busted for smuggling 200-plus kilos of contraband into Norway, and then another story about a Russian getting caught [...]
Big Government Causes Crime, the Norwegian Version is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
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President Obama recently lectured Americans on economics during a campaign stop in Osawatomie, Kansas. The New York Times congratulated President Obama’s speech as a potent blow against market economics. Cal-Berkeley professor Robert Reich called it the most important speech of his presidency. The Kansas City Star gushed over his good policy and good politics. In reality, President Obama disastrously misdiagnosed the source of U.S. economic problems: Over the last few decades, huge advances in technology have allowed businesses to do more with less, and it’s made it easier for them … More
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Former Governor Jon Huntsman (R–UT) was at The Heritage Foundation this week answering policy questions. In his talk, he emphasized budget discipline, tax reform, and education. He also made a powerful argument for free trade, stressing that we have vastly underused our international options in helping address economic challenges. There are many such options. One of them is to promote free trade with our friendliest and most important partners. The U.S. currently has three contrasting approaches to trade. The first is protectionism, which advocates government interference to take choices away … More
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Taxpayers will likely shell out another $14.3 million in federal aid to the 1,100 people formerly employed by defunct solar company Solyndra. The Labor Department announced Monday that it had approved Trade Adjustment Assistance payments for those former employees, which may pay out about $13,000 for each. TAA is designed to compensate American workers laid off as a direct result of foreign competition, and to train them for other occupations – though the program has shown few signs of success. The Labor Department’s move is a tacit assertion that Solyndra’s … More
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