As longtime VC readers know, one of my pet peeves is denouncing the harmful effects of widespread political ignorance and irrationality. As a general rule, the things voters don’t know often hurt them. On rare occasions, however, political ignorance can actually be beneficial. The issue of free trade and protectionism is one such example. In […]
Archive | Trade
Is Fair-Trade Coffee All that Fair?
Purchasing certified fair-trade, organic coffee helps improve the living conditions of coffee farmers in developing nations, right? Not necessarily. As Lawrence Solomon reports, a new study published in Ecological Economics found that over a ten-year period certified organic and organic fair-trade producers became poorer relative to conventional producers. Solomon comments: The fair-trade business is filled […]
The Compact Clause vs. the Multistate Tobacco Cartel
Over at Balkinization, guest blogger Michael Greve offers an excellent post explaining the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s pending cert. petition in a case challenging the tobacco cartel. In short, the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement for the lawsuits initiated by some state Attorneys General against the largest tobacco companies is a violation of the Compacts Clause. Article […]
Labor Versus Clean Energy
Today the United Steelworkers filed a complaint alleging that China is unfairly (and illegally) subsidizing clean energy exports, such as wind turbines and solar panels. China has become one of the world’s largest producers of such technologies, but the Steelworkers allege it has gained market share through unfair trade practices. The Obama Administration has 45 […]
Robert Fisk: Countries Holding Secret Meetings To Replace the Dollar
In the (UK) Independent, Robert Fisk, who has wide contacts in the Middle East, reports on “secret meetings . . . by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on” an Arab scheme that “will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.” In the most […]