Archives

• By: Fran Smith
• 05/09/2007

The United Nations has just published a report that sets out some of the challenges and implications of the widespread production of biofuels. And…

• By: Fran Smith
• 05/02/2007

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office just posted quotes from major corporations and business groups voicing strong support for the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. The…

• By: Fran Smith
• 05/02/2007

In a paper circulated on April 30, 2007, the chair of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) agriculture negotiations set out his ideas on how…

• By: Fran Smith
• 05/01/2007

“Stop sugar subsidies” read the editorial in the Los Angeles Times yesterday. Right on. What’s encouraging is that the editorial writer dug a little…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/27/2007

Yesterday, the Cato Institute hosted a forum on the proposals for a new farm bill detailed in its new monograph, “Freeing the Farm:…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/18/2007

Last weekend, as the Nor’easter pelted the area, we curled up in front of a fire and watched Blade Runner — Director’s Cut. Hadn’t…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/17/2007

In a letter released on April 16, 58 U.S. senators warned the Bush Administration not to budge on offers in the World Trade Organization’s…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/16/2007

Sallie Mae, the student loan marketing giant, will be sold to a group of investors, according to Reuters and other news sources. Currently…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/16/2007

A Washington Post editorial this morning focused on the “The Duke Debacle” and pointed to the failures of the prosecutors, the Duke faculty and…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/16/2007

Late yesterday, CEI and eight other nonprofit organizations filed comments with the U.S. Trade Representative on why the least developed countries in the world…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/12/2007

Our libertarian friends at Reason’s Hit and Run blog have posted a wonderful cartoon celebrating — of all things — capitalism! The…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/12/2007

Full Document Available in…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/10/2007

With the recent signing of the U.S.- Korea Free Trade Agreement, protectionists in both countries are stepping up opposition.  In Korea there…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/05/2007

It’s now at the newstand nearest you — the May 2007 “Green Issue” of Vanity Fair — featuring CEI’s own Myron Ebell in an…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/04/2007

I’ve posted before on interesting snippets of trade data the Progressive Policy Institute publishes. This week’s PPI topic heralds the Opening Day of…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/21/2007

Iain’s recent post on the Exchequer taking over dormant accounts in the UK deserves a U.S. perspective as well.  Under…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/07/2007

An article in the Wall Street Journal today (p. B6, subscription required) focuses on the sharp spike in Midwest farmland prices resulting from the ethanol…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/05/2007

So goes a chart heading in an article on oil production in today’s New York Times. The article points out that new technology, fueled…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/05/2007

A Sunday New York Times editorial, “The must-do list,” reviews the attacks on civil liberties in U.S. policies since 9/11. Worth a read, especially…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/27/2007

Well, the food-or-fuel debate has now been recognized by the mainstream media, previously salivating over the wonderful tax benefits and subsidies for corn…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/27/2007

John Tierney does it again.  In Tierney’s profile today of Stewart Brand — a staunch environmentalist and the man who gave us the…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/23/2007

In the Wall Street Journal today (subscription required), Dorothy Rabinowitz takes a probing look at a recent “Law and Order” episode that transforms…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/22/2007

First we had anti-globalization activists calling for “fair trade.” Now it seems not just trade is the problem but capitalism itself. Harold Meyerson in…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/16/2007

I couldn’t resist this article in the Washington Times today — “Chinese ant scammer gets death.” Seems a Chinese entrepreneur was selling ant kits…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/15/2007

It’s been called the Brazilian “miracle” — and Brazil’s ethanol program has been touted as a model for the U.S. and other countries to follow.

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/15/2007

Inserting more stringent labor provisions into U.S. free trade agreements was a major focus at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing yesterday. Chairman…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/14/2007

Each year the U.S. Department of Agriculture releases 10-year commodity projections to provide figures for the budget and to estimate the cost of farm programs.

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/06/2007

  For those who don’t think trade is in trouble and is being used as the big stick to solve all global problems, the World…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/05/2007

Today’s New York Times has a funny op-ed (both funny ha ha and funny odd for the NYT). It’s a spoof by Rick…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/01/2007

Last night “Larry King Live” hosted a debate on global warming featuring a large cast of characters that included Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/01/2007

Nominations closed today for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is supposed to be awarded to a person who “shall have conferred the greatest benefit…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/31/2007

This morning Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns presented the Administration proposals for the new Farm Bill. Here’s his press…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/31/2007

At a House Ways and Means Committee hearing yesterday, chaired by Representative Charles Rangel, witnesses said that the effects of trade and globalization on…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/31/2007

Today President Bush in New York City delivered his second speech on the economy. As expected, in the speech he called…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/30/2007

President Bush in Peoria, IL today gave one of two speeches scheduled on the economy (the next will be in NYC tomorrow). He addressed…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/26/2007

“If the country is going to meet the ethanol industry’s corn needs, we’re going to have to cut back on feed, cut back on food.”…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/25/2007

According to news reports, President George Bush will ask Congress to renew fast-track trade authority — perhaps as soon as next week. The Trade…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/25/2007

There’s even more talk now about alternative energy sources — spurred by President Bush’s State of the Union address where he said: We must…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/25/2007

“Tricks and traps.” Those were the terms used to describe credit card industry practices to snare vulnerable and lower-income people into a vicious cycle of…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/18/2007

The title says it all: The Improving State of the World: Why We’re Living Longer, Healthier, More Comfortable Lives on a Cleaner Planet. Read…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/17/2007

At a press roundtable today, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John Veroneau said that the U.S. would be renegotiating three completed Latin American free trade…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/16/2007

For those following trade issues, a World Trade Organization report published today gives one-page summaries of 103 cases brought before the WTO’s Dispute Settlement…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/16/2007

With Congress focusing a lot of attention on identity theft, sometimes it’s important to note that individuals have some responsibility for protecting their personal…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/12/2007

One of the top free market legislators — Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) — got kicked off the House Judiciary Committee, even though he had…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/12/2007

A 2007 farm bill with generous support could run into problems, according to a New York Times article today. But despite possible budget problems,…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/12/2007

In an opinion piece today in Le Figaro, Drieu Godefridi, director of L’institut Hayek in Brussels, points out that what is halting negotiations…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/08/2007

Hopes are rising that the U.S. and the European Union may find ways to work out their differences on advancing more open international trade. Today…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/05/2007

Those of us concerned about national sovereignty and global governance — no, not the black helicopter style — should check out a recent speech…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/04/2007

In the Christian Science Monitor’s Jan. 4 issue, GMU’s Don Boudreaux takes a whack at Dobbs in his “open letter” to the…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/04/2007

Economist Jagdish Bhagwati does it again — in an FT opinion piece today, he pricks holes in the Dobbsian view that globalization has…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/22/2006

I came across a UK government site that looks into the future across a range of issues. It’s part of the UK’s Foresight Program.

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/22/2006

The Washington Post continued its hard-hitting series attacking farm subsidies today. The article notes that some important counter-forces to the big-bucks farm lobbies are…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/20/2006

According to news reports, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will release on Wednesday a database showing just which farmers get part of the $56…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/20/2006

Two books about her have been published this year, numerous book reviews have hailed her role in the Enlightenment, and an op-ed…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/19/2006

I missed reading the Financial Times yesterday (Fred stole it), so missed until today Lucy Kellaway’s riotous column where she gives business jargon awards…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/18/2006

Today the European Union’s trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, rejected carbon border taxes as an approach to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by imposing tariffs…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/15/2006

The U.S. and China completed their economic talks today, with both sides calling the dialogue successful in reaching agreement on several strategic issues.

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/12/2006

It’s now official — Vietnam notified the World Trade Organization December 12 that it had ratified its WTO membership agreement and will be joining…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/11/2006

Letters to the Editor in the Financial Times are usually literate, civil, and informed. Sometimes too they are also passionate. Such is the case with…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/11/2006

A front-page article in Sunday’s Washington Post, titled “Dairy Industry Crushed Innovator Who Bested Price-Control System,” recounts how Arizona dairy farmer Hein Hettinga thought…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/04/2006

It’s not often that one can claim she invented something more than a half-century ago that now in making it big in the retail sector.

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/04/2006

The New York Times yesterday told how the specialty crop producers — those farmers who grow fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other non-commodity crops —…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/01/2006

Presidential-hopeful Governor Mitt Romney just named his top economic advisors for his campaign: Glenn Hubbard, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors; Greg…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/01/2006

A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office sent to the Congressional leadership on November 17, 2006, outlines some key areas where the…

• By: Fran Smith
• 11/28/2006

Today, both the U.S. Treasury Secretary and the U.S. Trade Representative vowed that the Bush Administration would push hard on global and regional trade agreements…

• By: Fran Smith
• 11/22/2006

Democratic opponents of free trade — who also happen to be strong union supporters —told U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab on Tuesday they will…