The Open Market Blog

• 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…