The Open Market Blog

• 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…