The Open Market Blog

• 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…

• By: Fran Smith
• 10/27/2006

Vietnam passed a final hurdle in its quest for membership in the World Trade Organization. According to the WTO, the “finishing touches to Vietnam’s…

• By: Fran Smith
• 10/26/2006

President Bush just signed a bill to build a 700-mile fence on the 2000-mile U.S.border with Mexico to keep illegal immigrants out. Wow, that’s…

• By: Fran Smith
• 10/11/2006

John Berlau, head of CEI’s Center for Entrepreneurship, hails the contributions of Nobel Prize in Economics recipient Edmund Phelps in…

• By: Fran Smith
• 10/11/2006

Tim Carney, former Warren Brookes fellow at CEI, takes a look at Mark Foley’s political contributions and finds he has been a…

• By: Fran Smith
• 09/29/2006

A Financial Times article today points out how difficult U.S. reform of its agricultural programs will be with the collapse of the WTO’s Doha…

• By: Fran Smith
• 09/28/2006

All that stuff written about early admission college programs being discriminatory, here’s a new wrinkle on possible “early admission” to sports…

• By: Fran Smith
• 09/27/2006

The Deutsche Oper in Berlin on Monday cancelled a production of Mozart’s “Idomeneo” because of fears of inciting Muslim protesters to violence. There was…

• By: Fran Smith
• 09/26/2006

Wouldn’t you think that a reader’s letter correcting factual errors in a newspaper article wouldn’t be edited to delete the principal correction? Well,…

• By: Fran Smith
• 09/19/2006

Following up on Fred’s post, here’s an even better headline: “Thai PM cancels U.N. speech after coup” ran the headline in…

• By: Fran Smith
• 09/19/2006

Today the Senate approved for the second time the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement, another in the now lengthy list of…