The Open Market Blog

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/21/2008

At a press briefing with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak at Camp David on April 19, President Bush announced that Korea will reopen its…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/18/2008

With negotiations stalled on the 2007 Farm Bill, President Bush is expected to sign a one-week extension of the current law so that lawmakers…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/08/2008

As I noted yesterday, the Bush Administration on April 7 sent to Congress a transmittal letter and implementing legislation for the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/07/2008

President George Bush today sent a transmittal letter to Congress with the implementing legislation for the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.  Under trade rules, Congress…

• By: Fran Smith
• 04/01/2008

At a press conference today, House and Senate conferees negotiating the 2007 Farm Bill said that they had decided to scrap the bloated $287…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/24/2008

Eli— Here’s another theory — fluoridation of water is very widespread in the U.S. but is very limited in England. (About 10 percent of…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/21/2008

I am disappointed that the X Prize did not note that there may be trade offs involved — that a zillion mph vehicle may well…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/21/2008

The X Prize Foundation has announced a $10 million automotive prize: The newly renamed Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is an international competition designed…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/20/2008

Commodity prices plunge is the big news in the markets today. According to Bloomberg today, commodities are– . . . heading for the biggest…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/20/2008

I was checking around for international census information at the U.S. Census Department site (useful for a lot of issues) and thought some of…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/19/2008

Again, a really interesting “Trade Fact of the Week” from the Progressive Policy Institute.  With all the negative talk about trade, PPI points out…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/13/2008

Over the last year, we’ve heard a lot about rising food prices because of the federal government’s mandates and subsidies for corn-based ethanol. Here’s…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/13/2008

A new five-dollar bill debuts today — and it’s prettier and more secure than the last version, according to the…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/13/2008

Do cold and snowy winters lead to “snow rage”? So says the police spokesperson in Quebec, where winter has been bad this year, leading…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/12/2008

In the Wall Street Journal this morning, the inimitable Kimberley A. Strassel points to Governor Eliot Spitzer’s misuse of his power as New York’s…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/11/2008

Known for his pro-trade stance, Senator John McCain took his views to the campaign trail and blasted his Democratic opponents for their isolationist rhetoric:…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/11/2008

The New York Times today focuses on economic stimulus in its “Times Topics” section — and CEI’s Wayne Crews’s recent paper was at…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/07/2008

An excellent commentary on Bloomberg.com today on the wave of protectionism spurred on not just by U.S. presidential candidates but by other rich countries.

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/06/2008

Trade critics, sensing blood from the populist success in the presidential primaries, are moving beyond NAFTA to call for a crackdown on investment provisions in…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/03/2008

A New York Times editorial today points to the high prices of food — partly spurred by the heavy government involvement in promoting corn…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/29/2008

Candidates running for POTUS shouldn’t whine about being attacked by their opponents. Things look pretty mild in the good ole USA, especially compared with…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/29/2008

In the Wall Street Journal today (subscription needed), Kimberley A. Strassel’s column hits the Democrats’ current protectionist stance on trade and points to the party’s…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/28/2008

Does this make sense? At the same time the House thinks it’s a good idea to provide Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia with duty-free…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/27/2008

With talk of recession, inflation, and stagnation dominating financial news, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in his written testimony to the House Financial Services…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/26/2008

Cato’s Dan Griswold and Juan Carlos Hidalgo had an excellent article yesterday in the Latin Business Chronicle defending the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/25/2008

In the Washington Times today, Donald Lambro focuses on the recent primary in Wisconsin and questions the attacks on trade by presidential hopefuls Hillary…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/22/2008

In the Detroit Free Press today, Gary Shapiro, the head of the Consumer Electronics Association, has a really hard-hitting op-ed pointing out how free…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/22/2008

I was intrigued today when I read the Man Booker Prize announcement of a new award to celebrate 40 years of prizes for the…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/20/2008

In a speech today in Geneva, the World Trade Organization’s director-general Pascal Lamy noted the significant achievements of WTO members in opening up telecommunications…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/19/2008

Almost unnoticed in the sweeping energy bill enacted late last year was a provision that restricts federal government agencies from purchasing fuel that has…

• By: Fran Smith
• 02/04/2008

The U.S. will be joining four Asia-Pacific countries to negotiate agreements on investment and financial services, said U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab today. Those…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/18/2008

The Financial Times today carries an article about how soaring soyabean (soybean to us) prices are causing large-scale protests in Indonesia…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/15/2008

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is great at getting publicity for its animal liberation activities.

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/11/2008

The New York Times yesterday carried an article on the reopening of the Mu$eum of American Finance, the only public museum in…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/10/2008

Lene— I know a bit about another of the Guardian‘s 50 People Who Could Save the Planet. That’s Tewolde Egziabher, who runs Ethiopia’s environmental…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/08/2008

A Reuters article today quoted a range of investment officials who expressed concern over the protectionist and pro-tax rhetoric of many of the Presidential…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/04/2008

In its lead editorial today, “The greening of globalisation,” the Financial Times looks at a potential new wave of trade protectionism that could arise…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/02/2008

In yesterday’s New York Times, John Tierney in his “Findings” column has another excellent science-related article — this time about the tendency to assess…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/11/2007

In its lead editorial today, the Wall Street Journal cited Environmental Working Group’s farm subsidy database to show the vast amount of farm subsidies…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/10/2007

Today, as the Senate is scheduled to continue consideration of a new farm bill, The Washington Post features an editorial criticizing the bill and…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/07/2007

CEI’s John Berlau in USA Today had the opposing view on the Bush Administration’s plan to bail out some subprime borrowers. John’s article, which…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/04/2007

The Senate shortly before 3 p.m. today voted 77-18 in favor of the U.S. Peru Free Trade Agreement. Earlier today and yesterday the Senate was…

• By: Fran Smith
• 12/04/2007

The World Trade Organization on November 30 published texts of proposed rules to prohibit some of the worst subsidies on fisheries, which provide incentives…

• By: Fran Smith
• 11/28/2007

The Financial Times today has a very perceptive article, “Too much safety in America’s playrooms,” by Patti Waldmeir. Waldmeir points to the current…

• By: Fran Smith
• 11/27/2007

Writing from Beijing, New York Times columnist David Brooks in his column today notes how American sentiment is increasingly against trade and globalization and…

• By: Fran Smith
• 11/21/2007

For my Thanksgiving treat, here’s my list of five “Turkeys on the Hill” — legislation that is particularly onerous for consumers, taxpayers, and citizens —…

• By: Fran Smith
• 11/21/2007

The Wall Street Journal, in a front-page article today, points to the anti-trade, anti-globalization sentiment in Iowa, even though the state “is a…

• By: Fran Smith
• 11/20/2007

For years the American Council on Science and Health has featured their "Holiday Menu" at Thanksgiving time. Their menu features "natural" foods that contain natural…