In The News

The New South and the Economics of Taking Down the Confederate Flag

Micheline Maynard June 29, 2015
The Confederate flag was flown in battle by a general for the losing side during the US Civil War, the nation’s bloodiest war, with more than 620,000 deaths. Many throughout the American South have defiantly raised the flag, long regarded as a symbol for states’ rights including slavery, over official and unofficial venues since the war’s end in 1865. After the murder of nine black people at a...

Fabric of a Trade Deal: US Asks Vietnam to Cut Out Chinese Textiles

Tom Wright and Mark Magnier June 24, 2015
Representatives of the American fashion industry are protesting a stipulation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement that would reduce imports from China and require Vietnam to source textile materials from the United States and Mexico: “U.S. fashion brands oppose this approach, which they say ignores the complexities of global supply chains,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Vietnam is...

US Trade Deal’s Setback Causes Mixed Reaction in Asia

Anna Fifield and Simon Denyer June 15, 2015
President Barack Obama so far has failed to convince members of his own party in Congress that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement negotiated among 12 nations, could benefit US consumers and workers. Rejection by the House of Representatives came soon after China launched “One Belt, One Road” and the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank to boost Asian trade among many more...

The TTIP Gap: How a Trans-Atlantic Trade Deal Can Be Fixed

Christoph Pauly, Michael Sauga, Michaela Schiessl and Gerald Traufetter June 11, 2015
The US exported $344 billion to the EU, and the EU exported $450 billion to the US in 2013, reports Spiegel Online. Policymakers expect the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to counter competition from Asia by streamlining regulations. German manufacturers anticipate meeting one US standard rather than 50 imposed by states. “In virtually every industrial sector today, a large number...

Global Trade Entering “Era of Fragmentation”

Finbarr Bermingham June 3, 2015
Trade is gradually becoming more fragmented and less global in scope, with a drop in cross-border capital flows, as countries form exclusive trade coalitions and agreements, writes Finbarr Bermingham for Global Trade Review, a publication that covers commodity, export and supply-chain finance industries. “The WTO, for its part, has failed to reach the stated aim of the Doha Round, which set out...

American Universities "Addicted to Chinese Students”

Matt Schiavenza June 1, 2015
About 3 percent of Chinese students attending US colleges and universities may have been expelled during the 2013-2014 academic year, most for failing classes or cheating; more than 270,000 students from China enrolled in US institutions that year. “Over 60 percent of Chinese students cover the full cost of an American university education themselves, effectively subsidizing the education of...

China's Unprecedented Investment Offensive in Latin America

Juan de Onis May 29, 2015
The United States is paralyzed by partisan divide, particularly over the Trans-Pacific Partnership that could boost trade with Asia. Meanwhile, China continues to build trade ties, including “an unprecedented investment offensive in South America,” as described by Juan de Onis for World Affairs Journal. Li Keqiang, China’s premier, signed 35 bilateral agreements with Brazil totaling $53 billion...