On September 17, 2012, the United States notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat of its request for consultations with China regarding what Washington said were “China’s measures providing subsidies [...] and other incentives contingent upon export performance to automobile and automobile-parts enterprises in China.”1 The same day China filed its own complaint with the [...]

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I’ve had a chance over the past 10 days to debate the details of what’s next for the macroeconomy with leading policymakers in both the eurozone/European Union and India. I’m struck by some similarities. In both places, there is little or no concern that inflation will rebound any time soon. As a result, people based [...]

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The latest economic data from France look bad. The strategy of keeping official growth forecasts high (despite the evidence) is coming under increasing pressure and there may be substantial revisions to the outlook in the pipeline. Once you break through to being more honest, there is some catching up to do. Even more worrying are [...]

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The possible American bailout of its Big Three automakers is already being described outside the United States as “protectionist” and a violation of commitments made to the G-20 not to contribute to a trade war in the midst of a global economic slump. Whether or not the typical Congressperson would see it that way, an overlooked consideration in the American debate is how the contemplated actions might come into conflict with existing US obligations in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The United States could trip over two WTO rules.

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