Trade policy
The Great British trade-off: The impact of leaving the EU on the UK's trade and investment
20 January 2014
Eurosceptics think Britain can leave the EU and still have access to its markets. But to do so, Britain will have to sign up to EU rules.
Why Germany’s trade surplus is bad for the eurozone
29 November 2013
In late October, the US singled out Germany as a threat to the global economy. The Treasury issued a report saying that Germany’s current account surplus – now around 7 per cent of GDP – imposes "a deflationary bias for the eurozone as well as for the world economy."
Europe's trade strategy: Promise or peril?
02 May 2013
TGAE report
Europe's growth strategy is based on a larger trade surplus with the rest of the world, to make up for slow domestic growth, as consumers are weighed down by debt.
Freeing the transatlantic economy – prospects, benefits and pitfalls
20 February 2013
The EU and the US would benefit from freeing up transatlantic commerce. To succeed, they must agree some rules of engagement and stick to them.
Eurozone slump derails Britain's economic strategy
28 January 2013
The British government's drive to rebalance the UK economy has foundered on falling exports to the EU; UK exports to the rest of the world are booming.
How to build European services markets
28 September 2012
European services markets are still overwhelmingly national. There are big economic gains to be made from opening them up.
Europe’s leaders are casting around for ways to improve the EU’s economic performance. In the long term, a more integrated single market for services could improve Europe’s weak productivity growth. The...
Europe’s leaders are casting around for ways to improve the EU’s economic performance. In the long term, a more integrated single market for services could improve Europe’s weak productivity growth. The...
Global trade imbalances threaten free trade
17 October 2011
The G20 needs a strategy to rebalance demand between the surplus and deficit economies if the world is to avoid a slide into protectionism.
Why Germany is not a model for the eurozone
22 October 2010
Many Europeans believe that confidence in the eurozone is best restored by turning the region into a larger version of present-day Germany. However, Germany is not the world-beating economy of current myth.
Whatever happened to the G20?
14 April 2010
George W Bush convened the first G20 summit in Washington in November 2008, at the height of the global financial and economic crisis. At two further summits in 2009, G20 leaders pledged to co-ordinate their economic stimulus packages (as well as exit strategies), avoid protectionism, address global imbalances, triple the resources of the IMF, and work out stricter rules for banks, hedge funds and other financial players.
Protectionism and the economic crisis: So far, so good?
01 June 2009
For much of the year, the spectre of the 1930s has loomed large over the global economy.
Narrowing the Atlantic: The way forward for EU-US trade and investment
29 April 2009
The financial crisis has provoked a dramatic contraction in world trade. With economic activity declining and job losses rising, protectionist pressures are mounting.
Options for EU trade policy
01 October 2008
In late July, the Doha round suffered its umpteenth setback, when ministers from the member-states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) failed to agree on a package to liberalise world trade.
Issue 62 - 2008
26 September 2008
- How to handle the new Russia, Charles Grant
- Russia, China and the Georgia dimension, Bobo Lo
- Options for EU trade policy, Philip Whyte
A new European mercantilism?
01 August 2008
Europe’s economic liberals have had a successful ten years. There have been protectionist pressures throughout this period, of course.
Should Europeans care about Doha?
30 July 2008
Are the Doha trade talks finally dead? Following the failure of the latest ministerial meeting in Geneva on July 29th, there will be little appetite for another big push to resolve disputes over farm subsidies and manufacturing tariffs.
China is losing its EU friends
29 November 2007
The EU is getting tough on China. That, at least, is the impression one gets from high-ranking EU officials that arrived for the annual EU-China summit in Beijing this week. Economics is the main reason for Europe’s changing mood.
Can the EU learn to live with Chinese mercantilism?
29 October 2007
Not long after its launch, the euro was famously dismissed by a disgruntled currency trader as a “toilet currency”. How things have changed.
What should Europe do about sovereign wealth funds?
01 October 2007
Several EU governments have become alarmed about sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). Germany, for example, is thinking of preventing such funds from buying local companies in sensitive sectors.
The Lisbon scorecard VII: Will globalistion leave Europe stranded?
01 February 2007
Globalisation and the rapid integration of China and India into the international economy present huge opportunities for the European Union.
Transatlantic trade: walk before you run
01 December 2006
Ever since the EU forged its plans for a single market, in the late 1980s, there has periodically been interest in the idea of establishing a transatlantic single market – removing not only tariffs, but also non-tariff barriers to trade and investment.