The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative frequently does impressive work; witness the U.S. WTO victory this week over China. But when it comes to openness and transparency, USTR's efforts do not have the same shine; this is an agency notorious for its resistance to traditional inter-agency procedures (e.g., the C-175 procedure), let alone opening up its work to the public eye. So, I...
The WSJ has a very important (and certain to be much debated) story today on the front page, "A Global Surge in Tiny Loans Spurs Credit Bubble in a Slum," WSJ, A1, Thursday August 13, 2009. Also see the follow on stories, "Group borrowing leads to pressure," which is about the problem that when you use 'peer pressure' rather than...
The government's new "cash for clunkers" program has been wildly successful. Under the program, consumers may receive up to $4,500 towards the purchase of a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle. What is surprising is the impact this it is having on consumer spending patterns regarding domestic vs. imported vehicles. According to press reports, more than 70% of the...
Randy Barnett at Volokh Conspiracy mentioned today a new paper, "Anarchy and Development: An Application of the Theory of the Second Best," 2 Law and Development 1, article 4 (2009), by Peter T. Leeson and Claudia R. Wilson. Professor Barnett says he hasn't yet read it, but the abstract looks interesting. It intrigued me enough to download it (it's a...
As we celbrate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, it brings to mind that state of space programs and of space law. Space law has long been the preserve of public international law, with the Outer Space Treaty, the Moon Treaty, and the International Space Station (ISS) Agreement. However, the rise of commercial space ventures is providing much...
Following-up on my recent post on assessing systemic bias in international investment arbitration, readers may be interested in a recent article by Susan Franck of Washington & Lee University entitled Development and Outcomes of Investment Treaty Arbitration. Here's the abstract: The legitimacy of investment treaty arbitration is a matter of heated debate. Asserting that arbitration is unfairly tilted toward the developed world,...
[Kenneth L. Gartner is a partner with Lynn & Gartner in Mineola, New York and an adjunct professor at Touro Law School. He has served as a New York State District Court judge] The classic formulation of the basic premise underlying the Arab-Israeli “peace process” is “land for peace.” Its proponents thus categorize the so-called peace process as...
I want to quickly point to a post from late last month at EJIL: Talk! that I just recently came across. Tolga Yalkin considered the argument that international investment arbitration as a system is fundamentally biased. Considering arguments set out by Professor M. Sornarajah of the University of Singapore, Yalkin wrote: Sornarajah advanced the proposition-enjoying increasing purchase in the international legal community-that bilateral and...
I am going to be on lite-blogging status for a while, due to a pinched nerve and muscle tear caused - everyone please take careful note - not by my athletic and extreme sports lifestyle, but by bad ergonomic habits at the keyboard. Let me assure you, at this moment you do not want to be me. However, while spending my...
The Economist has a short article discussing EU proposals for financial regulation reform, in the July 4, 2009 issue, "Divided by a Common Market." The article is not persuaded that EU regulatory reforms, divided on at least two fundamental matters, will get very far, very soon: The EU remains riven by two deep divides on the regulation of finance. The first is...
Thomas Barnett has pointed out a map in Business Week that is coded for the sovereign bond rating of each country (the map is a click-through from this page). What Barnett calls the "Old Core" (the U.S., Canada, western Europe, etc.) tend to have the highest ratings, the "New Core" (Brazil, Russia, India, China and other rising powers) have the...
Update, July 3, 2009. The Economist of July 4, 2009 has a useful, short article on the EU's proposals for reforming global finance, "Divided by a Common Market." I will put up a separate post with some excerpts from the piece.) I spent the plane flights back and forth to Prague over the weekend mostly reading, uninterrupted and straight through, the...
