I am president of I Squared R Element, a local manufacturing company that I started in my garage in 1964. It now employs 85 people. I have managed millions of dollars of sales in all the industrialized nations of the world. I have donated over $5 million to the University at Buffalo, my alma mater,…
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If you were Donald Trump, you would probably summarize the academic paper’s finding as follows: China is beating us. [Josh Barro| January, 28 2016 | The New York Times] A new working paper from the economists David Autor, David Dorn and Gordon Hanson argues that trade with China is having persistent, negative effects on parts of the…
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The Obama administration has invited major U.S. companies and business associations to the White House this Friday (Jan. 29) for a meeting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that informed sources predicted is an effort by the administration to rally support for early congressional passage of the agreement. [Daily News| January, 29 2016 | Inside US…
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A PEEK under the hood of three new cars from Volvo, Buick and Cadillac will not reveal a Made in China label. But those cars are breaking new ground in the auto industry, becoming the first to be manufactured in the People’s Republic and exported to the United States. [Lawrence Ulrich| January, 28 2016 | The…
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DES MOINES — A Chinese citizen has entered a plea agreement with United States prosecutors, admitting that he participated in a conspiracy to steal seed corn from American companies. [AP| January, 28 2016 | The New York Times] Mo Hailong, a permanent resident of the United States, was living in Florida when he was…
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Free trade theory is being challenged at its core within the academic community. The upcoming US International Trade Commission study of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is at the vortex. This NY Times article today, “So What Would It Mean to Beat China on Trade“, focuses upon the academic paper I blogged about yesterday – the one…
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A FEW days ago, I visited the shiny headquarters of the Peterson Institute for International Economics on “think tank row” in Washington — basically, the locker room of the Team Globalization and Free Trade cheering squad. [Steve Rattner| January, 27 2016 | The New York Times] I was there to take part in a discussion…
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In the world of inter-governmental trade agreements, the signing often gets the most attention. But it is the ratification by member states, required to make such agreements reality, that may be the most difficult part of the process. [Chuck Chiang| January, 24 2016 | The Vancouver Sun] An agreement as large as the 12-member Trans-Pacific…
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A pro-trade group that wants Congress to approve the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership released a study Tuesday forecasting large income gains — but also acknowledging hundreds of thousands of job losses in some sectors. [Brendan Kirby| January, 27 2016 | PoliZette] The study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics euphemistically refers to job losses…
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Establishment economists will defend to the death the idea that trade does not destroy jobs. Yes, I’m serious. They believe that. Really. Instead, they say, job losers move into other jobs so there is no net job loss. They also assume that trade deals cause no change in the balance of trade. This matters because…
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