Today marks the 81st anniversary of the passage of the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act. Actor and economist Ben Stein famously explained this legislation in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the classic John Hughes movie that was released 25 years ago this month: In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort …
The latest study by the McKinsey Global Institute reveals some astonishing facts concerning contributions of U.S. global companies to the American economy. According to the report: With their share less than ONE percent of the total number of U.S. companies, U.S. international companies employ almost 20 percent of the U.S. …
The latest outbreak of creeping global protectionism is in Brazil, which announced March 8 that it intends to levy nearly USD$600 million in increased import duties on more than 100 products made in the U.S. in retaliation for the United States’ failure to comply with a World Trade Organization (WTO) …
Free trade has been receiving a bad rap lately. Barack Obama’s campaign has come out in full force against free trade. In addition to clumsily saying he would unilaterally renegotiate NAFTA (much to the chagrin of Canada and Mexico), during the third presidential debate Obama voiced opposition to the Colombian …
Barack Obama has frequently called the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) “a bad deal.” During one Democratic primary debate, Obama even said he would unilaterally “use the hammer of a potential opt-out” to “renegotiate” the entire treaty. But after he secured the nomination, Obama changed his tune, admitting that …
As bad as many conservatives thought the Clintons were, at least they helped forge a bipartisan consensus on free trade. They helped pass NAFTA and demonstrated leadership in helping to create the World Trade Organization. But now that Bill and Hillary Clinton have been pushed aside, Sen. Barack Obama’s Democratic …
