Revolution in the Arab world: Is it time for a pan-Arab trade deal?

Article written by Prieur du Plessis, editor of the Investment Postcards from Cape Town blog.As a democratic revolution led by tech-empowered young people sweeps the Arab world, Wadah Khanfar, the head of Al Jazeera, shares a profoundly optimistic view of what’s happening in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and beyond – at this powerful moment when people realized they could step out of their houses and ask for change.

OTTAWA — The heads of Canada’s leading business lobby groups are urging the federal government to get on with negotiating a free trade deal with Europe. The groups issued a letter to assure Trade Minister Ed Fast that they will stand behind the deal, once it is negotiated, and help sell it to workers and communities across Canada.

Peter Draper, 1 March 2011Regional integration in Africa is seen as a priority by many of the continent’s policymakers. This column argues against a formal EU-like structure and instead proposes an African model that is responsive to the economic and political reality of the region. It says that the model should be underpinned by a security regime and should prioritise trade and regulatory cooperation.Full Article: Regional integration in sub-Saharan Africa: Rethinking the foundations

 By Simon Johnson Just over 100 years ago, as the nineteenth century drew to a close, big business in America was synonymous with productivity, quality, and success.  “Economies of scale” meant that big railroads and big oil companies could move cargo and supply energy cheaper than their smaller competitors and, consequently, became even larger.

Claude Barfield, 1 August 2012Canada and Mexico have recently been invited to join negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This column argues that this is a big deal. It could produce a domino effect, beginning with the addition of Japan and Korea and leading to a model 21st century trade area encompassing over 700 million people with a combined GDP of some $26 trillion.Full Article: Trans-Pacific Partnership enlarged: A trade agreement that may remake world trade governance

Ganeshan Wignaraja , 4 July 2012With little end in sight for the Doha Round of trade talks, this column argues that China and India are only going to pursue more free trade agreements. It asks what can be done to make sure these agreements lead to deeper integration between these countries and the rest of the world.Full Article: Deep integration in free trade agreements in China and India

By Howard Richman:On June 19, Pat Buchanan wrote a commentary (Now Korea is Cleaning Our Clock) about the initial results of the Korea US free trade agreement (KORUS). He begins:

Thorvaldur Gylfason, Per Magnus Wijkman, 1 January 2011With the end of the Balkan conflicts in the late 1990s, the EU and the US set up the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. This column – the first of two – argues that, as well as promoting regional economic integration, the Pact’s central aim was to safeguard peace. It suggests reasons why it took so long for the Balkans to negotiate regional free trade and why they ultimately succeeded. Full Article: Economic integration as a Balkan peace project