A fundamental conviction of economics is that international trade increases the material prosperity of people. There are numerous reasons for this. At the same time, however, it should be pointed out that a number of conditions must be met, since the international division of labor and the trade associated with it actually improve people's living conditions. More ...
Though the journey towards a better-integrated continent is in progress, the CFTA is still met with certain obstacles and challenges despite what is to be gained. The objective of the focus paper is to, therefore, critically analyse the opportunities of trade facilitation in Africa and its hindrances. More ...
NAFTA’s Impact In 1991, the US, Canada and Mexico signed the free trade agreement NAFTA. Back then that was an influential and important step for overall trade. The closely integrated value chains among the 3 countries meant NAFTA had a big influence on productivity for all three. For 20 years, efficient production networks were developed […] More ...
Last week, the EU and Indonesia completed the 4th round of negotiations on their bilateral free trade agreement in Surakarta, Indonesia. A trade deal with the world's 4th most populous nation would be an important strategic move for the EU in a time when the United States, once the EU's key partner, takes a protectionist course. More ...
The global economy in 2017 performed better than expected at the beginning of the past year. The economic expansion may continue in 2018. However, global growth continues to remain unstable. More ...
Trade and economic cooperation always remain in the foreground of international relations as they have a direct and immediate influence on conduct of business in the bilateral and multilateral relations, and in the multilateral governance systems. More ...
Negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement will go into the third round this weekend (23-27 September) in Ottawa. In the talks, which are always burdened by critical statements and Twitter messages from US President Donald Trump, however, all options still seem to be on the table. Both a successful modernization of the trade deal as well as a complete failure of the negotiations and a possible withdrawal from NAFTA are conceivable. More ...
Our newest study presents the results of simulation calculations which quantify the possible long-term effects of a withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement and a general economic isolation of the United States from the rest of the world. More ...
More and more people in industrial nations are increasingly critical of globalization. We look at how the negative employment and income effects in advanced economies resulting from trade with low-wage economies have an impact on citizens’ voting behavior. More ...
While Donald Trump seems to dump one trade pact after the other, the EU and Japan have made a strong case for free trade and against protectionism ahead of the G20 meeting later this week: both sides achieved a political agreement at the EU-Japan Summit in Brussels today. More ...
Talks between India and the EU about a possible Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have been going on for some while now and have been anything but easy so far. The recording of our latest GED webinar tells you the economic effects such an agreement could potentially have. More ...
TTIP is seemingly breathing its last breath and President Donald Trump declared the US’ official withdrawal from TPP. Are mega-regional trade agreements at an end then? Not quite. Nowadays many experts are looking at the trade deal negotiations between the EU and Japan to set a renewed signal against protectionism and for free trade among the global economic community. More ...
A new study of the ifo Institute on behalf of Bertelsmann Stiftung shows that both the EU and Japan could gain additional benefit from a free trade agreement. More importantly, however, the agreement would signal a clear commitment to economic cooperation and free trade in the era of Brexit and Trump. More ...
In our new GED-Project mini-series we examine the issue of inclusiveness in the global trading system. Part four of our four-part series will examine potential solutions to the current situation and consider ways to promote a more inclusive global trading system. More ...
In our new GED-Project mini-series we examine the issue of inclusiveness in the global trading system. Part three of our four-part series will take a closer look at the current state of the global trading system and the potential path it is heading on. More ...
In our new GED-Project mini-series we examine the issue of inclusiveness in the global trading system. Part one of our four-part series will look at the history of preferential trade agreements and aim to give some insight into how we got to the current situation. More ...
On February 22, 2017 Chad, Jordan and Rwanda ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). Thus the total number of countries having ratified this agreement exceeded the pre-defined threshold of a 110 required for it to enter into force. Interestingly, this was hardly picked up by the media. A suprising turn, given the hefty one trillion dollar cost saving tag estimated for the agreement. More ...
While the United States has been a strong supporter of free trade and open markets for decades, China is a country rather known for its far-reaching industrial policies, more often than not on the brink of protectionism. Are these roles about to change? More ...
In 2016, the development of the global economy was characterized by a number of economic and geopolitical crises. 2017 could prove to be even more turbulent. The global economic situation is therefore unlikely to get any better in the new year than it was last year. More ...
Free trade seems to be less popular than ever amongst the public. But Why is that? We look at what went wrong with TTIP and what can be done in the future to create the kind of inclusive trade worthy of the publics praise again. More ...
