Religion & Liberty Online Archives

International Trade

August 08, 2006

Rwandan Coffee Competes and Wins

Unlike the flooded market for conventional coffee products, the specialty coffee market enjoys increasing demand along with limited supply. This means that the potential exists for developing countries to increase the quality and quantity of their coffee production to meet the demand. Continue Reading...
July 06, 2006

NBER on Globalization and Poverty

From the abstract of a new paper from the NBER, “Globalization and Poverty,” by Ann Harrison: “This essay surveys the evidence on the linkages between globalization and poverty. I focus on two measures of globalization: trade and international capital flows…. Continue Reading...
June 08, 2006

Good news on immigration

Yes, I realize that no one likes the current version of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill. But it is possible to make constructive changes without being comprehensive. Here are a couple of recent examples: 1. Continue Reading...
May 31, 2006

Mexican politics and the economy, part II

Writing in the San Diego Union Tribune, Ruben Navarette explains how the Mexican economy and corruption are related to the U.S. immigration problem. After talking with a Mexican born, U.S. citizen, Navarette observes: In Mexico, the elites take pride in the fact that Mexicans abroad send home nearly $20 billion a year. Continue Reading...
May 26, 2006

Mexican politics and the economy

I have argued on this site that the last thing America needs is European style government-by-demonstration, and that the massive street demostrations over illegal immigration perhaps were a sign of the Left’s intention to import exactly that style of guerilla theater politics into America. Continue Reading...
May 23, 2006

Outsourcing education

A couple years ago I wrote a commentary that didn’t exactly defend outsourcing, but did recognize its benefits and argued that it could be done morally if done correctly. I won’t pretend that my writing is read widely enough to generate voluminous responses of any sort, but that piece did elicit a significant number of responses, many of them negative. Continue Reading...
May 19, 2006

Bono: give us a call

The Rock Star, sounding kind of Acton-ish: Bono acknowledges that four years ago when he toured Africa with then U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, bringing private sector with him would never have crossed his mind. Continue Reading...
May 16, 2006

Geldof trades up

The May 16 Independent is guest-edited by the ubiquitous Bono and sports the RED brand–another Bono project where a share of the profits from the mag will be donated to fighting AIDS and poverty in Africa. Continue Reading...
May 11, 2006

Free workers, free trade

You can read my piece today responding to an article in the New York Times over at National Review Online, “Free Workers & Free Trade.” The NYT piece passes on the allegations of numerous immigrant workers at garment factories in Jordan that they have been lured into the country, had their passports taken, and then forced to work long hours for illegally low wages. Continue Reading...