international trade

By a narrow vote, the European Parliament has effectively blocked the entry into force of the partnership agreement with Mercosur. This is yet another failure by the EU to improve its prospects for prosperity and economic transformation. The agreement that was signed is a step in the right direction, but delaying it means accumulating lost benefits—at a time when growth in the core of the euro area is dangerously close to zero.

‘Liberation Day’ marked a real threat to the world, as it risked sparking a global trade war. On 2 April, Donald Trump announced the largest tariff hike since the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, 1930. This move reflected Trump’s views on international trade and the global economy: He sees trade as a zero-sum game that the US is losing, and, to him, tariffs are a way to help the American economy and public finances.

IER is preparing the publication of Macroeconomic Monitoring of Ukraine.

Liberalism is based upon the premise that individuals are to be trusted, that they know best what is in their interests, that laws, regulations and rules are superseded by the freedom of an individual, and the legislator intervenes only when absolutely necessary. Why then do we still not return to this notion after more than a year after the COVID restrictions started in earnest?