China and U.S. Companies Head to the Moon
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk want to set up operations on the moon. “An exclusive look at Jeff Bezos’s plan to set up Amazon-like delivery for ‘future human settlement’ of the moon” (Washington Post,...
Economic Thinking Posts on Debate Topics
Reducing Rice Subsidies Can Help Open Export Markets
Federal farm programs regulate and subsidize wheat, corn, soybeans, cotton, and rice production and exports. These subsidies are costly to taxpayers and consumers, and complicate trade relations with China and other Asian countries. Downsizing The...
The Pacific Trade Future: China and South America
A sponsored Quartz post from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy: “Asia will soon be the world’s economic center—if it isn’t already” looks at the rise of nationalism: In the wake of Brexit, ascendant European...
China and Cuba Trade, Labor, and Migration
“Foot Soldiers of China’s Shopping Boom” (New York Times, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, p B1, online as For Couriers, China’s E-Commerce Boom Can Be a Tough Road, Jan. 31), looks at the low wages...
US/China Engaging in Nationalist Policies
Opposition to globalization has expanded and energized in the U.S. by both the Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump campaigns. “Globalization” sounds unappealing, like throwing goods and traditions from around the world in a blender and chopping them up. Consumers appreciate lower...
Bootleggers and Baptists Agree: Restrict Trade with China
When the President and Congress consider trade legislation, a wide range of interest groups gather to advance their agendas. These agendas are not always obvious, and sometimes corporate and union interests misdirect the public...
Still-Poor China, Burning Coal for Home Heat
[Full post at NCPA Debate Central here] Rapid industrialization caused vast pollution across industrializing China. But as market-reforms opened the Chinese economy, international investment and trade benefited both Chinese workers and consumers around the...
US/China Farm Wars [NCPA Debate Central post]
Bagoly mondja verébnek, hogy nagyfejű. (English version: “Pot calling the kettle black.” Many other cultures here. ) In “United States Challenges Excessive Chinese Support for Rice, Wheat, and Corn” (September, 2016), the Office of...
Ask New Zealand to Manage South China Sea Fisheries
Around the contested Spratly Islands and under South China Sea shipping lanes are valuable fisheries, collapsed from overfishing. These fisheries could be restored with proven fisheries management successful in New Zealand, Australia, and other fisheries around the...
China Aquaculture: a U.S. Public Health Threat?
“How Antibiotic-Tainted Seafood From China Ends Up on Your Table,” (BloombergBusinessweek, December 15, 2016), describes the traditional “sustainable” Chinese use of animal waste to feed fish. Since the beginning of agriculture, animal waste has fertilized...