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nytimes.com - 1/14/2009

Budget Director Pick Sounds Alarm

— nytimes.com — Peter R. Orszag, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for budget director, offered alarming short- and longer-term fiscal forecasts. > (more) Budget Director Pick Sounds Alarm

World

Peter Roskam

Barack Obama

United States

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Obama and Free Trade
Weekly Standard Blog — Jagdish Bhagwati sounds the alarm.

Should Obama Alarm Free Traders?
The Volokh Conspiracy — ... there were good reasons to believe that Barack Obama would be a fairly free trade president. Now, however, Bhagwati is concerned. He writes in yesterday's FT that any such optimism was an "illusion" and it is time to sound the alarm due to the poor free-trade credentials of his nominees and his relative silence on the importance of multilateral trade. If Bhagwati is correct, this is indeed cause for concern.

Can We Start Worrying About The Incoming Administration’s Trade Policies?
RedState: Conservative News and Community — Yes We Can! Consider Mr Obama’s support for the multilateral trading system. It must be admitted that the Doha round is on hold and Mr Obama could not move it forward even if he so desired. A principal problem is that its completion turns critically on the US making further reductions in its distorting agricultural subsidies. But the issue has become even more difficult with the collapse of commodity prices and hence increases in support payments. Besides, history shows that the freeing of trade is nearly impossible to achieve in times ...

Can We Start Worrying About The Incoming Administration's Trade Policies?
A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days — Yes We Can ! Consider Mr Obama's support for the multilateral trading system. It must be admitted that the Doha round is on hold and Mr Obama could not move it forward even if he so desired. A principal problem is that its completion turns critically on the US making further reductions in its distorting agricultural subsidies. But the issue has become even more difficult with the collapse of commodity prices and hence increases in support payments. Besides, history shows that the freeing of trade is nearly impossible to achieve in times of macroeconomic crisis. ...