Enjoy a selection of my commentaries below. To see the full listing of commentaries, please click here.
Pitfalls abound in Countertrade
Countertrade — barter, counterpurchase, buy-backs and offsets — is the fastest growing segment of international trade. But the rise of unconventional trade has many downsides, especially for small, and medium sized companies. Unconventional trade is often accompanied by an increasing role for government transactions. In fact, buy-backs New Economy and offsets are commonly imposed by…
Globalese, from NICS to NIES
For the past two weeks, NAFTA and APEC have dominated the news. As the global economy expands, we are increasingly exposed to stories about how it works. So here’s a lexicon of key institutional players in the Asia-Pacific region, the newest region on America’s international radar screen. APEC: The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum met in…
Industrial policy strips the gears
Bill Clinton says we need a national “economic strategy” to revitalize the U.S. economy. Ross Perot speaks with admiration of the “coordinated” way the Japanese seem to run their economy and advocates a similar approach to “reindustrialize” America. Favorable stories on “industrial policy” have been given prominent attention by the national media. Whatever you call…