Trade policy commitments to lower import tariffs and to maintain tariffs at low levels entail short and long-run political-economic costs and benefits. Empirical work examining the relationship between such commitments and the exercise of trade policy flexibilities is still relatively nascent,...

Though fruitful, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round negotiations seem to be reaching a deadlock. It is hard to say when and how the next ministerial conference is to resume. The Doha Round negotiations look extremely difficult, especially with regard to more substantial issues, such...

This paper analyzes how a country's commitment to labor standards is affected by the relative international political power they possess. Powerful countries may be less committed to actual enforcement of certain labor standards since they are unlikely to face significant threats of international...

The french fry was NOT invented in France, but in Belgium. This short paper, written in Dutch, describes the history of the french fry and explains why it's called the french fry despite being introduced to Americans in Belgium. Spoiler: the reason is that World War I soldiers in French-speaking...