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1. ‘Six months’ notice’ and The Art of the Squeeze

   Brian Mulroney: Mr. Turner, with a document that is cancellable on six months’ notice? Be serious… Please, be serious. John Turner: Well I have never been more serious in my life. Brian Mulroney: Please, please. That was the final ...

2. The Formosa Triangle—where did $20 billion of Chinese imports to Canada come from?

   The Formosa Triangle (which I just invented) is the reverse of the Bermuda Triangle. It doesn’t mysteriously devour shipping. It does just the opposite. Shipping mysteriously appears out of it. Lots of shipping. Enough shipping to ...

3. The Saudi-Canada rights/engagement trade-off

   I’m of at least two minds on the sudden diplomatic blow-up between Canada and Saudi Arabia. More like four or five. As a general matter, our Canadian eagerness to preach to the world about “Canadian values” is one of our least admirable ...

4. Economists almost unanimous—rising trade barriers not good

   Trade with China may actually have increased manufacturing employment in the United States. ...

5. The United States calls the kettle black

   Canadians owe Donald Trump a debt of gratitude for repeatedly referring to our average 270 per cent tariffs on dairy products coming into—or trying to come into—this country. For many Canadians, that’s probably the first they’ve heard of ...

6. The end of Trump-whispering

   I wrote in January about how economists, apart from warning about the consequences, don’t have an awful lot to say about how best to fight a trade war. Adam Smith himself wrote that such wars were a situation in which policy be left to ...

7. Congress resists crony diplomacy—good!

   Even an economist with libertarian tendencies, which I am, thinks there are times when it’s actually reassuring to have a “deep state,” though it would be nice if it weren’t quite so swampy. The Wall Street Journal reports that some ...

8. TPP redux—The Art of the Bad Deal

   You encourage 11 of your allies to get together with you in a trade and investment deal. You impose structure and content on it. Then at the last minute you decide you yourself aren’t going to join. After they go ahead and finalize the ...

9. William Watson: Brexit—Britain opts for the Canadian model

   I found it strange, watching ITV’s exceptionally good Brexit referendum coverage on C-SPAN, that none of the many commentators and politicians interviewed through a very long night saw the closeness of the vote as undermining the force ...