This is a short list of some easily-accessible study resources on trade policy and related issues. The goal is to offer students some alternatives to the usual diet of academic articles that are (more) fun to engage with and show how abstract concepts are applied/relevant in current trade policy-making. Collected initially for my students at King’s College London, this list might also be relevant for others (and will hopefully be updated).
Podcasts
With already more than 100 episodes, Trade Talks by Soumaya Keynes (The Economist) and Chad P. Bown (Peterson Institute for International Economics) is one of the easiest ways to dive into the complex world of trade. They mostly cover current events, but also introduce key concepts and thinkers along the way. Both hosts are also very active on Twitter, commenting jointly and individually – the same is true for most of the other experts listed below.
On a more technical level (and more in lecture mode), there is Georgetown University Professor Marc Busch’s Tradecraft podcast. He focuses more on the US perspective, but also offers in-depth discussions of specific areas like services or agriculture trade.
Daily Coverage & Newsletters
In terms of regular coverage, the Financial Times has a now daily newsletter on trade-related issues called Trade Secrets, written among others by Alan Beattie and James Politi. Their coverage is relatively broad and obviously the FT has other trade-related analysis as well. (As King’s students you should be able to sign up to the FT for free.)
At Bloomberg, there’s Bryce Baschuk covering everything broadly WTO-related in his daily Terms of Trade newsletter.
Iana Dreyer has her own trade news service Borderlex (most articles unfortunately behind paywall).
Blogs
There are few blogs on trade that are both regularly updated and offer broad coverage – especially if you also hope for a mix of economic, legal and political analysis.
Brexit recently led to some initiatives, including the blog of the UK Trade Policy Observatory based at the University of Sussex and the UK Trade Forum, both with an obvious focus. King’s own UK in a Changing Europe does less on trade.
The WTO and everything related is covered by Peter Ungphakorn, a retired WTO Press Officer, on his Trade Beta Blog. He offers explainers ranging from the proper interpretation of Article XXIV GATT in the Brexit context to the reform of WTO dispute settlement.
Some entertaining insights into what it’s like to negotiate a trade agreement are provided by Dmitry Grozoubinski, who is also very active on Twitter. The blog entries on his website Trade Explained are a bit hard to find, so here are some good ones: for example, an explanation how a trade negotiation team usually functions. More practically, he discusses the use of red lines and tough talk (or when it’s better to be a kangaroo) in trade negotiations, followed by “What’s the Fudge?” (spoiler: non-binding or vague language in agreements).
More technical (and US-oriented) is the International Economic Law and Policy Blog, which is mostly written by Simon Lester at Cato Institute.
More Suggestions
First, the world of trade professionals is not (anymore) as male-dominated as the above list might suggest at a first glance. There is actually a growing network of female experts working in international trade, who are also very active on Twitter.
Second, trade data can be hard to digest – surprise. An easy, interactive way to visualise and intuitively understand exports and imports is the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
Third, trade twitter is very active and useful if you want to follow the debate(s). I’m not providing a long list of people to follow here, but if you’re in need of inspiration, see who I am following and occasionally retweeting.
I’m sure there’s way more out there; let me know anything that might be worth adding.
Additions (generally short pieces)
- Why understanding comparative advantage is non-trivial (Krugman)
- Why the concept of specialization can be misunderstood (Hausmann)
- What do trade agreements really do? (Rodrik)
Fabian Bohnenberger 