Blog
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Myanmar: Open for Business or Closed by Sanctions?
The Status Quo In January Aung Sang Suu Kyi stood at a platform in a brightly lit conference centre in Naypyidaw. The room was ostentatious and so was her speech. Citing the series of economic...
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Plucking the Digital Goose
The art of taxation consists of plucking the goose so as to obtain the most feathers with the least hissing This pearl of wisdom came from Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV’s famed Minister of...
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Standing up for Competition
Picture the 100 meters final in the Olympic Games. 30 meters before the end, Usain Bolt starts to slow down. With five meters to go, all the runners hold hands and cross the finish line at the very...
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The next stages of UK trade policy
The context for UK trade policy in the future remains unclear. It is possible but unlikely that the UK will be leaving the EU with full future control at the end of March, but more likely that it...
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Assessing UK Trade Policy progress
Summary We see signs of progress in preparing the UK for greater trade policy freedom outside of EU membership, such as a few agreements reached to replace existing EU Free Trade Agreements, and a...
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Why the UK Government’s Brexit proposals were defeated in Parliament twice
There is a general rule of international negotiations, which is to make sure you have sufficient domestic support to ensure whatever you agree with other countries is ratified at home. You therefore...
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What does the future hold for US trade policy?
Last year was a difficult year for free trade and the international rules-based system. No doubt the US played an important role in this: It threatened old trade partners like Canada and the EU with...
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Lessons from Uber for the taxi industry
Once again taxi drivers have blocked the streets in a major European city as part of a protest against the ride-sharing service Uber. The latest demonstration took place in Madrid mirroring similar...
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Online Platform Restrictions and Small Firm Exports
Stricter rules on online platforms restrain potential trade, especially for smaller businesses. This is because online platforms facilitate export and import by lowering transaction and information...
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Regulating Artificial Intelligence: Should there be innovation without permission?
Brian Williamson, a Partner at consultancy Communications Chambers. The views in this blog are his own. The European Commission, along with others, is considering the role of ethics in...