Archived publication for 2008
Recent publications
It's been a long time since the Corn Laws
Tim Wilson reviews Trade Policy, New Century: The WTO, FTAs and Asia Rising by Razeen Sally (Institute of Economic Affairs,2008, 226 pages) Despite their common goal, there is enormous debate amongst free trade advocates about the best means to...
Undermining Mitigation Technology: Compulsory licensing, patents and tariffs
The incentives to develop the technologies to reduce global CO2 emissions are being undermined. Internationally, a campaign is being run to undermine the intellectual property that incentivises research and development on CO2 mitigation...
Climate talks should focus on removing low-carbon tech tariffs, not patents
"UN Climate Change Talks commencing in Accra, Ghana tomorrow should focus on removing tariff and non-tariff barriers on low-carbon technologies, not patents", Tim Wilson, Director of the Intellectual Property (IP) and Free Trade Unit at the...
WTO trade negotiation collapse will harm Australia and the world's poor
"The collapse of the World Trade Organisation's Doha Round of trade negotiations will harm Australia and the world's poor", according to Tim Wilson, Director of the IP and Free Trade Unit at free market think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs.
The politics of wheat
For purely domestic political reasons, the government takes a strongly protectionist approach to the Australian wheat industry by limiting who can export wheat in bulk, the main form for transport of grain in the international grain trade.
New evidence of old concerns: Fair trade myths exposed... Again
This paper outlines new evidence questioning the benefits of fair trade; and demonstrates that concerns about fair trade's environmental, social and economic benefits are not merely differing ‘interpretations'.
Labor flirting with neo-protectionism in trade policy
It is only early days, but the Rudd government's pro-growth reform credentials are already being put to the test. Since the 1980s, both major parties have favoured free trade. At the last federal election, then Shadow, now Minister for Trade,...
Briefing Paper: The politics of wheat
Low emissions technology under threat
At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting hosted in Bali last December, NGOs were falling over themselves to have their favourite causes included in the proceedings. NGOs have successfully ticketed climate change as the...
Labor
Since becoming the surprise choice as Minister for Agriculture in the new Rudd government, Tony Burke has, by and large, said sensible things on all the big issues confronting agriculture. In so doing he has upset both the diminishing band of...