30 December 2011

As 2011 draws to a well deserved end, the world sits upon a rapidly eroding international architecture, principally focused on the rot within the financial and banking systems. This will doubtless be a major theme for international gatherings throughout the year.

It is very clear that the EU at large is in grave danger of stumbling on a credibility lacking euro. Add to the mix the lack of action in 2012 on the US debt and deficit situation, the growing slowdown in the Chinese economy, a desperate economic crisis in the UK, and general ennui over the fate of the international institutional regime. Should be quite a year, fraught with both danger and opportunity.

Just a reminder about how you can help support our efforts to provide ongoing analysis throughout 2012:

As you know, when you buy from Amazon affiliated suppliers, a modest commission is credited to the host company. We have some links on specific pages, but you can also visit International Trade Book Store. Users in North America, Germany, and the UK can access Amazon from the book store page, where we have identified some of the more intriguing books published recently.

1.Beautiful Greece. An Island Odyssey (ISBN 978-0-9784456-0-7) is our large format, hardcover gift book suitable for corporate giving. It is 10x8 inches (25x20 cm), and includes over 130 full colour pictures on 118 pages

You can see the first 15 pages by going to the Beautiful Greece Book Page .

Beautiful Greece

An Island Odyssey

Book Preview

2. Santorini (ISBN 978-0-9784456-2-1) is a softcover book, square 7x7 inches (18x18 cm), with over 75 full colour images on 66 pages.

To see the first 15 pages, just go to the Santorini Book Page.

3. Chania. Around The Prefecture (ISBN 978-0-9784456-1-4), is a softcover book, square 7x7 inches (18x18 cm), that has over 60 full colour high quality images on 60 pages. To see the first 15 pages of this book, go to the Chania Book Page.

Please direct inquiries about these products to books at thunderlake dot com.

Quick Guide to Trade Policy Resources

We are of course still available to research and write on a range of trade policy and global economic issues under consulting contract. Please contact us at your convenience in this regard.

All Trade Policy Monitor articles and analysis for 1999 through 2004 are available online. The 2004 articles can be found by clicking here for the complete table of contents for trade policy articles and analysis released during year. Trade policy analysis selections for 2003 are reached by clicking here.

Check International Trade Agreement Document Downloads for official documents and trade texts.

Schematics that illustrate some of the key dispute settlement processes in the trade policy field: the WTO panel process, and the US process for countervailing duty investigations and antidumping investigations can be found on and downloaded from the Briefing Section.

Policy Street links are presented in five research oriented categories. We have over 450 trade policy research links on the site, covering international, multilateral, and regional organisations, as well as the United Nations. The Functional Trade Policy Issues page sorts key resources by substantive content. Access them by going through:

• GOVERNMENT SOURCES: TRADE POLICY, FOREIGN TRADE AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS.
• REGIONAL SOURCES: TRADE POLICY, DOMESTIC POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
• INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS: TRADE AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS LINKS
• FUNCTIONAL TRADE POLICY ISSUES
• UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM LINKS

Access the preliminary report of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, a body struck by the UN Commission on Human Rights, from here. It is entitled THE REALIZATION OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS: Globalization and its impact on the full enjoyment of human rights.

Did you know that over 1,500 news sources are being scanned, extracted, updated, and delivered direct to you every fifteen minutes? If you have not started using the Open Source News Reports page, you're missing a great way to get daily trade news from around the planet.

A few seconds are usually required, as the page loads after the news has been gathered from the database. So don't assume something is wrong; the news is on the way! Pressing re-load or refresh will force the news feed to collect any new headlines from the database that have arrived since the page was last loaded by your browser. Bet your local paper can't do that.

If you find this site useful, please tell a friend about it. You could also link to us. Thanks!

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