Ian Fletcher spoke on trade before The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on January 17, 2013.  You can listen to the audio of his insightful remarks here. UPDATE:  Here is a link to the video, thanks to commenter Joe Brooks.

Like most academics, professors of economics are not generally stupid people, IQ-wise.  But they do have a remarkable ability to lose sight of basic  realities. I’ve seen this over and over again. I just had an extended e-mail exchange with one Ron Boudreaux, a professor of economics at George Mason…

First, let’s get the definitions straight, as confusion about definitions is the single biggest avoidable cause of economic nonsense. The trade deficit measures how much America’s imports exceed its exports. The federal deficit measures how much America’s government’s expenditures exceed its revenues. The cure for a trade deficit, for the…

CPA Senior Economist Ian Fletcher will speak before the highly regarded Commonwealth Club of California on January 17, 2013. Founded in 1903, the Commonwealth Club is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States. Here is the promotional page for the event: Ian Fletcher, Author, Free Trade…

Mitt Romney certainly has been making some pleasant noises about fixing America’s trade mess, in which a $500 billion a year deficit is probably the biggest unsung reason our economy isn’t turning around. But does he really mean what he says? I’ve looked at the evidence here, here, here and most recently here. In reaction…

The following is an interview with Ian Fletcher, CPA’s Senior Economist.  Reposted from The Washington Times, it’s the second in a three part interview series. ***** How far has America’s economy sunk? Joseph Cotto  |  The Washington Times  |  June 27, 2012 FLORIDA, June 27, 2012 — When it was up for…

The following is an interview with Ian Fletcher, CPA’s Senior Economist.  Reposted from The Washington Times, it’s the first in a two part interview series. ***** What’s so free about free trade? Joseph Cotto  |  June 26, 2012  |  The Washington Times FLORIDA, June 26, 2012 — Free trade is something that…

Leak Cracks Open Trans-Pacific Partnership Scandal Obama was warned, frankly, about the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Given his status as a center-left president, the public’s burgeoning disapproval of free-trade agreements, and the fact that he criticized such agreements when President Bush made them, he really should have known that such treaties were not for…

Reposted from the Huffington Post ***** A National Network for Manufacturing Innovation? Ian Fletcher  |  May 2, 2012  |  Huffington Post It’s no secret American manufacturing is in crisis, and that its problems form a significant component of our present economic mess. I’ve written before about how the Obama administration may (may!)…

Reposted from the Huffington Post ***** Is Obama Getting Serious About Manufacturing? Maybe. Ian Fletcher  |  April 23, 2012  |  Huffington Post America has been waiting a long time for the Obama administration to get serious about the problems of our manufacturing sector. Finally, there has been a small sign…