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Editorial. Comments on the trade policies enacted by U.S. President George W. Bush. Consideration of the promotion of free trade; Effects of reconstruction in 1945; Significance of the Doha Development Agenda, a trade policy agreement launched by the U.S. and the European Union; Status of the World Trade Organization; Criticism from European publications with regards to the regional and bilateral free-trade negotiations made by the U.S.

This article reports on the discussions about a pan-Pacific economic community and free trade zone that occurred at a summit meeting in Thailand on October 25, 2009. Talking about an East Asian community with its own currency is not new and will probably not occur in the near future. The summit meetings usually result only in the creation of more trade rules. The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced that it had cut tariffs on manufactured goods.

The article examines why Asian countries are racing to sign bilateral trade deals with each other. After three failed attempts, South Korea's National Assembly ratified the country's first-ever free-trade agreement (FTA) last week. Such agreements are becoming commonplace. Long a member of the ten-nation Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Singapore has signed bilateral agreements in the past two years with Japan, Australia and America, and is talking to South Korea, India, Canada and Mexico about other FTAs. The proliferation of simple FTAs is pushing many Asian countries to make bigger "concessions" in a race to secure better access to nearby economies. South Korea's government hopes its deal will pave the way for more valuable agreements with its two giant neighbours, China and Japan. Like South Korea, Japan is making a trial run with a non-Asian country, in its case Mexico.

The article focuses on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) a free-trade agreement that would govern one-third of all trade in the global economy. Topics include Japan's decision to join negotiation talks in June of 2013, the fear that the U.S. will impose American standards on commodities, and the inclusion of economic exemptions, also known as carve-outs, for participating countries.

This article reports on the tariffs of democratic societies. A tariff is a tax on foreign goods. A significant portion of U.S. congressional leaders bash trade tariffs and promote open markets in an effort to please voters. Voters are also consumers who dislike paying extra money for imported goods. Democratic governments can withstand some consumer disgruntlement if the margin of voter unhappiness is limited.

This article discusses Miami as an emerging business center. Long accustomed to being just a hub for Latin America and the Caribbean, Miami recently awarded itself an upgrade. Only 20 years ago, Miami had a serious brand problem, mainly thanks to the corruption and drugs that provided such good storylines for the TV series" Miami Vice". The FTAA office would further entrench the city's burgeoning reputation as the business and finance capital of the Latin market, both in the United States and in Latin America itself. Unlike most of their home countries, Miami offers Latin America's businesses political and financial stability, a comparatively transparent and efficient legal system, and superb communications, combined with the lifestyle of South Beach. Anti-American sentiment throughout Latin America could yet put Miami at a disadvantage, and Puerto Rico sees itself as a good cultural and political compromise.

Anti-capitalists and advocates of free trade seldom agree on much.An idea that is readily accepted by both sides in the globalization debate is that the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Geneva-based outfit that oversees multilateral trade arrangements, makes a difference. Almost nobody doubts that the WTO and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), have helped to boost global trade, by encouraging countries to lower their tariff barriers in successive rounds of trade negotiations. Andrew Rose, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, claims that the WTO has been ineffective.

Presents information on the free-trade and special economic zones set up on Iran's islands of Kish and Qeshm, near the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas. Progress on the island seen as slow; Expectations for the zones; Iran's parliament considering the zones a failure; Success of Qeshm Island Free Zone; Little government money given to the islands.