In the recent edition of the Estey Journal, Marc D. Froese's article, Trade Friction, Dispute Settlement and Structural Adjustment, Or, Why Canada-Wheat Doesn't Matter in North American Trade Relations, discusses state trading enterprises (STEs) and the World Trade Organization's (WTO) attempt to regulate their behaviour.

President Obama's recently announced Smart Grid Investment Grant awards will provide $3.4 billion for clean energy reform through the $787 billion stimulus act. "We are building a smarter, stronger and more secure electric grid," Mr. Obama said. According to The New York Times, when combined with other private and public investments, it is estimated that "the program will invest more than $8 billion into modernizing the nation's power grid."

In September, Time Inc. purchased a house near downtown Detroit as part of its year-long project, Assignment Detroit, to cover the region, "a great laboratory for studying American society, politics and business": "Because we believe that Detroit right now is a great American story. No city has had more influence on the country's economic and social evolution. Detroit was the birthplace of both the industrial age and the nation's middle class, and the city's rise and fall - and struggle to rise again - and a window into the challenges facing all of modern America.

Canada was Ohio's top foreign trading partner in 2008, with bilateral trade exceeding $35.8 billion. Canada purchases nearly 44% of the state's exports - over five and a half times that of Ohio's next largest foreign market (Mexico).

Across the country, climate change has become not only an environmental issue, but also an issue of national security, safety and economic policy.

Dave Bartlett, The Telegram Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue suggests the best way to overcome American protectionism is through greater co-operation between states and provinces. Read the full story From: NewsCan: For July 24 to July 30, 2009

Exploring opportunities for cooperation on climate change in North America is timely. The political context is right for assessing the region vis-à-vis the domestic and the multilateral options. American public opinion is more willing than ever to bear the cost of making the transition towards a low-carbon economy, even in spite of the economic recession.

Brookings The mixed state of economies in America's metropolitan areas is hard to tease out from the national numbers, so the Metropolitan Policy Program looked “beneath the hood” at the impact of the recession on these areas. The first of the MetroMonitor interactive quarterly reports explains why recovery will occur at an uneven pace throughout the country. Learn More

Foreign trade is said to "link countries all over the world in a network of production that underpins global prosperity."  Barriers to global trade challenge that very network and could prolong the recession.