Good news about the world economy is scarce. Even on trade, Pascal Lamy, director-general of the World Trade Organization, recently rang alarm bells, noting that more than 100 trade-restrictive measures were implemented by the Group of 20 leading nations in the previous seven months.
But these warnings should not obscure the near miracle that is the bigger picture: the absence of serious protectionism in industrial countries in the past decade despite the impact of a huge structural trade shock from emerging markets, especially China.
Recent trade talks have focused on the new initiatives involving the US and Asia (the Trans-Pacific Partnership), the US and Europe (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), or on the slow progress in the Doha round.