This story isn’t about international or development economics, but it’s too impressive for me to pass up:

Here is what Senator George Allen of Virginia, who is considering a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, said when asked his opinion of the Bernanke nomination.
“For what?”

Told that Mr. Bernanke was up for the Fed chairman’s job, Mr. Allen hedged a little, said he had not been focused on it, and wondered aloud when the hearings would be. Told that the Senate Banking Committee hearings had concluded in November, the senator responded: “You mean I missed them all? I paid no attention to them.”…

[Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)], who joked during a 2000 presidential debate that if Mr. Greenspan died, he would “prop him up and put a pair of dark glasses on him,” in a repeat of a prank in the movie “Weekend at Bernie’s,” said he did not know too much about Mr. Bernanke, but was comforted to know that Mr. Greenspan had a high opinion of him.

“It hasn’t gotten a lot of attention,” Senator McCain said, “but I think he’ll be carefully scrutinized in his hearings, and the view that other people have of him will carry a lot of weight in the financial world, particularly Greenspan.”

Mr. McCain was asked if he would be surprised to learn that the hearings were over. He paused, his eyes widening, before giving the verbal equivalent of a knock on the forehead: “You’re right, you’re right, you’re right. Duuuuuh.”

[Hat tip: Hit & Run]

In light of my skepticism, I’ll post potential gains from the Korea-US PTA as I become aware of them. One area that could benefit from liberalization: film.

A quota system that helps protect the South Korean film industry from giant Hollywood studios was under close scrutiny Friday amid reports that South Korea and the United States may start talks on a free trade agreement in mid-February. The so-called screen quota system is considered a key barrier to South Korea’s much-awaited hope of sealing a bi-lateral investment treaty with Washington.

Under the system, set up in 1966 to protect the local film industry, South Korean movie theaters are required to show local films for 146 days a year. The U. S. government, following intense lobbying from Hollywood, has demanded South Korea scrap or reduce its protective quota if Seoul wants to ink such an investment treaty with the superpower. [Yonhap, 21-Jan-06]

Please post a comment if you can identify other potential gains.

Daniel Altman is beginning a new weekly column at the International Herald Tribune. His premise is that globalization is inevitable, rendering the old “globalization good” vs “globalization bad” debate irrelevant. He hopes to address the pressing questions regarding how best to “manage” globalization.

David Leonhardt thinks that promoting freer trade to the American public is one of the top responsibilities of Ben Bernanke, the new chairman of the Federal Reserve. Alan Greenspan was a firm defender of globalization in his congressional testimony and other speeches, but why does the independent monetary authority continually field so many questions on this subject?

Due to global structures of production and (potentially) declining xenophobia, Americans are less convinced by “Buy American” campaigns, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune.

[Hat tip: Drezner]

Sir John Cowperthwaite, the British colonial administrator primarily responsible for the establishment of Hong Kong’s laissez-faire economic policies, has passed away.

Radio Economics has existed for six months, so you’ve most likely already heard of it, but I only discovered the site and its podcasts today. I enjoyed listening to the interview with Peter Gallagher this afternoon and have uploaded a number of other interviews to my iPod for my flight home this week. Check it out.

What theory supports this regulation?

Kingfisher, which is a full- service airline, commenced operations in May this year. The airline will only be allowed to operate international flights in 2010, following India’s civil aviation regulation which requires new airlines to serve domestic market for five years before flying overseas. [NST]

New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey said Hurricane Katrina showed why a national law is needed. Gasoline price spikes happened in many areas outside hurricane-ravaged regions, but many prosecutors were unable to pursue price-gouging complaints because of rules requiring a state of emergency declaration before the laws kick in. “We found retailers raising their prices five or six times a day,” Harvey said. “This had nothing to do with supply. This was New Jersey.” [AP]

Fungible: “The noun fungible has one meaning: a commodity that is freely interchangeable with another in satisfying an obligation.”

[Hat tip: Catallarchy]

BBJ:

Economic crime poses a significant threat to companies, with one in four of organizations in Hungary being victims of fraud in the past two years, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Economic Crime Survey 2005.

Bernama:

A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers reveals that only 23 percent of Malaysian companies have been subject to economic crime in the past two years.