Tuesday Quick Hits

Happy belated early St. Patty's Day.  Here are some links to keep your lucky streak going:

• AEI's Phil Levy writes a great column about the likely economic aftershocks of the Japan tragedies caused by, among other things, global supply chains.  The WSJ follows (intentionally or not) Levy's lead with an interesting report on how Japan's problems should affect its exports to China (and thus Chinese exports of goods typically made from the imported Japanese inputs).

• Speaking of Levy, he provides a very good explanation of why China's Indigenous Innovation policy can't achieve China's long-term policy goals but should be a priority for the United States because of the significant near-term pain it'll cause American companies.

• The absurd, needless expiration of the US Generalized System of Preferences cost American manufacturers $54.4 million in January alone.  Awesome.

• Last week's BEA release of the US trade deficit stats elicited a typically awful write-up from the AP.  The forces of good appropriately correct the journalist responsible here, here, here and here. 

• The Heritage Foundation's Walter Lohman and Derek Scissors deftly analyze something that I noticed about a year ago: Australia's China policy is very, very sound.  And, as if on cue, the Aussies provide even more proof of this fact.

• I selfishly hate the relatively new starting date for Daylight Savings Time because it makes getting out of bed to go for a jog excruciatingly difficult, but now I have a more altruistic, economic reason to hate it.  Bonus.

• In reporting on the latest developments in the longstanding US-Canada softwood lumber dispute, the Economist provides another great lesson on the fleeting benefits and long-terms costs of protectionism. 

• The Washington Post confirms what we already knew: the White House, not USTR, drives American trade policy. 

• More excellent destruction of self-avowed protectionist Ian Fletcher's public "arguments" by Cafe Hayek's Don Boudreaux here, here, here and here.  To my knowledge, Fletcher has yet to respond directly to any of Boudreaux's killer critiques.

• And finally, this is absolutely hilarious (h/t Radley Balko).

Enjoy!