International trade and development economist. American University SIS, DC, former Chief Economist at the World Trade Organization & Graduate Institute, Geneva.
Washington, DC
Joined April 2017
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Thanks for taking the time to gather with us @NOIweala. We continued our conversation reflecting on our individual experiences and lessons learned. The economic case for trade cooperation remains strong but also requires adapting to changing global economic circumstances.
An absolute pleasure to have the four successor Chief Economists of the @wto with me at the #WTOPublicForum this year. Delighted to have the interaction and to pick their brains on the present difficult global trade issues. They also enjoyed talking with each other. More of this in the future! Thanks to Patrick Low (1997-2013), Robert Koopman @RBKoopman (2014-2022), Ralph Ossa @ossaralph (2023-2025), Robert Staiger (2026-).
Really, really nice piece by @BaldwinRE
New Factful Friday is up!
👉America's manufacturing GDP share has been falling since Eisenhower; its share of world manufacturing rose to 2000, collapsed up to 2012, and flatlined since.
🌟Today's Factful Friday decomposes the drop into three channels: less wanted, more imported, less home-made.
👉The most talked about driver didn’t happen. The home-made slice of US factory output actually grew.
cc: @AdamPosen, @IMD_Bschool, @cepr_org, @adam_tooze, @jasonfurman, @BrankoMilan, @ChrisGiles_, @ChadBown, @CER_Grant, @jburnmurdoch, @jamescrabtree, @NIESRorg, @ezraklein, @elerianm, @erikbryn, @GitaGopinath, @gabriel_zucman, @Hugodixon, @kaushikcbasu, @k_sonin, @lugaricano, @lugaricano, @lindayueh, @MarkJCarney, @MaxCRoser, @NOIweala, @Nouriel, @NOELreports, @ojblanchard1, @paulkrugman, @politico, @agnesbq1, @DannyQuah, @RBReich, @RayDalio, @SimonEvenett, @simonjhix, @sjwrenlewis, @scottlincicome, @D_A_Irwin, @michaelxpettis
Robert Koopman retweeted
New Factful Friday is up!
👉America's manufacturing GDP share has been falling since Eisenhower; its share of world manufacturing rose to 2000, collapsed up to 2012, and flatlined since.
🌟Today's Factful Friday decomposes the drop into three channels: less wanted, more imported, less home-made.
👉The most talked about driver didn’t happen. The home-made slice of US factory output actually grew.
cc: @AdamPosen, @IMD_Bschool, @cepr_org, @adam_tooze, @jasonfurman, @BrankoMilan, @ChrisGiles_, @ChadBown, @CER_Grant, @jburnmurdoch, @jamescrabtree, @NIESRorg, @ezraklein, @elerianm, @erikbryn, @GitaGopinath, @gabriel_zucman, @Hugodixon, @kaushikcbasu, @k_sonin, @lugaricano, @lugaricano, @lindayueh, @MarkJCarney, @MaxCRoser, @NOIweala, @Nouriel, @NOELreports, @ojblanchard1, @paulkrugman, @politico, @agnesbq1, @DannyQuah, @RBReich, @RayDalio, @SimonEvenett, @simonjhix, @sjwrenlewis, @scottlincicome, @D_A_Irwin, @michaelxpettis
Looking forward to sharing my insights on recent trade developments and implications for India's evolving position in Global Value Chains. Building on an @AU_SIS certificate course that I will offer this fall more information here lnkd.in/e7k9JTEk.
Dr Robert Koopman, Hurst Distinguished Professorial Lecturer School of International Service, American University, Former Chief Economist of WTO and USITC - United States will address the CII Annual Business Summit 2026.
Witness the future taking shape and policymakers, industry leaders and global experts discuss what lies ahead for the global economy.
11–12 May 2026📍New Delhi
Register now ➡️ ciiannualsession.in
@RBKoopman
#CIIAnnualBusinessSummit26 #CII4India #TheFuture #GlobalEconomy #Industry #Society
Please do join us in person or online for this report launch. Trade remains reslilient. We show how and why.
📘 Launch of the Global Value Chain Development Report 2025
Join us on 15 December to explore how technological change, the green transition & geopolitics are reshaping global value chains. Opened by DG @NOIweala.
Registration & programme: bit.ly/3KzQoMT
Want to learn about how global trade and gvcs are re-wiring in a changing global economy? Join us on Dec 18 at American University for the launch of the Global Value Chain Development Report 2025. Here is the registration link for the event - eventbrite.com/e/washington-…
The Washington DC launch of the Global Value Chain Development Report 2025 - Rewiring GVCs in a Changing Global Economy will be on December 18 at 1 pm @ AU's School of International Service as part of AU's Trade Today program. Bookmark the date & look for the reg. link soon.
I will also participate in a World Bank panel on November 20 celebrating the 5th anniversary WDR2020 report on GVCs. worldbank.org/en/events/2025…
I will participate in a discussion panel at the IMF 13th Statistical Forum on 19-20 November 2025, which is devoted to the topic of “Measuring Cross-Border Economic and Financial Linkages in a Dynamic World”.
Register and join us here: imf.org/StatsForum
#StatsForum #IMFData
If you happen to be in Geneva next week at the WTO Public Forum join us for the latest developments and insights on global value chains, with emphasis on how digital and mini agreements are shaping their reorganization...among other forces!
Some slots available. Get up to speed on the relationship between regular trade data & various GVC data for policy & commercial impacts, do some case studies for global & US data, & introduce you to some of the leading edge efforts in network analysis of supply chains.
Register now for a one-day paid workshop led by SIS professor and former @wto chief economist @RBKoopman.
📆 June 6
⏰ 8:30 a.m.
📍School of International Service
Sign up: american.catalog.instructure…
Interested in better understanding trade and supply chain linkages? Need to be able to find supply chain vulnerabilities? This workshop may be for you - Trade Today: Understanding and Identifying Risks in Global Value Chains – SIS International Trade edspace.american.edu/sisintr…
Robert Koopman retweeted
The @wto Chief Economist role is now open. I’ll be returning to the @ubscenter at @econ_uzh this summer, closing a chapter that has been the most rewarding of my career. Learn more and apply: wto.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en…
This is an excellent development. I hope the WTO can make this a regular event cutting across economics, political science, and law. It was hard to get support for such an event while I was there though we did host a couple. Congrats to @NOIweala & @OssaRalph!
It is a privilege for the world to have as the @WTO director-general someone who is genuinely interested in using insights from academic research to help tackle difficult, pressing issues endangering the world trading system.
This report reflects an important effort by International Organizations to coordinate & cooperate on climate change analysis. Long in process great to see a the result! See the links below in @OssaRalph posts & congrats to @BekkersEddy for his long dedication to this effort.
It’s finally out! Yesterday, we released the first report of the Task Force on Climate Action, Carbon Pricing, and Policy Spillovers at the @PIIE. It brings together the expertise of five international organizations to think about one of the most pressing challenges of our time.
Great to see @goescarlos win this award. And while his research insights are invaluable he also points out that previous award winners have made important contributions to trade research. Great for the @wto to continue to recognize and encourage young minds to explore this area
Congratulations to Carlos Góes (@goescarlos) for winning this year’s WTO Essay Award for Young Economists, with his paper on “Trade, Growth and Product Innovation”.
He had a chance to meet with @NOIweala last week.
Great opportunity here if you are interested and have the right skill set!
Hey if you are interested in how AI affects humans and the governance of AI, and have an MA and analytical expertise, come work with me. Apply to gwu.jobs/postings/112426
As someone who spent 15 years at the ITC I can say the analysis often frustrated both free traders and anti free traders. The results were consistently logically very small gains from commitments in agreements with some sectors gaining and some losing. Net small gains 1/n
Drama at the USITC! politico.com/news/2024/06/15…
Told potential Commissioner nominees to “behave.” And they seemed to while I was there - though Commissioners always asked tough questions and probed our analysis deeply - but no overt attempts to bring in ideological arguments over logical and analytical reasoning.