Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Now, instead of hiring and misusing research assistants, academics can use AI. Academics with little interest in research can now do it at minimal cost. So we just have more bad research and the same slow level of rigorous, careful work. Fast Fashion has hit Academics. 1110
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 27/09/2026I think folks would do better studying what a LLM is and how it works before we begin ruminating on the quality and scope of outputs. 020
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Academics cannot demand that politics be perfect before experimentation. I argue that we could be open to creativity and focus on taking small, pragmatic steps towards that goal. Creative thinking is not fanciful or whimsical. It is an important part of how we get things done.ielp.worldtradelaw.netDecision-Making in the Absence of Perfectly Spherical CowsLast week, I had the distinct honour of participating in the plenary session that launched the WTO World Trade Report for 2026. You can check out the recording. In the week prior, WTO Chief Economist... 141
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Hi all, ICYMI, keen to hear from my European Council colleagues on the reasoning for and practice I draw from. 000
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Last week, I had the distinct honour of participating in the plenary session that launched the WTO World Trade Report for 2026 at #WTOPublicForum. You can check out the recording: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU7B...youtube.comLaunch of the World Trade Report 2026YouTube video by World Trade Organization 141
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 10/09/2026On what evidence of investigation does the POTUS base the decision to ban certain Canadian products under Section 338 of the 1930 Tariff Act? This administration has a legal duty to comply with the statute that confers its trade powers. monapaulsen.substack.com/p/actions-pu... 0198
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 04/09/2026What do we know about the future US management of semiconductor supply chains? The Business of Security. monapaulsen.substack.com/p/the-busine...monapaulsen.substack.comThe business of securityWhat we know about the future of semiconductor supply management. 010
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 04/09/2026We hope this public discussion will help us think creatively and carefully about how the MFN principle and its exceptions can continue to serve the entire membership in pursuing mutually advantageous trade. Let’s clear the air and talk about MFN at this year's #WTOPublicForum 141
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Thus far, what we have seen is the United States negotiating *directly* with businesses. Ad hoc. Opaque. And makes it impossible for a trading partner government to address the concerns giving rise to the tariffs (especially if under 301s). subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026... 020
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 03/09/2026#WTOPublicForum is around the corner. Together with George Riddell and Valerie Picard and the International Chamber of Commerce, we have convened a session on businesses' experience with economic security policies. 100
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026I'm not sure how this explains why Apple UK now shows Lake America. 020
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Are we all too often ready to hurl criticisms when problems arises, but all too silent to praise when none do? Stability is hard fought and all too easily lost. 021
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 29/08/2026A reminder that there are people in power who wrote a book that asserted that angering the “opponent” is a negotiating technique. Even if it’s not a zero sum matter and that partners are not opponents. But the best defence is to rise above, no matter the grotesque. 020
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 27/08/2026What are the legal obligations by which US companies adopt renaming? The EO instructs Federal Departments to take on the renaming. Will the Feds add clauses to all contracts? Costly regulation. Here’s Apple on the Gulf of Mexico. 000
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 27/08/2026The name means beautiful sparkling lake. Ontario connects every Canadian to Indigenous communities culture & history. Every Canadian, no matter where, honour our shared space and time on that land. It’s difficult to accept even performative acts like this. www.canada.ca/en/canadian-...canada.caOntario - Canada.caLearn about Ontario’s symbols, which include the eastern white pine, the loon and the trillium. 021
Reposted by Mona PaulsenSaloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 26/08/2026I wrote about the Moderna cancer vaccine news briefly for our weekly round up www.abundanceandgrowth.org/p/cancer-vac... 03111
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 25/08/2026I’ve been so focused I completely missed that Dolly Parton passed. What a treasure. 010
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Ya’ll are missing out on the Canadian jokes. Enjoy! 020
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Section 338 of the 1930 Trade Act lets POTUS scale up actions. POTUS could completely exclude products from importation into the United States if a country maintains its discriminations. We can dispute how likely that would stand up to litigation, though. 110
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 25/08/2026What happened to the US demand for reciprocity? Asserting unilateral actions to get more favourable benefits from a partner isn’t exactly how I’d define reciprocity. 001
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 24/08/2026This would seem counter productive to Carney’s careful work to keep a unified Canadian position…a likely more durable trade negotiating position. But then again Ontario is a middle child so. 010
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 24/08/2026I get X now, you read, become increasingly angry at the absolute avalanche of nonsense and then want to scream out anger into the void to the point you lose all sense and decency, thereby perpetuating and scaling anger. Need to hug puppies. 020
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 23/08/2026With the US obsessed with tariffs and reports coming out Canada only cared about tariff relief than there is a case for every US trade partner liberalising and using regulatory protectionism and fine tuned tariff descriptions for their efficient protectionism of choice. Only half joking. 010
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 23/08/2026I’ve seen people criticise Bluesky but after being on X for 24 hours it is amazing to see the rolling out of absolute hogwash and visceral hate promoted. It’s quite astonishing. I can’t make sense of how damaging it must be for someone to read every day. 050
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 23/08/2026I’m so happy this banger made it into the story: “Instead of addressing those, they put forward a bunch of minor things. A cornucopia of caprice.” x.com/politico/sta...x.comPOLITICO (@politico) on XInside the 72 hours that cratered the US-Canada trade deal https://t.co/M9kmBndK8S 010
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 23/08/2026To be clear, I have yet to see any evidence that any US economic security deals/frameworks/agreements have any sound legal basis in US law, nor is there evidence that they have formed the basis for improved reciprocal relations. New tariff threats continue. Uncertainty remains. 151
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 23/08/2026I went for a long run thinking about Canada’s situation, and even if Harry Styles was in my ear, I thought through the broader state of play between the US and Canada monapaulsen.substack.com/p/canada-us-...monapaulsen.substack.comCanada-US Trade Talks hit a road bumpWhat happened in the final days of negotiation that spurred yesterday’s news cycle? 021
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 23/08/2026“Being open to the possibility that LLMs are conscious is the same as being open to the possibility that Microsoft Word is conscious, or, more precisely, that multiple distinct consciousnesses are dormant in every Word document containing a conversational transcript […].” 010
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Was Canada worried about creeping coercion? My assessment of what could have stalled a concluded deal. 022
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 23/08/2026New from me: I tried to take a fresh look this morning at how and why Canada-US Trade Talks hit a road bump. monapaulsen.substack.com/p/canada-us-...monapaulsen.substack.comCanada-US Trade Talks hit a road bumpWhat happened in the final days of negotiation that spurred yesterday’s news cycle? 096
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Economic security dilemma. Most treaties are incomplete contracts but the parties would build into that very stable and predictable paths for short term exceptions or permanent changes. But you need to bind core norms & agreed definitions otherwise you end up with paper thin promises. 010
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Per Inside US Trade, I wonder if it went even beyond the requirements of an NME per USMCA 32.10 and one the US would deem inconsistent with its economic security interests? That’s a bit of a moving target … But did it go beyond what past deals demanded? I thought the poison pills were semi-solid. 110
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Does anyone know more of the details of the demands? Similar to other ARTs of the past or even more exacting? Details from USTR indicate similar economic security commitments we’ve seen before but I wonder if perhaps we were seeing wider, deeper, *binding* controls on Canadian interests. 010
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Sometimes agreements are about more than liberalisation. Sometimes agreements foster partnership and cooperation in broader international concerns. The GATT was a powerful pact for statecraft, explaining why the US made concessions to get the agreement signed. 072
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Only the wit of Dan Levy for a response.static.klipy.comDavid Rose: Certain Lies I Tell MyselfALT: David Rose: Certain Lies I Tell Myself 021
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Just a reminder that if the US had concerns of nullification or impairment of negotiated benefits then the government has had recourse to formal, structured consultations and dispute resolution within a very comprehensive trade agreement since 1994 —- no, since 1947. 150
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026So…international law will comprise of hard law, soft law, and zombie law to account for all the non-binding promises governments make that do not build on anything but may continue to haunt your economy for an indefinite period of time. 051
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Honestly, any US-Canada deal seems likely short lived. More a bandaid than carefully tailored for mutual growth. The uncertainty will continue. US negotiators have pressed on some Canadian red lines. I am unsure if politically there is any appetite to concede, considering tense dynamics & threats. 120
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Reupping my short essay on why using sec 338 today is as problematic as the use of IEEPA last April. ielp.worldtradelaw.net/2026/07/why-...ielp.worldtradelaw.netWhy Section 338 Does Not Work in a GATT/WTO World: Lessons from Trade Law HistoryOn July 21, 2026, President Trump exercised his authority under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (hereinafter Section 338) to impose the maximum amount of additional tariffs (fifty per cent) on C... 066
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026You can’t have sovereign equality without due regard for the firms and peoples in other countries. Equality underscores cooperation and collective action. The US cannot expect support while negotiating in bad faith with regional trade partners. Frustrating. 031
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026I don’t know if the future will be led by a middle power group. But I do know the time to placate bullying with deals should be well and truly over. Coordinated action Don’t make me tell you about Canada’s refusal to accept a bad reciprocity treaty with the US in 1911… 031
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 22/08/2026The escalation signals that the time for talk is over until the US returns to the table in good faith. Unsure whether cross border biz can afford the cool down time needed for that to take place. But I worry the Commerce is just bypassing Canada to negotiate directly with firms. 031
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Just wondering if we should heed advice about education from educators rather than tool-producers? 072
Reposted by Mona PaulsenAaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 19/08/2026Trump: "We've come to a deal with Canada ... Canada was charging us tremendous tariffs. We no longer have any tariffs ... it's all subject to the finalization of documents" 10644776
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Quick question... if we told the US that MFN made the US the Most Favoured Nation for all trade from every single WTO Member, wouldn't they jump at the chance to be every single Most Favoured? Doesn't that sound great? (They just have to be OK with making everyone else most favoured too) 000
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 19/08/2026This security justification really blows. Brass yourself for more tariffs. 184
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Given this statutory basis for imposing tariffs on the three "disadvantages" of automotive supply chains dictated by US integration, reciprocal arrangements with the EU, and retaliatory restrictions on booze, I didn't expect this admin to have even a slim case for using sec. 338. 032
Mona Paulsen @monapaulsen.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Last week, I had some thoughts on transhipment. I just need to add that "China adjacent" is not a measurable gauge for discrimination. 000