Trade, International Economic Law, and the Challenges of the Global Economy: A Symposium in Honor of John H. Jackson

Abstract

These articles consider the state and future of international economic law as a system of rules and institutions regulating key interactions in the global economy. It is a collaborative initiative of a group of international scholars to assess the dramatic developments since the creation of the Bretton Woods institutions and identify some of the critical challenges we face as international economic lawyers. This work is inspired by, and dedicated to, the lifelong scholarship of Professor John H. Jackson who has been instrumental in designing the architecture and shaping the thinking around the constitutional principles at the heart of international economic law.1 His analyses in the area of international economic relations, articulated in dozens of publications since 2000 alone, have illuminated the field for practitioners, academics, economists, and policymakers across the globe. The extent of the influence of Professor Jackson’s scholarship is evident in the structure of the modern international trading system, which has served as an unprecedented engine for global growth, equity, and stability over the past half century with important lessons for the challenges of reconciling competing regulatory objectives of economics, the environment, health, human rights, and welfare.