International Economic Law after the Global Crisis A Tale of Fragmented Disciplines

This collection explores the theme of fragmentation within international economic law as the world emerges from the 2008 global financial crisis, the subsequent recession and the European sovereign debt crisis which began in early 2010. The post-crisis 'moment' itself forms a contemporary backdrop to the book's focus on fragmentation as it traces the evolution of the international economic system from the original Bretton Woods design in the aftermath of the Second World War to the present time. The volume covers issues concerning monetary cooperation, trade and finance, trade and its linkages, international investment law, intellectual property protection and climate change. By connecting a broad, cross-disciplinary survey of international economic law with contemporary debate over international norm and authority fragmentation, the book demonstrates that this has been essentially a fragmented and multi-focal system of international economic regulation.

1. The fragmented disciplines of international economic law after the global financial and economic crisis: an introduction C. L. Lim and Bryan Mercurio; Part I. Monetary Cooperation, Trade and Finance: 2. Does financial law suffer from a systemic failure? A study of the fragmentation of legal sources Rolf H. Weber; 3. Credit rating agencies: financial multipolarity, EU regulatory export and the development of global standards through multilevel governance Elisabetta Cervone; 4. The broken glass of European integration: origins and remedies of the Eurozone crisis and implications for global markets Emilios Avgouleas and Douglas W. Arner; 5. From regional fragmentation to coherence: a way forward for East Asia Ross P. Buckley; 6. 'The law works itself pure': the fragmented disciplines of global trade and monetary cooperation, and the Chinese currency problem C. L. Lim; Part II. Trade and Some of its Linkages: 7. Roadblocks and pathways towards inter-state cooperation in increasing interdependence An Hertogen; 8. The industrial policy of China and WTO law: 'the shrinking policy space' argument as sterile fragmentation Junji Nakagawa; 9. The first condition of progress? Freedom of speech and the limits of international trade law Tomer Broude and Holger Hestermeyer; 10. Emergency safeguard measures for trade in services: a case study of intra-disciplinary fragmentation Shin-yi Peng; 11. The schizophrenia of countermeasures in international economic law: the case of the ASEAN comprehensive investment agreement Martins Paparinskis; Part III. Investment Law and Intellectual Property Protection: 12. Multilateral convergence of investment company regulation Anita K. Krug; 13. Greek debt restructuring, Abaclat v. Argentina and investment treaty commitments: the impact of international investment agreements on the Greek default Julien Chaisse; 14. Chinese bilateral investment treaties: a case of 'internal fragmentation' Juan Ignacio Stampalija; 15. A post-global economic crisis issue: development, agriculture, 'land grabs', and foreign direct investment Antoine Martin; 16. Intellectual property rights in international investment agreements: striving for coherence in national and international law Tania Voon, Andrew Mitchell and James Munro; 17. The anti-counterfeiting trade agreement: less harmonization, further fragmentation Bryan Mercurio; Part IV. Aspects of Climate Change Regulation: 18. The WTO legality of the application of the EU's emission trading system to aviation Lorand Bartels; 19. Certain legal aspects of the multilateral trade system and the promotion of renewable energy Rafael Leal-Arcas and Andrew Filis; Part V. Concluding Observations: 20. Conclusion: beyond fragmentation? C. L. Lim and Bryan Mercurio.

Discusses a broad range of legal and regulatory instruments and legal regimes, looking at emerging issues facing the international economic law system after the global financial crisis. This book demonstrates that this has essentially been a fragmented and multi-focal system of international economic regulation.

C. L. Lim is an international lawyer and former trade negotiator. He is currently Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong. His most recent publications include The Trans-Pacific Partnership: A Quest for Twenty-First Century Agreement (Cambridge, 2012, with Elms and Low).
Bryan Mercurio is Professor of Law and Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has also worked in government and private practice and has advised law firms, international organizations, NGOs and several governments on a wide range of international trade and investment matters.