In April, Japan joined negotiations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed trade and investment agreement with 11 other Asia-Pacific countries. The latest round of negotiations began in Lima, Peru.

As we wrote in our opening post for International Investment Week, international investment drives trade. But while trade agreements often draw headlines, investment pacts attract less attention.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released estimates showing that the federal budget deficit will not be as big as expected in FY2013:

The United States is sitting on a lot of coal. If policymakers don’t want it used to generate electricity, we should be able to ship it to countries that want it, right?

Stop by the cineplex nowadays and you’re more likely to find the CEO of a multinational corporation in the role of villain in a summer stem-winder than you are even Nazis or space aliens.