In The News

Agriculture on the Table at Trade Talks in Mexico

Kevin Sullivan September 10, 2003
Protesters gathered yesterday around the heavily guarded convention center in Cancun where the latest WTO meeting is taking place. The agricultural subsidies of developed countries is at the top of many representatives' agenda. Negotiators from Mexico to Australia are arguing that the US and the European Union's agricultural subsidies hurt their farmers by 'artificially'...

Rich Will Pay If WTO Lets Poor Down

James Wolfensohn September 7, 2003
In advance of this week's WTO meeting in Cancun, World Bank President James Wolfensohn writes that the current Doha round of trade talks offers a real opportunity to improve the lot of developing nations. For this to happen, though, he says that both rich and poor countries have to understand what it means to give and take. "Rich countries must show leadership by reducing protection...

Crumbling Stability

Anke Bryson September 5, 2003
In 2003 Germany will violate the Maastricht "Stability and Growth Pact" for the third consecutive year, but this time the government isn't even sending an apology. Originally championed by Germany itself to check fiscal irresponsibility of smaller members, the pact stipulates that budget deficits may not exceed 3% per year in any of the Euro-Area countries. Now, however, the...

How Washington Can be a Hyper-Power and a Hyper-Borrower

Philip Segal September 2, 2003
What kind of a superpower gets into so much debt that it has trouble pushing around countries that it would love to? The American kind, says Philip Segal, Markets and Finance Editor of the Asian Wall Street Journal. China and Japan - two major buyers of US government bonds - could do great damage to the American economy if they decided to stop buying or to suddenly sell their share of the US...

To Be or Not to Be at Cancun

Ernesto Zedillo August 29, 2003
World trade has increased nearly twenty-fold over the past fifty years, bringing unprecedented prosperity – but mostly to developed countries. As the development round of the World Trade Organization draws closer, many key issues – including agricultural subsidy reform and essential drug access – remain unresolved and deeply contentious. According to Ernesto Zedillo, director of the Yale Center...

Looking for Legitimacy in All the Wrong Places

Robert Kagan August 26, 2003
America's unparalleled - if benevolent - power makes even its closest allies nervous. As a result, many have begun to question the legitimacy of the superpower's actions, particularly after it went into Iraq without UN approval. Foreign policy expert Robert Kagan says, "A perceived pattern of illegitimate behavior can limit the cooperation other countries are willing to offer and...

India Tries to Contain Tempest Over Soft Drink Safety

Amy Waldman August 23, 2003
Coca-Cola and Pepsi are teaming up in India to restore consumer confidence. New Delhi's busy INA market place – which sells everything from Oreos cookie made in China to "Hot Eats" of North India – had posters proclaiming the safety of Cola products. The campaign comes after a respected NGO issued a report stating that 12 leading soft drink brands – all owned by Coca-Cola or...