In The News

Vietnam Goes Global

Jordan Ryan December 15, 2005
Although Vietnam had hoped to join the WTO before that body’s December ministerial meeting, an accession deal is not likely to finalized before mid-2006. Still, Vietnam’s eagerness to join the global trading system marks a noteworthy ideological shift for the ruling Communist Party, writes Jordan Ryan, the United Nations Development Program Representative in Hanoi. Vietnam’s Communist leaders...

The WTO Can Promote Both Free Trade and Human Rights

Susan Ariel Aaronson December 13, 2005
As protesters flock to the WTO meeting in Hong Kong along with finance ministers and business leaders, many observers, including Susan Ariel Aaronson and Jamie M. Zimmerman, agree with their claims that the WTO should be seeking relevance beyond just trade liberalization. But a wider focus – on human rights, development and labor – need not require any shift away from the WTO's central...

Trade Rounds a Harder Sell

Guy de Jonquières December 13, 2005
As ministers from all around the world gather in Hong Kong to inaugurate the latest WTO trade round, Financial Times columnist Guy de Jonquiéres sees signs of trouble. The meeting has a relatively modest agenda and is being primarily promoted as focusing on development and poverty. But given that the WTO's raison d'etre is liberalization and the creation of opportunities, not aid or the...

The Rise of Nearshoring

December 6, 2005
While India and China are popular destinations for outsourcing, a new trend - “nearshoring” global business concerns to formerly Communist Eastern Europe is emerging. The premise is to move production, research and business to countries that may not be quite as cheap as India or China, but are still cheap and also much closer to home. Western concerns are finding multi-lingual workers and a...

Fuzzy Trade Math

Arvind Panagariya December 2, 2005
As the Doha round of trade talks approaches, the perception that agriculture is the principle issue that will determine success or failure remains accurate. Common assumptions, however, about the magnitude of EU and US subsidies are, in many cases, profoundly inaccurate. The conclusion that the Doha talks are bound to fail because of the obstinacy of developed nations is based on fuzzy math. It...

Globalization vs. Economic Sovereignty

Pang Zhongying December 2, 2005
China is often presented as a poster boy for successful globalization. But at least some intellectuals in China are not happy with the course globalization has taken. Chinese academic Pang Zhongying, writing in China Daily, points out that many countries, especially in the developing world, suffer an “erosion of permanent and exclusive privileges over [their] economic activities, wealth and...

Asia’s Polite Reception To Bush Masks Declining US Influence

Daniel Sneider November 17, 2005
Following mass anti-American protests and blistering criticism at Mar del Plata, President Bush has found a bit of respite on his East Asian sojourn. But, as Daniel Sneider, columnist for the Mercury News, is quick to note, “beneath the polite appearance, however, there is no less a challenge to American leadership in Asia.” Plans are afoot, spearheaded by China, to forge an East Asian Community...