In The News

Save Doha to Save the G20 Summit

Ernesto Zedillo November 12, 2008
Political leaders will gather for a G20 summit to address global economic governance. The summit could also be an opportunity “to exorcise the demons of protectionism,” suggests Ernesto Zedillo, director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. Finding agreement on the Doha Round of trade talks, debated for seven years, would send a powerful signal for endorsing open trade. Zedillo...

Shooting Ourselves in the Food

Ernesto Zedillo August 19, 2008
Food prices have risen sharply in recent months, contributing to poverty, protests and general insecurity. Blaming free markets for the crisis, though, is a mistake, contends Ernesto Zedillo director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, in his column for Forbes Magazine. Droughts and increased demand by growing Asian nations alone did not contribute to climbing prices. “To get the...

Japan Must Acquire a Taste for Competition

Michiyo Nakamoto August 15, 2008
The Japanese food industry is creative, explains an essay in the Financial Times. But that industry heavily depends on imports. “Contemporary Japan’s rich culinary culture owes as much to the free flow of global trade in agricultural produce as to the creativity of its chefs,” writes journalist Michiyo Nakamoto. About 40 percent of Japanese calories are produced in the country, one of the lowest...

The WTO – Faltering on Its Way to Success?

Edward Gresser August 12, 2008
The recent breakdown in the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations was largely described as “failure” by commentators around the globe. But the goal of eliminating poverty by opening global agriculture markets is ambitious, as negotiators tackled some very sensitive issues. The WTO requires that all 153 member nations reach consensus on any rules, yet despite that challenge, the...

Trade Talks' Failure Weighs on Other Issues

Bob Davis July 31, 2008
The collapse of the Doha trade talks suggest that the motivation for global cooperation is waning. The goal of the Doha round was to eliminate special subsidies and tariffs on agricultural products to boost economies of the world’s poorest nations. WTO rules require that all 153 members reach consensus on such trade decisions. But the emerging economies of China and India looked to protect their...

After 7 Years, Talks on Trade Collapse

Stephen Castle July 30, 2008
In 2001, world leaders set a goal of lifting trade restrictions to improve efficiency and decrease poverty in developing nations – and so the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations began. But over the seven years, the divide between developing and developed nations became more pronounced, and the US, India and China could not agree on measures to protect farmers in developing...

Obama Will Give Free Trade a Rough Ride

Tony Parkinson July 1, 2008
Columnist Tony Parkinson argues that Barack Obama’s hostility towards free trade signals a loss of confidence in US trading partners that threatens, in turn, to cause those partners to lose confidence in the United States. The international community is eager to see an end to George Bush’s unilateralist attitude towards national security. Obama’s unilateralist attitude towards trade, however,...