In The News

It has been four difficult years since the Doha Round of free trade talks began in 2001. The proponents of free trade now find themselves in retreat across the world. The Bush Administration has stuck to its free-trade guns, but finds itself increasingly unable to deal with a protectionist electorate and hamstrung by the President's lack of "fast track" trade negotiation...

Success at the Doha Round of world trade talks would be a major step towards reducing poverty in developing countries. Looking back over the last four decades and focusing on East Asia and China, where trade has been instrumental in surmounting poverty, it is obvious that trade, not aid, is responsible for successful development. The opportunity of the Doha Round is crucial for the Middle East...

The Doha Round meeting of the WTO is still weeks away but observers are already writing its epitaph. A former senior trade official of Singapore envisages an unsatisfactory conclusion to the trade negotiations in Hong Kong this December, mainly because of its likely failure to reach agreements on agricultural and services liberalization. But there may not be any clear cut “villain” responsible...