scholarly journals Faults of the International Trade System: the Notion of Multilateralism in the Retreat

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-46
Author(s):  
Daniel Nagel ◽  
Sorin Burnete

Abstract The indisputable success of the European integration project also prompted other regions of the world to follow suit. On the other side of coin, these regional blocs cultivated free trade within but remained protectionist vis-àvis the outside, thereby impeding the progress of the multilateral trade system. But also the soaring number of WTO member states accompanied by their incompatible interests, its ambitious agenda spanning over 20 diverse issues and, in particular, the single undertaking approach emerged as the Doha’s Round “stumbling blocks”. The utter dismay over the Doha’s Round deadlock has provoked countries to opt for alternative for a outside the WTO in their endeavor to expedite far-reaching trade liberalization. Besides the vast economic growth in Asia and the rise of international production networks, this urge for deeper integration represents one of the central root causes for the most recent wave of PTAs which has been gathering force over the course of the 21st century and increasingly puts the WTO’s raison d’être under critical scrutiny.

Author(s):  
Jesper Rangvid

The chapter discusses theory and empirics regarding long-run economic growth. After reviewing the historical facts, the chapter discusses likely scenarios for long-run growth. The chapter also presents the arguments in a heated discussion where one side argues that growth will be tremendously high going forward, but the other argues future growth will be low. The chapter concludes that it does not seem likely that growth will be superhigh going forward. Will it be very low, then? In Advanced Economies, growth will probably be lower than the historical average, but in other parts of the world, growth will most likely be just fine.


2018 ◽  
Vol 09 (03) ◽  
pp. 1850007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sèna Kimm Gnangnon

The world has experienced in recent years a rising anti-trade and anti-globalization sentiment, which would likely jeopardize recent efforts by the international trade community, in particular Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), to promote multilateral trade liberalization (MTP). The current article investigates the impact of MTP on countries’ terms of trade volatility. Results based on a large panel dataset suggest that MTP exerts a significant reducing effect on countries’ terms of trade volatility. However, this impact appears to be dependent on countries’ development level. The take-home message is that greater cooperation on trade matters, including among WTO Members would help promote multilateral trade liberalization, which would surely contribute to reducing terms of trade volatility, for the benefits of all countries, in particular developing economies.


2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Driskill

This paper argues that, in light of the apparent settled nature of economists’ judgement on the issue of trade liberalization, the profession has stopped thinking critically about the question and, as a consequence, makes poor-quality arguments justifying their consensus. To develop support for this claim, the paper first recounts what economic analysis can say about trade liberalization. Then it analyses the quality of the arguments that economists make in support of free trade. The paper argues that the standard argument made by economists in favour of free trade is either incoherent or implicitly imposes philosophical value judgements about what is good for a nation or society, or it makes leaps of empirical faith about how the world works. The paper concludes with suggestions for better arguments.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. A. Ismail

AbstractThe past decade and a half of the new millennium has ushered in dramatic changes to the architecture of world trade creating both opportunities and challenges for Africa’s development. The paper is critical of the recent paper of the World Bank that resuscitates the approach to trade liberalization and regional integration propagated by the Washington Consensus. The paper argues that African countries should adopt a “development integration” approach to regional integration that seeks to combine trade liberalization, industrial development and infrastructure development. The paper urges the World Bank and Africa’s trading partners from the north and south, such as the EU, the US and China, to work closely with the African Union to advance the negotiations and implementation of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and the African Union Agenda 2063.


2004 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 95-111
Author(s):  
Jose L. Tongzon

The World Trade Organization (WTO) (formerly GATT) was established primarily to achieve free trade across the globe based on the principle of non-discrimination and the process of multilateral trade negotiations. The fact that most countries are members of WTO reflects the worldwide belief in the benefits of a global free trade. Despite its achievements since the first round of multilateral trade negotiations was held, the effectiveness of the process has been called into question. Most WTO members are now proposing new regional trading arrangements (RTAs), such as free trade agreements (FTAs). What implication does these RTAs have for the WTO and ASEAN countries? Should ASEAN countries give regionalism priority over the WTO-based multilateral approach? To answer this questions, this paper will first summarize the motivations behind the formation of RTAs before presenting the merits and demerits of RTAs as an approach to achieve universal free trade and maximize developing countries' welfare. It is argued that despite its inherent limitations it is important for ASEAN countries to remain primarily committed to the principles of WTO and the process of multilateral trade negotiations.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (Sspecial Edition) ◽  
pp. 59-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew McCartney

Pakistan and India were part of that wave of economic liberalization among developing countries from the late 1980s. This paper is about one aspect of that failure to ‘produce the economic magic’, in Pakistan. Pakistan substantially liberalized its international trade after the late 1980s, and contrary to some views managed its exchange rate in an exceptionally clear sighted and prudent manner. In response, Pakistan never experienced sustained and rapid export led-growth. In fact so disappointing was the performance of exports that Pakistan’s degree of integration with the world economy was little higher in 2015 than it had been in 1990. This paper first examines the exciting promise followed by the lackluster performance of trade liberalization. It establishes evidence that the exchange rate was managed in a way that should have helped a more liberalized trading regime contribute to economic growth. The paper explores wider evidence linking trade liberalization to economic growth and argues that the positive relationship is at best only a contingent one. Those contingent factors that have failed to support the positive link between trade liberalization and economic growth in Pakistan are investment, tax revenue, and upgrading/learning.


ETIKONOMI ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hari Nugroho ◽  
N. Haidy Ahmad Pasay ◽  
Arie Damayanti ◽  
Maddaremmeng Andi Panennungi

The studies on human capital and technological progress have given incredible insights on how countries in the world differ from one another. Yet there are more than those two reasons to account for differences among countries. There is a third reason why a country would differ in terms of its economic development progress, namely institutional factors. Hence developing institutional indices would give a deeper explanation than a mere theory. On the other hand, we can corroborate the institutional index with the general theory that low-quality institutions will impact an economy negatively. This study seeks to broaden the understanding of causes of economic growth by incorporating institutional index into a semi-endogenous growth model and finds a relationship between that index with human capital and technological progress


Author(s):  
Badreddine Boudriki Semlali ◽  
El Amrani Chaker

The world is witnessing important increases in industrial, transport and agriculture activities. This leads to economic growth, but, on the other hand, causes substantial damage in urban air, due to emissions of harmful gases, mainly CO, SO2, NO2 and the Particular Matter (PM). The World Health Organization (WHO) confirms that daily exposure to pollutants causes approximately three million deaths. It is therefore necessary to assess continuously the air quality. In this context, a Java-based application was developed to acquire data from EUMETSAT geostationary and Polar Orbit satellites, through the Mediterranean Dialogue Earth Observatory (MDEO) terrestrial station. This application filters, subsets, processes and visualizes products covering Morocco zone. Significant correlations were found between emissions and industrial activities related to power thermal plants, factories, transportation and ports.


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