Don't Kill Off Doha

It's doom and gloom all around in regard to the Doha Round and even as regards the World Trade Organization itself. But these fears seem overblown. Even if the upcoming WTO summit in Bali in 10 days' time does fail to reach an encompassing deal, something will be saved from the rubble, and nothing prevents the Round from continuing other than the exhaustion of the participants. All existing agreements remain in place; and the WTO's dispute resolution procedures will continue to operate. And by the way, non-WTO trade deals quite often specify that disputes should be dealt with through the WTO. There isn't and can't be any substitute for the WTO. Indeed I'd like to see its quasi-judicial remit extended beyond trade to other fields, say tax treaties and transfer pricing. The OECD is good at constructing sets of rules...Read More »