Economists in favour of Remain largely agree that leaving the EU will deal a considerable blow to UK exports to Europe and weaken Foreign Direct Investment, which could lead to an increase in unemployment and a fall in GDP... Read Full Article »
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 Full Article »
Ed Fast for the WTO! This is not to do down Pascal Lamy, who soldiers on gamely with the Doha Round, but even this determined marathon runner has to get tired sometime, and when he does, Ed would be a good replacement. He has bone-dry free trading credentials, on display once again this week as he took a 30-strong delegation of Canadian business-people to Russia. You do have to wonder slightly what they are going to sell each other: hockey players? snow-ploughs? But that's the wonder of free trade: once the barriers are down, all kinds of amazing things happen. In BT 50 (an alternative calendar, BT for before taxes, round about 1900, and AT for after taxes) my great-great grandfather made money buying eggs in Kazan (that's where Ed was this week) and selling them in Rochdale. Who could have guessed it? Read Full Article »
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