Kent Jones

Doha Blues

Institutional Crisis and Reform in the WTO

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

The collapse of the Doha Round hangs heavily over an already troubled world economy. Some have concluded that this failure is simply the result of a lack of political will and a pre-occupation with issues such as terrorism. But as Kent Jones reveals in The Doha Blues, the World Trade Organization needs serious structural changes, not just political backbone. He shows for instance that the WTO-now with 153 members-has become increasingly unwieldy in terms of concluding trade agreements and he suggests that countries organize around specific platform positions, a strategy that would make the "holy grail" of consensus once again possible. Jones also argues for financial support for poorer countries so that they can participate effectively in negotiations and he contends that the principle of the "single undertaking" (that "there is no agreement until everything is agreed") has become a serious and perhaps crippling constraint, and must be modified. Jones is a leading authority on trade policy and his book illuminates the real stumbling blocks to trade liberalization and highlights the way around them.

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The Doha Blues investigates the failure of WTO members to conclude the Doha Round of trade negotiations, focusing on the "institutional friction" that has developed since the Uruguay Round. The legacy of GATT traditions, new WTO rules, the expanding scope of the trade liberalization agenda and the expanding WTO membership, have combined to make it extremely difficult for countries to reach consensus. The book concludes with recommendations for improving the environment for trade liberalization.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Sydney University Press
• Seitenzahl: 254
• Erscheinungstermin: 5. November 2009
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 236mm x 155mm x 23mm
• Gewicht: 567g
• ISBN-13: 9780195378825
• ISBN-10: 0195378822
• Artikelnr.: 26569687

Autorenporträt

Kent Jones is Professor of Economics at Babson College. He specializes in trade policy issues, particularly industrial adjustment to import competition. His current research focuses on the World Trade Organization. He has served as a consultant to the National Science Foundation and the International Labor Office and as a research associate at the U.S. International Trade Commission, and was senior economist for trade policy at the U.S. Department of State.

Inhaltsangabe

* 1.: Introduction: The Doha Blues. (Recounting the evolution of
problems in the WTO since the Uruguay Round in reaching consensus,
the difficulties in launching the Doha Round, and the breakdown of
the negotiations in 2006)
* 2.: Accession Problems: Towards a Universal Trade Institution
* 3.: The Green Room and its Alternatives: Building a System of
Representation
* 4.: Dispute Settlement: Seeking a Balance between Politics and Law
* 5.: Coherence: Building Trade Capacity into WTO Negotiations
* 6.: Getting over the Blues: Political Will and Institutional Reform.
Creating a Re-energized Trade Liberalization Machine (Specific
proposals as outlined in the four points above; the continued need
for leadership and political will; overcoming the North-South divide,
other concluding comments, etc.)