Don’t waste your energy tweaking at the margins.

This was the crux of Hunter Nottage’s presentation at GEG on 24 October, on the integration of developing countries in the WTO legal regime.

Nottage is Counsel at the Advisory Centre on WTO Law, a Geneva-based non-profit organisation tasked with offering litigation, legal advice, and legal training services to developing countries. Established six-and-a-half years ago, the ACWL aims to reduce the asymmetry of access to the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Mechanism by responding to financial constraints and lack of legal expertise that many developing countries face. It has participated in 20 per cent of all DSM activity and lost only one case to date. But the core of Nottage’s presentation was to challenge some of the received wisdom, arguing that in order to improve access to the DSM, it was necessary to reform trade rules rather than focus on procedural changes for disputes.

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“We are living in economic chaos. Banks, homes, jobs, and businesses are at risk.

Yet curiously, the one thing that seems stable is the dollar.

It is a symbol – and a lever – of American power and leadership. It is the standard unit of account for much of the world’s economic activity. And in times of crisis, it has often seemed a safe haven.

But in the longer term, some experts believe this crisis could mark a turning point in the dollar’s fortunes, hastening a fall from power which has seen its value decline over several years before its recent rally.”

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