In late 2009, Oxford University’s Global Economic Governance Programme convened an Expert Taskforce on Global Knowledge Governance to propose a set of principles and options for the future of the global knowledge governance. To contribute to their work, the Expert Taskforce invites you to take part in a short international survey on Global Knowledge Governance and Intellectual Property. To complete the survey, please follow this link: www.surveymonkey.com/s/globalknowledgegovernance.
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21 Jul 2010 / Carolyn Deere
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20 Nov 2009 / Carolyn Deere
In this blog, GEG’s Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck argues that Ministers should use this Ministerial Conference to take leadership and push discussion of institutional reform and governance higher up the multilateral trade system’s official agenda.
With just over one week remaining before the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference (30 November – 2 December 2009), WTO reform and the functioning of the [...]
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20 Nov 2009 / Carolyn Deere
The Global Economic Governance Programme is pleased to announce the release of a discussion draft of Strengthening Multilateralism: A Mapping of Proposals on WTO Reform and Global Trade Governance, by Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck and Catherine Monagle, and jointly published with the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD).
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02 Apr 2009 / Carolyn Deere
The G20 leaders’ communiqué today has provided a vital boost for global trade, but several important trade-related commitments – to developing countries, to sustainable development and to multilateralism – were disappointing or missing. With a further G20 meeting scheduled before the end of the year, leaders must now deepen and expand their trade agenda to address these shortfalls. At the same time, they must acknowledge the democratic deficits of the G20 and explore more inclusive alternatives for global economic decision-making – in particular those that would ensure greater representation of the world’s poorest countries.
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27 Mar 2009 / Lawrence J. Lau
Guest blogger Lawrence J. Lau makes the case for keeping the trade door open, outlining options for China and the world.
The “open door” policy was a critical component of the economic reforms China introduced in 1978, opening the country to the outward and inward flow of goods and services, of capital, and of people.
Deng Xiaoping’s government brought China into the globalised economy, expanding international trade and attracting foreign direct investment, which brought with it capital, technology, markets, new business models and methods needed after decades of relative isolation. It permitted hundreds of thousands of Chinese scholars to go abroad for exchange and advanced study, and let foreign experts become involved with China. The “open door” underpinned the extraordinary growth of the Chinese economy over the past three decades.
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27 Mar 2009 / Carolyn Deere
Trade ministers have not met for a broad-ranging WTO Ministerial Conference since the launch of the Doha Round in 2001. At the G20 London Summit, governments should call for a full Ministerial Conference in Geneva to be held this year.[1]
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27 Mar 2009 / Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz
Guest blogger Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz makes the case for how to de-risk and de-carbonize global trade through better governance.
The past 12 months have seen trust demolished. In addition, daily uncertainty about the fundamentals of the economic environment have resulted in generalized anxiety about the future. Not the ideal conditions for a rapidly changing world to confront the daunting challenges facing it.
The world economy entered the twenty-fi rst century at a high speed of globalization. In most parts of the world and across borders, economic activity thrived as never before, driven by a cocktail of technological change, hastily multiplying and available capital, and freshly abundant and readily available labour. As a result, local and national economies, and their societies, today find themselves tightly interlaced into the dense fabric that was so swiftly weaved.
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27 Mar 2009 / Caroline Dommen
Guest blogger Caroline Dommen offers her views on how human rights can help define priorities for the governance of global trade.
Developing countries have been struggling for years to have their trade-related concerns recognized and acted on by their developed country counterparts. In parallel, civil society groups have been calling attention to ways in which international trade policy can go counter to development, sustainability, and equity objectives.
The current financial crisis, following close on the heels of the food crisis, reveals structural problems with the global economic system. Governments have reduced their regulatory role, leaving many elements of the system to private actors. Whilst some people have profited handsomely from new trading opportunities opened up by technological advances and by liberalization policies, others have suffered.
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26 Mar 2009 / Sylvia Ostry
Guest blogger Sylvia Ostry reflects on the challenges for the trade system amidst the financial crisis
If there was ever any doubt about the close, even intimate, relationship between trade and finance in the global economy, the statement issued by the G20 leaders on 15 November 2008 put that doubt to rest. In that document – wide ranging and complex – the G20 tasked several national and international organisations with implementing enunciated principles for reform of financial markets and an initial set of specific measures, including high-priority actions to be completed by the end of March 2009.
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23 Mar 2009 / Dominique Njinkeu
Guest blogger Dominique Njinkeu sets out the challenges facing Africa in the current economic crisis, highlights the and makes the case for a stimulus package for Africa to address shrinking trade.
The current global downturn is a crisis emanating from advanced economies rather than from bad policies on the part of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. African economies will nevertheless be affected through a variety of international trade-related channels, including reduced commodities prices and exports receipts, foreign direct investment and equity flows, exchange rate fluctuations, and remittances. Trade is already shrinking, growth declining, and unemployment rising. The associated losses for SSA countries are forecasted at over USD 50 billion in 2008-2009. Unless appropriate solutions are identified and swiftly implemented, the crisis risks undermining the achievements of three decades of policy reform, thus further reducing the possibility of achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals. Fortunately, such solutions exist that could even turn the crisis into opportunity for African countries.
