If we had the numbers in front of us, what would a fair “global-bang-for-the-buck” stimulus package look like? George Gray Molina argues that the bailout debate is about different things in the developed and developing worlds, making the global stimulus question one of politics, not technical detail.
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27 Apr 2009 / George Gray Molina
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06 Apr 2009 / Kevin Watkins
The G20 deal was an extraordinary achievement. But for all the positives, it’s important to recognise what the G20 has not delivered. If one of the benchmarks for measuring success is delivery for sub-Saharan Africa and the world’s poorest countries, the outcome is mixed at best – and disappointing at worst. The result is somewhere around 5/6 out of 10.
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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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02 Apr 2009 / Paolo De Renzio
Despite all the statements and rhetoric to the contrary, there is little doubt that foreign aid from rich countries will contract as a consequence of the global financial crisis. Averting such further impact of the global crisis calls for urgent and innovative solutions to both the quantity and quality of foreign aid. Proposals to increase aid in times of crisis require important institutional reforms aimed at addressing the shortcomings of the existing aid system. While political appetite for such reforms may not be high at the moment, extraordinary times require extraordinary solutions. The G20 and other development actors need to step up to the plate.
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02 Apr 2009 / Rajaie Batniji
The G20 meeting in London will bring together leaders focusing on the global economic crisis. The financial crisis could contribute to a health crisis poor countries. The G20 can take actions to avert a health crisis. We spell these actions out in a policy brief available here.
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02 Apr 2009 / Kizzy Gandy
The current media discourse around the G20 summit can broadly be divided into two camps: There are those who are critical of the agenda because it neglects issues such as climate change and international development; and there are those who doubt whether any substantive agreement can be reached amongst such a diverse set of nations with diverse interests. A worrying trend lamented by both camps is the 47 major measures to restrict trade which have been implemented by several countries since the last G20 leaders’ summit in Washington.
What is missing from the discourse and what underpins all of these concerns is the endogenous nature of the global financial crisis.
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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.
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23 Mar 2009 / Roberto Bouzas
Roberto Bouzas
The challenges faced by developing countries and sustainable development regarding global economic governance are not substantially different from those faced by the developed world. In fact, both groups of countries share common challenges.
The first and most urgent challenge is to revive the multilateral trade regime. In the last half century, trade has been the policy area in which the international community has made the most strident progress towards cooperation. In the last decade, however, the effectiveness of the international trade regime has eroded under the weight of a changing international and domestic landscape (a new balance of power, an expanded membership, the emergence of new constituencies, and the development of uncharted regulatory areas). These structural transformations were underway well in advance of the financial crisis, but a creeping recession and mounting protectionist pressures have sharply deepened existing tensions.
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23 Mar 2009 / Shuaihua Cheng
Guest blogger Shuaihua Cheng provides a Chinese perspective on global trade governance and the economic crisis, focusing on the upside of a downturn.
The most critical problem facing global trade governance at this moment is that we have focused too much on problems at the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is dangerous to disregard the fact that the WTO has functioned well as a stabilizer of basic global economic order amidst economic turmoil.
