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11. Can Doha Still Deliver on the Development Agenda?

Author:
Kimberly Elliott
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
The Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, so named because it was launched in the Qatari capital, is in deep trouble. Negotiators have yet to meet any of the interim deadlines for completing the talks, and they missed another at the end of April 2006. While it is still possible to finish the round by early 2007, the odds are diminishing by the day, and this deadline matters more than most. Trade promotion authority (TPA) in the United States will expire in June 2007, and if the round does not make significant progress before then, TPA might not be renewed, and the round would likely drag on for several more years.
Topic:
Economics, International Organization, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
United States

12. Negotiating the Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement

Author:
Jeffrey J. Schott, Scott C. Bradford, and Thomas Moll
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Five years ago the Institute published Free Trade between Korea and the United States? by Inbom Choi and Jeffrey J. Schott, which analyzed the potential benefits and costs of pursuing a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA). At the time, neither government had vetted the idea in bilateral consultations, though some business groups in each country—and some members of the US Congress—had voiced support for deepening US-Korea economic ties through an FTA.
Topic:
Economics, International Organization, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
United States, Asia, and Korea

13. Labor Standards, Development, and CAFTA

Author:
Kimberly Ann Elliott
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
The Miami Summit launching the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process recognized that free markets and free societies work best when they work together. The core labor standards — freedom of association and the right to organize and bargain collectively, freedom from forced labor, the abolition of child labor, and freedom from discrimination — are part of the summit - FTAA process because they strengthen both markets and democracy. These core standards are broadly recognized as fundamental rights to which all workers are entitled, regardless of the level of development of the country or the sector where they work. And, in an environment that promotes democracy and market - oriented economies, as the FTAA is intended to do, there is no trade - off between these principles and development; indeed, they become mutually reinforcing.
Topic:
Human Welfare, International Organization, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance

14. Further Financial Services Liberalization in the Doha Round?

Author:
Wendy Dobson
Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Recent evidence demonstrates strong links between developing countries' long-term growth and financial reform. Deputy Treasury Secretary Kenneth Dam has suggested that developing countries can transform their domestic financial sectors into "engines of growth."
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, International Organization, and International Trade and Finance

15. Economic Issues Raised by Treatment of Takings Under NAFTA Chapter 11

Author:
Edward M. Graham
Publication Date:
11-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
This working paper examines, from an economic perspective, the treatment of takings (property rights) under NAFTA Chapter 11. To be more precise, the paper examines the treatment of takings as environmental groups fear might be established as the result of investor dispute settlement under this chapter; as of the date of this writing, most of the cases that have the potential to be precedent-setting have not been finally decided, albeit one—the Metalclad case—has been decided in a way that is unsettling to environmentalists. The author attempts to determine whether requiring public compensation of private investors for diminishment of value resulting from government regulatory action has the potential of achieving anything close to an “optimal” outcome from a societal cost-benefit point of view (defined below). This determination makes use of tools of economic analysis and, in particular, Coase's theorem regarding achieving optimal outcomes where negative externalities are present. The overall conclusion is that, although Coase's theorem can be invoked to argue that such an outcome can be achieved either via a “polluter pays” approach or a “public pays” (or “public must compensate”) approach, as a matter of practical application, the first approach is preferable to the second for a number of reasons, including government “fiscal illusion” and “moral hazard.”
Topic:
Economics and International Organization
Political Geography:
United States, Latin America, and North America

16. IMF Structural Conditionality: How Much Is Too Much?

Author:
Morris Goldstein
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
“...detailed conditionality (often including dozens of conditions) has burdened IMF programs in recent years and made such programs unwieldy, highly conflictive, time consuming to negotiate, and often ineffectual.” “The IMF should cease lending to countries for long-term development assistance (as in sub-Saharan Africa) and for long-term structural transformation (as in post-Communist transition economies)...The current practice of extending long-term loans in exchange for member countries' agreeing to conditions set by the IMF should end.”
Topic:
Economics, International Organization, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Africa

17. Strengthening the International Financial Architecture: Where Do We Stand?

Author:
Morris Goldstein
Publication Date:
10-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
It's not easy to get senior economic officials worked up about the functioning of the international monetary system. Usually, they are preoccupied with the more immediate issues surrounding the national and global economic outlook. But the Mexican peso crisis of 1994-95 and, even more so, the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 made crisis management important for the economic outlook and pushed many of the otherwise arcane issues in the so-called “international financial architecture” (hereafter, IFA) to the front burner of economic policy.
Topic:
Economics, International Organization, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Asia and Mexico

18. Does Talk Matter After All? Inflation Targeting And Central Bank Behavior

Author:
Adam S. Posen and Kenneth N. Kuttner
Publication Date:
09-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Since 1990, a number of countries have adopted inflation targeting as their declared monetary strategy. Interpretations of the significance of this movement, however, have differed widely. To some, inflation targeting mandates the single-minded, rule-like pursuit of price stability without regard for other policy objectives; to others, inflation targeting represents nothing more than the latest version of cheap talk by central banks unable to sustain monetary commitments. Advocates of inflation targeting, including the adopting central banks themselves, have expressed the view that the transparency and communication of the inflation targeting framework grant the central bank greater short-run flexibility in pursuit of its long-run inflation goal.
Topic:
Economics, International Organization, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy