World Trade Organization
Protectionism: Alluring but Deadly
IPN Opinion article
Widespread threats and fears of protectionism reflect the experience of the Depression in the '30s but the world economy is very different now: connected international production, consumption and investment mean that protectionists would be poking themselves in the eye. They would also be breaking WTO rules and other agreements that did not exist before. Dan Ikenson offers an optimistic but utterly realistic ray of hope amid the stories of doom and gloom.
Unleashing African Growth
IPN Opinion article
Despite the collapse of the Doha trade talks, some countries are making unilateral reforms to speed up trade: a World Bank report and recent reforms in Africa show there are huge benefits available without any international negotiation or agreeement. Compare this progress with the damage done by aid, perpetuating poverty, corruption and protectionism.
Attacking patents halts progress
IPN Opinion article
The UN's latest climate talks, in Accra, heard much talk about waiving patents on 'green', low-carbon and renewable products which will, somehow, magically, help fight climate change. The real barrier to new technology in most developing countries, however, is high tariff barriers ñ and these barriers are generally higher the poorer the country. What is worse, countries that ignore intellectual property rights chase away the foreign investors so badly needed for growth and for the transfer of technology.
Weep not for Doha
IPN Opinion article
The Doha Round has staggered to a slow death, with dire predictions of what will befall us, but this research shows the cheerful news that trade is expanding massively without the WTO and that unilateral bureaucratic reforms can be even more valuable to trade than tariff reductions.
TRIPping Up Property Rights
IPN Opinion article
After years of campaigning, activists have narrowed the debate about health care in poor countries to a single premise: intellectual property rights restrict access to medicines. But this discussion takes energy away from the things that really matter: infrastructure, doctors, nurses.
IP fixation is bad for health
IPN Opinion article
International NGO campaigns in India have given the misleading impression that patents are the single most important barrier to good health in less-developed countries. This fallacy is drawing attention away from the real causes of disease.
Let citizens tackle powerful producer lobbies to get free trade back on track
IPN Opinion article
Doha was not defeated by intransigent trade negotiators. Rather, the culprits were self-seeking domestic interest groups on all sides, which hinder national governments from making further trade 'concessions'. These producer lobbies exert growing control over sovereign governments, with the consequence that they prevent other, less well-organised, groups of fellow citizens from reaping the considerable benefits of freer international trade and investment.
