STWR - Share The World's Resources

Mexico’s experience with NAFTA underscores the need to reform international trade agreements. Governments must shape new policies that respect the right to development and protect the environment, says a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

In response to the global economic downturn, the World Bank has prioritised middle-income nations over the poorest countries and ignored the key social and environmental outcomes of its financing, finds a report the Heinrich Böll Foundation.  

As international commerce expands, the costs are often borne by people at the bottom of the economic ladder. If they have to cross borders in search of their livelihood, trade can become a driver of increased migration, explains Peter Costantini.

WTO director general Pascal Lamy's claim that the poorest will benefit from the conclusion of the Doha round is utterly without foundation. The negotiations should be abandoned and a new process put in place to undo the damage of past trade liberalisations, argues John Hilary.

With a new lease on life in the wake of the financial crisis, the IMF is now enforcing damaging economic reforms on those countries already struggling with the effects of the collapse. Instead, such harsh restructuring should be applied to the institution itself, writes Jayati Ghosh.

The IMF claims to have become more flexible in its lending requirements to cash-strapped countries. Yet as this joint report indicates, the Fund is still imposing inappropriate conditions on borrowers that will erode social protection for the poor.

Whilst the richest countries remain firmly in control of the IMF and World Bank, replacing the G8 with the G20 will have little impact on the balance of global economic power. Meaningful reform of the world economy is still a long way off, argues Mark Weisbrot.