“Collective Political Apathy”

Nice article on the relevant political factors in the failure of the Doha negotiations by Guy de Jonquieres of the FT.

1 thought on ““Collective Political Apathy”

  1. Richard Baldwwin's avatarRichard Baldwwin

    I was chatting with Jim Rollo of Sussex and we came to the conclusion that the real nightmare danger of Doha delayed is that the US and EU get sued at the WTO for their agric programmes but ignore the rulings and respect for the whole DSM slips into the toilet. Big nations lose faith in the WTO system and the world glides gently into a pre-WWI-like trade system dominated by a few hegemons.
    On the other hand, the big prize for the US would be a new “peace clause” that made US farm programme immune to DSM (they had a 10 year peace clause after Uruguay); this might make them settle since it would be a bone for the US special interests who are holding up a deal. A Doha lite outcome is only lite compared to the status quo, but if the delay leads to lots more Brazil-US Cotton ruling, Doha lite might look very significant.

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