BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: NO BASIS FOR CONCLUDING THE DOHA ROUND OF NEGOTIATIONS. By Kevin P. Gallagher and Timothy A. Wise, April 2008. Research and Information System for Developing Countries Policy Brief. Negotiators continue to work desperately to achieve a breakthrough in the World Trade Organisation’s Doha Round. Their goal is to get an agreement by the end of 2008. In this policy brief published by the Indian institute Research and Information Systems (RIS), the authors review the economic projections, from the World Bank and other institutions, that show how limited the gains are for most developing countries and how high the hidden costs of an agreement could be. With projected gains of less than 0.2 percent of GDP, poverty reduction of just 2.5 million people (less than 1 percent), tariff losses of at least US$63 billion, and projected declines in the relative value of exports, developing countries have little to gain from rushing to conclude Doha. To access the policy brief, please refer to http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/rp/RISPolicyBrief36DohaMay08.pdf.
THE GROWTH REPORT: STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINED GROWTH AND INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT. Commission on Growth and Development, May 2008. This report analyses, among other issues, whether developing countries can grow as fast as the fastest growing economies without causing global greenhouse gases to spiral out of control. The answer is negative unless technology and new techniques are used to “radically” reduce the amount of energy needed to produce goods, as well as cut CO2 emissions, says the growth report. The report is the result of two years’ work on the requirements for sustained and inclusive growth in developing countries led by 19 experienced policymakers and two Nobel prize-winning economists. The report is available at http://www.growthcommission.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=96&Itemid=169.
TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: A NOTE ON ISSUES, SOME SOLUTIONS AND SOME SUGGESTIONS. By Krishna Ravi Srinivas. Asian Journal of WTO and International Health Law and Policy, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 81-120, March 2008. This article discusses the issues in intellectual property protection for traditional knowledge. After discussing the definitional issues in traditional knowledge, it examines the current global debates on this issue. It identifies some solutions and provides an analysis of the solutions. It then highlights the North-South divide in this issue and the predicament of the south in finding an acceptable solution. It ends with some suggestions for arriving at a solution and argues that there is a need to go beyond intellectual property rights to resolve this issue. This paper is available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1140623.