A FAIR GLOBALISATION - CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL. World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation (February 2004). The World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation, chaired by Finnish president Tarja Halonen and Tanzanian president Benjamin William Mkapa was established by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in February 2002. After undertaking extensive consultations on the impact of globalisation across the world, the Commission delivered a final report, which concludes that "The current process of globalisation is generating unbalanced outcomes, both between and within countries. Wealth is being created, but too many countries and people are not sharing in its benefits". The report goes on to recommend reforms at all levels, from the local to global governance, in its vision, and strategy, for change. For more information and to access the report, visit http://www.ilo.org/public/english/wcsdg/index.htm
TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT IN THE WTO: AFTER CANCÙN. By Duncan Brack & Thomas Branczik (RIIA Sustainable Development Programme Briefing Paper, February 2004). The story of the trade and environment debate in the WTO is one continued failure to make any substantial progress in rewriting WTO rules - but significant changes in the way in which existing rules have been interpreted to deal with environmental concerns. This briefing paper examines the ways in which the expansion of trade may sometimes conflict with and sometimes support environmental regulation; highlights the main areas of trade-environment tensions, over product standards, processes and production methods, and trade measures in multilateral environment agreements, and considers the politics behind the debate. To access the report visit http://www.riia.org/pdf/research/sdp//T&EFeb04.pdf
US TRADE STRATEGY AFTER CANCUN: PROSPECTS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SACU-US FTA. By Peter Draper and Mills Soko (South Africa Institute of International Affairs, 24 February 2004). This report examines contemporary US trade strategy; its prospects; and implications for the proposed SACU-US FTA negotiations. To this end, it deals with six issues. First, the paper traces the historical origins of US trade policy. Second, it explains the shifts which US trade policy underwent in the 1970s and 1980s, laying the foundations for contemporary US trade strategy. Third, it discusses American trade strategy under the present Bush administration. Fourth, it analyses the motivations of both the US and SACU for the mooted FTA negotiations. Fifth, it outlines potential consequences for SACU of the FTA negotiations, drawing on lessons learnt from the experiences of the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), the Central American Free Trade Area (CAFTA), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and the US-Australia FTA. It concludes by reflecting on some future challenges stemming from the envisaged SACU-US trade deal. To access the report visit http://www.wits.ac.za/saiia/online.htm
SUGAR POLICIES: OPPORTUNITY FOR CHANGE. By Donald Mitchell (World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, February 2004). Noting that sugar is one of the most policy distorted of all commodities, the author argues that internal changes in the EU and US sugar and sweeteners markets and international trade commitments make change unavoidable and provide the best opportunity for policy reform in several decades. The nature of reforms can have very different consequences for developing countries. The benefits of sugar policy reform are greatest under multilateral reform, and according to recent studies, the global welfare gains of removal of all trade protection are estimated to total as much as $4.7 billion a year. In countries with the highest protection net imports would increase by an estimated 15 million tons a year, which would create employment for nearly one million workers in developing countries. World sugar prices would increase by as much as 40 percent, while sugar prices in countries that heavily protect their markets would decline. To access the report visit http://www.worldbank.org/prospects/workingpapers/Sugar%20Policy%20Opportunity%20for%20Change%20-%20WP%203222%20Feb%202004.pdf
"Trade, the Pollution Haven Hypothesis and the Environmental Kuznets Curve: Examining the Linkages". By Matthew A. Cole in ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS 48 (1, 2004) pp. 71-81. This paper examines the extent to which the EKC inverted U relationship can be explained by trade and specifically the migration or displacement of ‘dirty’ industries from the developed regions to the developing regions (the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH)). Using detailed data on North-South trade flows for pollution intensive products the evidence for the PHH is assessed. Emissions of 10 air and water pollutants are then estimated, controlling for trade openness, structural change and `dirty’ North-South trade flows. Evidence of pollution haven effects is found, although such effects do not appear to be widespread and appear to be relatively small compared to the roles played other explanatory variables.
"The Growth and Distributional Consequences of International Trade in Natural Resources and Capital Goods: A New-Austrian Analysis". By John Proops in ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS 48 (1, 2004) pp. 83-91. The problem explored is the role of natural resources in economic growth. A neo-Austrian model is constructed which can represent either a single, autarchic country, or a pair of trading countries, one of which can export natural resources and the other can export manufactured capital. It is shown that under autarchy, the price of the natural resource has no effect on economic growth, while under conditions of trade, it has a significant influence. Falling natural resource prices slow the growth in the resource exporting country and stimulate it in the capital exporting country. Some policy implications of this finding are explored.
"The Globalisation Timeline". By Ward Rennen and Pim Martens in INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT 4 (3, 2003) pp. 137-144. Globalisation is a complex phenomenon; it is the interactive co-evolution of millions of technological, cultural, economic, social and environmental trends at all conceivable spatiotemporal scales. Given this complexity, any attempt to give a satisfactory definition of globalisation is doomed to failure. Rather, it makes sense to take a pluralistic approach, analysing past and current processes taking place in multiple domains. In this paper we therefore identify key historical landmarks of economic, political, technological, social-cultural, and environmental developments that have pushed the process of globalisation further. Using the globalisation timeline prevents a simplification of the complexities involved in approaching globalisation, while allowing a flexible definition of contemporary globalisation.