Discussion on Poverty and The WTO: Impacts of the Doha Development Agenda
01 Feb '06
10 min read
2. There are important findings in the book which have political implications, e.g. that the poor as well as the rich stand to gain in Brazil. She emphasised that this was a "political book" and that studies of this nature are not undertaken for their own sake, but to influence policy outcomes
3. Policy is still the most crucial element in development. It is an important tool to offset the negative effects and reinforce the positive effects of liberalisation.
Sherman Robinson made the following points:
1. Heterogeneity is a key factor - it is very difficult to generalise from the country studies. The impact on unemployment in Brazil for example was not replicated in Indonesia. Trade is only part of the story and must be complemented by other policies.
2. Infrastructure building still needs attention - the gains made from market liberalisation can be lost in the high cost of getting products from the border to the market.
3. In the aid for trade debate, he suggested aid could be used at the micro level to provide assistance to raise productivity and therefore improve countries' ability to trade.
Floor debate
The discussion covered the following points:
1. The impact of price increases on the urban poor. The speakers replied that a trade-off is necessary between gains for the rural poor and costs for the urban poor.
2. Trickle-down wealth is sufficient to lift the poor out of poverty. Winters replied that countries with poor policies and a weak tax base frequently fail to benefit from trickle-down, as evidenced in many Latin American countries.
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