The Doha Round

From VoxEU.org comes two audio interviews dealing with issues to do with the current round of world trade negotiations, the Doha Round. First there is an interview with L Alan Winters, Professor of Economics at the University of Sussex and who was recently appointed chief economist at the UK’s Department for International Development. He talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about the current round of world trade negotiations – the benefits of reaching an agreement; the dangers of failure; the conflicting aspirations of different interest groups; and the relationship between trade liberalisation and poverty reduction in developing countries.

Next there is an interview with John Whalley, Professor and William G. Davis Chair in International Trade, Department of Economics, University of Western Ontario. Just ahead of the ‘mini-ministerial’ of the World Trade Organisation, which is intended to conclude the Doha Round, Whalley talks to Romesh Vaitilingam about the prospects for reaching an agreement. He notes the potential conflict between the trade liberalisation agenda and the big global issues that have emerged since the Round was launched in 2001, notably national security and climate change.