The failure of the WTO trade talks is unfortunate and may weaken the multilateral trading system, accelerating the move to bilateral agreements. All countries, regardless of the justification of their stance, must ask if safeguard mechanisms are really the issue on which they should be playing endgame. Is that not yesterday’s battle?
Current high food prices illustrate deep-rooted problems all along the agricultural supply chain, rather than simply demand-supply imbalances. Given its inefficiencies, it is best to bypass that system and the WFP is in the enviable position of being able to do so.
Is it possible to have both a welfare state and a dynamic economy? Sweden offers hope that it is. Ironically, however, the countries best placed to establish sustainable welfare systems might be the ones most skeptical of them.
My last two posts (here, here) on the role of the state in providing education and conversely questioning that of the private sector, resulted in some very illuminating responses from both sides of the spectrum. As a result, I will soon followup with an additional post highlighting previously unaddressed issues in this debate (and welcome other [...]
Liberal economists suggest our public schools are terrible, and private schools are the answer. Yet, sufficient evidence exists that public schools are, in many cases, even better than private ones.
The failure of India’s primary education system deserves a solution. Yet, privatization is neither necessary, nor sufficient, and cannot be embarked upon without debating the desired balance between quality and equity.
Kosovo’s independence fundamentally weakens the case for multi-ethnic societies and for a multi-ethnic, “integrated” Europe.
India would benefit from a collective response to global warming, but in the short term a unilateral strategy of high emissions growth is better. How can India ensure the optimal outcome?