EU-India Free Trade Talks: In Whose Interest?

WDEV Recent Issues

Issue 3/May-Jun 2009

The G20's unfinished business: The potential of SDRs + Compensating poor food importers + EU strategy on aquaculture + World Bank suspends labour indicator

Issue 2/Mar-Apr 2009

A green recovery is possible + Stiglitz presents interim report + IFM funding and reforms + The wrong side of the global water divide + BRICs call for more say in IFIs

Issue 1/Jan-Feb 2009

On the road to London and beyond: New opportunities for global governance + Aid under pressure + South-South cooperation in global crisis + Global unemployment

Issue 6/Nov-Dec 2008

Race to a New Bretton Woods + Time for UN to Act + Stiglitz' New Economic Compact + China's Agrarian Reforms + Transparency Deficit of IMF and World Bank

Issue 5/Sep-Oct 2008

From Accra to New York to Doha + New Climate Change Funds + The Accra Action Agenda Analyzed + UNCTAD Warns Africa + Ilisu as test case

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WDEV Highlights

"Dead Aid" or Recovering Patient?

Dambisa Moyo's book "Dead Aid" (see reference) has created quite a storm within the development community, which struggles with an appropriate response. However, the reactions have been too defensive, according to Eveline Herfkens.

UN Sees Winter Landscape, No Green Shoots

The United Nations has downgraded its economic forecast for 2009. The world economy is expected to shrink by 2.6% in 2009. Approaching the end of May 2009, the economic landscape remains very winterly with no visible green shoots to be seen which could signal beginnings of a new spring.

The Potential of Special Drawing Rights

The G20 recently endorsed the issuance of $250bn of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) by the IMF, but it made no arrangements for rich countries to transfer their allocations to poor ones. The idea was not even mentioned. Yet that is where the real benefits of an SDR issue would come from. A memorandum by George Soros

Supporting Global Expansion of Aquaculture

Globally, fish is by far the most traded agricultural commodity, and aquaculture is the fastest growing food production activity. Asia is the leader, with 80% of global production. However, with its Aquaculture Strategy of April 2009, the European Commission provides a red carpet to European industry.

Compensating Poor Food Importers

High food prices are putting the health and lives of the world's poorest at severe risk. A mechanism to compensate for the effects of higher import prices on the poor is needed and can be implemented immediately. It must be without conditions. A proposal by Kunibert Raffer.