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Multilateral Disciplines and the Question of Policy Space (No. 38)

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USD 8.00 Publisher: TWN
ISBN: 978-983-2729-88-4
Year: 2009
No. of pages: 96
Size of book: 16.5cm x 24cm
Author: Yilmaz Akyüz
About the Book

In a world characterized by increasing interdependence, there is a strong rationale for multilateral disciplines over national economic policies. To be effective in promoting global economic stability, however, there should be coherence among such disciplines in the various spheres of economic activity as well as an appropriate degree of flexibility for domestic policy-making.

Current multilateral arrangements come up short on both these fronts. Coherence is lacking between the international systems of trade – which is governed by a rules-based regime with enforceable commitments – and finance – where there are no multilateral disciplines over macroeconomic and exchange rate policies of systemically important countries. Furthermore, the multilateral trade and finance arrangements impose tighter effective constraints on policy-making capacity in developing countries compared to developed countries, unduly eroding the former’s policy space to pursue their development objectives.

This paper argues the need for reform of the existing multilateral disciplines to enhance coherence between trade and finance and to strike a better balance among countries. The author offers specific suggestions towards this end but also points to some areas where significant policy space for developing countries still exists within the present framework of multilateral disciplines.


About the Author

YILMAZ AKYÜZ is former Director of the Division on Globalization and Development Strategies at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).


Contents

1. Introduction

2. Issues at Stake
Economic openness and policy autonomy
The rationale for multilateral disciplines 10 Shifting objectives of multilateral disciplines

3. Multilateral Constraints Over Policy Autonomy
Asymmetry and incoherence between trade and finance
International monetary and financial disciplines
WTO rules and obligations

4. Conclusions

References
 

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This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 18 January, 2012.


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