Halting the spread of protectionism
18 Dec 2008, London
Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
What world leaders must do to halt the spread of protectionism
Organizer: Richard Baldwin and Simon Evenett
When incomes, investment and jobs are under threat, national governments try to cushion the blow - sometimes by erecting new trade barriers. The current crisis is no exception. According to the latest data from the WTO and ITC, the number of antidumping cases jumped 40% in the first half of 2008, and many nations have already raised tariffs this year. The magnitude of the new protection is modest - so far. As the recession spreads and deepens globally, this could change - especially if world leaders lose control of the situation. Protectionism and competitive devaluations could trigger a vortex of beggar-thy-neighbour policies.
In early December, VoxEU.org, CEPR's online policy portal, assembled 17 leading trade scholars from around the world to write short essays on the issue. The resulting ebook: "What world leaders should do to halt the spread of protectionism" (edited by Richard Baldwin and Simon Evenett) was aimed at the world's trade ministers who were planning to meet in Geneva in December in an attempt to rescue the WTO negotiations known as the Doha Round. That the talks have now been cancelled brings sharper focus and relevance to the important issues that have been raised in the publication.
CEPR and the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) organized a high-level, policy-oriented event designed to engage senior figures from government, academic, business, NGO and media communities in a focused discussion and debate on how to avoid the return of protectionism. The 18 December meeting heard from three leading experts in international trade
- Richard Baldwin (Graduate Institute and CEPR, and also Editor-in-Chief of VoxEU) spoke on the theme of 'Trade and the Global Economic Crisis'. You can listen to Baldwin, download a transcript of his remarks or view his presentation here.
- Patrick Messerlin (Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris) spoke on 'What should have been done and what to do now'. You can listen to Messerlin, download a transcript of his remarks or view his presentation here.
- Marc Auboin (Economic Counsellor, Trade and Finance Division, WTO) spoke on the topic of 'The drying-up of trade finance in periods of financial crises'. View his presentation here
Richard Portes, CEPR's President, and Ken Warwick, BERR's Deputy Chief Economic Adviser, introduced the speakers; Guy de Jonquières, formerly with the Financial Times, moderated the discussions.
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