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Is Development Back in the Doha Round?

South Centre Policy Brief No. 18

By Kevin Gallagher, Timothy Wise

South Centre, November 2009

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
Credit U.S. Mission Geneva (CC).

As ministers reassemble in Geneva amid continuing cries from the developing world that the Doha Development Round has lost its commitment to development, they are hearing another round of estimates about the so-called gains from trade. Each time ministers gather, economists offer new or refurbished projections of how much wealthier the world might be after liberalizing trade.

The upcoming ministerial is no different, and neither, fundamentally, are the projections, notwithstanding one recent claim that an ambitious Doha deal could deliver $300–$700 billion in global welfare gains, with the benefits "well-balanced" between developed and developing countries. These contrast with the World Bank's widely publicized 2005 estimates of global gains from a "likely Doha scenario" of less than $100 billion, with just $16 billion going to developing countries. Did economists find another $150–$350 billion in benefits for developing countries that the World Bank missed in 2005? Is development back in the Doha Round?

The answer, of course, is no. The purpose of this policy brief is to look behind the press releases to examine the recent economic projections, review previous estimates, and put these seemingly large numbers in their proper context. As before, the claims that developing countries will be the big winners from Doha rest on shaky assumptions, controversial economic modeling, misleading representations of the benefits, and disregard for the high costs of Doha-style liberalization for many developing countries. These costs are even higher in the turbulent wake of the triple crises in finance, climate, and food.

Download: Is Development Back in the Doha Round? (PDF, 262.28 K)

Read More: Agriculture, Aid, Debt, Development, Economy, Finance, Globalization, Governance, Poverty, Trade, Global

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