Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 9 • Number 5 • 16th February 2005
Resources
ECONOMIC GROWTH IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: STYLISED FACTS, EXPLANATIONS, AND FORCASTS. By Norman Loayza, Pablo Fajnzylber, and Cesar Calderon. World Bank, March 2005. This book analyses whether economic reforms have been beneficial to growth in Latin American and the Caribbean. It also recognises that growth is driven by a variety of factors; in some cases poor growth is due to insufficient structural reforms (e.g., low trade openness), in others to inappropriate stabilisation policies (e.g., exchange rate overvaluation), and still in others to negative international conditions (e.g., growth slowdown in industrial countries). This book examines the growth performance of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, explains the underlying sources of their economic growth, and designs a strategy for further growth. For more information visit http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=4544835.
STATE AND TRENDS OF THE CARBON MARKET 2004. By Franck Lecocq. World Bank, March 2005. State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2004 examines the status of the emerging market for greenhouse gases emissions allowances and greenhouse gases emission reduction projects, the "carbon market." This study shows that the market has been growing steadily over the past years, with demand still heavily concentrated and supply shifting from Latin America to Asia. This book also explores the determinants of the price of carbon, showing that, in the absence of a standard contract for the purchase of emission reductions, the structure of the transaction has a strong impact on the price. For more information visit http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=4600134.
PRIVATIZATION IN LATIN AMERICA: MYTHS AND REALITY. Edited by Alberto Chong, Florencio Lopez de Silanes. World Bank, February 2005. This book evaluates the empirical evidence on privatisation in a region that has witnessed a decline in the state’s share of production over the past 20 years. It is a compilation of recent studies that provide a comprehensive analysis of the record of and accusations against privatisation, with important recommendations for the future. Seven countries are investigated: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. For more information visit http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=3809081.
SHRIMP’S PASSPORT: HOW INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGENCIES MONITOR AMERICA’S FAVORITE SEAFOOD. By Public Citizen, February 2005. The World Trade Organization (WTO), which enforces global rules regarding the exportation of farm-raised shrimp, prioritises deregulation to the benefit of large corporations and the detriment of small-scale fishermen and coastal communities both in the producing and the consuming nations. In the wake of new trade negotiations on Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA), which target fisheries and seafood production as a priority area for greater deregulation and liberalisation, millions of people in developing countries are being threatened by the exploitation of natural systems to create more shrimp farms. Most shrimp farms are in Southeast Asia, where labor and environmental standards are considerably weaker than in the United States. For more information visit http://www.shrimpactivist.org.
THE WASHINGTON CONSENSUS IS DEAD! LONG LIFE THE META-NARRATIVE. By Simon Maxwell. Overseas Development Institute, January 2005. The Washington Consensus has been replaced by a new and improved orthodoxy, called here the ‘meta-narrative.’ It emphasises the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as an over-arching framework, and lays out the link between the MDGs, nationally owned poverty reduction strategies, macro-economic policy (including trade), effective public expenditure management and harmonised aid in support of good governance and good policies. The current meta-narrative can be improved by paying more attention to rights, equity and social justice, to the problems of ‘infant economies’, and to issues of aid policy and aid architecture. For more information visithttp://www.odi.org.uk/publications/working_papers/wp243.pdf.