International Institutions and Trade Liberalization: What has been the role of international institutions in promoting trade liberalization, and how successful have they been?

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

3 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

05/21/2008

Category :

Economics & finance

Sub category :

Economics

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Summary :

Introduction
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
The IMF's description of itself
The controversy surrounding the free trade debate
Conclusion
Bibliography

Abstract

When we look at the issue of trade liberalization and we question which international institutions have promoted it, we must ask what exactly is an international institution. In the formal sense, they are seen as "an organization established by multiple national governments, usually to administer a program or pursue a purpose that the governments have agreed upon." (Deardoff, 2005) But in a more broad sense they can be understood as an organization or group with international ties or networks. If we were working with the former definition, we would include institutions such as the UN, IMF, GATT, G8 and OPEC. Working with the latter definition, however, we would have to include the aforementioned groups as well as supranational and regional organizations and areas, such as the European Common Market, NAFTA, and FTAOA as well as NGO's, public pressure groups and TNC's. For the purpose of this essay, I will use the category of 'international institutions' to characterize the first grouping of organizations, relying on Deardoff's definition and thus including the UN, IMF, GATT, G8, OPEC and so forth.