Aid For Trade
A Report for the Commonwealth Secretariat
- Overview
For several years, the governments of many developed countries have argued that “trade not aid” is the answer to the problems of the developing countries. The insincerity of their approach has been revealed in successive rounds of trade negotiations in which they have been reluctant to open their markets to poor countries. And more recently their claims have also been exposed as fundamentally inaccurate as liberalization fails to result in either export growth or development for the poorest countries. This poor outcome is not the result of a Machiavellian plot to cheat the developing countries, but certainly the outcomes of trade deals are determined by real politik and the special interests in developing countries. The good intentions of trade negotiators get lost along the way. Developing countries face enormous challenges in expanding exports and greater adjustment costs and greater barriers to seizing new opportunities. The international trade regime has not provided a level playing field, and if we are to increase the chances of a development round leading to development, not only must there be a more level playing field, but there must also be aid to help developing countries.
About the Authors
Andrew Charlton
Research Fellow
London School of Economics
Andrew Charlton is a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics. He has taught at Oxford University and been a consultant for the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, The United Nations Development Program and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Joseph Stiglitz
Co-President
Initiative for Policy Dialogue
Joseph E. Stiglitz is co-founder and Executive Director of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia University, for which he also co-chairs the macroeconomics, Capital Market Liberalization, and Intellectual Property task forces. Dr. Stiglitz holds joint professorships at Columbia University's Economics Department and its Business School. From 1997 to 2000 he was the World Bank's Senior Vice President for Development Economics and Chief Economist. From 1995- 97 he served as Chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers and as a member of President Clinton's cabinet. From 1993 to 1995 he was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers. He was previously a professor of economics at Stanford, Princeton, Yale, and All Souls College. Dr. Stiglitz is a leading scholar of the economics of the public sector and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 in addition to the American Economic Association's biennial John Bates Clark Award in 1979. His work has been recognized through his election as a fellow to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Econometric Society, and the British Academy.
Publication Information
| Type | Working Papers |
| Program | Trade |
| Download | 249kb pdf |
| Posted | 03/01/06 |
