Issue No. 580, 1-15 Nov 2014
US and India strike deal on trade facilitation, food stocks

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US, India resolve impasse on TFA/food security issue
A deal has been struck between the US and India that looks set to break the stalemate in the WTO surrounding the issues of trade facilitation and public food stocks.
by Kanaga Raja

As TPP talks miss third deadline, opponents claim momentum
A trans-Pacific free trade deal continues to elude intergovernmental negotiators as opposition to what is seen as its pro-corporate bias mounts.
by Carey L. Biron

South Centre concerned over US pressure on India’s IP regime
Pressure exerted by the US on India to tighten the latter’s intellectual property norms could hinder the Indian government’s ability to protect the public interest, an intergovernmental developing-country think-tank has cautioned.
by Kanaga Raja

Obstacles to development arising from the international system
To the extent that it undermines structural transformation and improvements in productivity, the international economic system places barriers in the way of national development efforts.
by Manuel F. Montes

Bridging the rich-poor divide
The global gap between the haves and the have-nots has reached new extremes and is still growing, with ruinous effects on economic, political and social well-being. But the continued rise of inequality is not inevitable, and governments can take action to build a fairer economic and political system, insists a new Oxfam report “Even It Up”, the executive summary of which is reproduced below.