Issue
No. 683, 16-28 February 2019
Big
Tech’s foray into finance carries promise and risk – BIS
*Click on cover to download (PDF)
Opportunities
and risks from Big Tech’s entry into finance
The provision of financial services by large technology companies
can increase the efficiency of and access to such services, but also
generate risks relating to financial stability, market competition
and use of data, says the Bank for International Settlements.
by Chakravarthi Raghavan
South
faces defining moment on “development-friendly” WTO reforms
The WTO reform agenda is becoming a battleground for competing visions
and proposals advanced by member states.
by D. Ravi Kanth
South
countries establish “common platform” on WTO reform
Developing-country trade diplomats gathered at a retreat on 19 June
to discuss how to achieve inclusive and development-centred reform
at the WTO.
by D. Ravi Kanth
Concerns
over US push to bring TPP rules into digital trade deal
Proposed new rules on digital trade being discussed in ongoing plurilateral
talks could mainly mirror the norms under the stillborn Trans-Pacific
Partnership trade pact.
by D. Ravi Kanth
E-commerce
rules promoted in name of women’s economic empowerment
A recent workshop on women in digital trade heard pitches for international
rules on electronic commerce but did not adequately address concerns
about the impact of such rules on women in the developing world.
by Kinda Mohamadieh
India,
South Africa stress on policy space over e-commerce duties moratorium
India and South Africa have urged a rethink of the current halt to
customs duties on electronic transmissions, saying it impairs developing
countries’ tariff revenues and impedes their digital industrialization
prospects, but their call has met with opposition led by the developed
countries.
by D. Ravi Kanth
UN’s
development goals far from being met
The world is falling short of realizing the Sustainable Development
Goals set in 2015, according to a new UN report described as “a wake-up
call to governments”.
by Thalif Deen
Opinion:
Transforming society, financialization destroys social solidarity
Under the pervasive phenomenon of financialization, key aspects of
social security, housing and education have been reduced to financial
products to be bought and sold.
by Michael Lim Mah Hui and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
