Global multilateral trade talks have stalled. The latest phase of negotiations—the Doha Round—was initiated in 2001 and yet there is no end in sight. According to Pascal Lamy, the director general of the World Trade Organization, an agreement on Doha by the end of the year is unlikely, even though a deal would provide a boost to the global economy. In contrast, there has been a proliferation of negotiations on super regional preferential trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (ASEAN+6), and the US-EU free trade agreement (TTIP). Is the world fragmenting into competing trading blocs? How would these agreements impact regions excluded from negotiations, such as Africa? What are the wider implications of the current developments for global trade and the global economy? Please join us for the first program in our spring 2013 Global Economy Series with Jagdish Bhagwati, as he discusses the future of global trade.

Jagdish Bhagwati is a University Professor at Columbia University and a senior fellow in international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has made pioneering contributions to the study of development, globalization, international trade, foreign aid, and immigration. He also writes frequently for leading media worldwide.

His latest book, coauthored with Arvind Panagariya, Why Growth Matters: How Economic Growth in India Reduced Poverty and the Lessons for Other Developing Countries, and his book Termites in the Trading System: How Preferential Agreements Undermine Free Trade, will be available for purchase and signing following the program.

More on this event here.