ИПИ Библиотека

Razeen Sally argues forcefully that international trade policy has lost its way. Trade policy has become disconnected from 21st century business and consumer realities. The World Trade Organization and free trade agreements have outdated negotiating models and yield diminishing returns. The world's fastest growing economies are those in Asia that have embraced freer trade and global integration unilaterally, without waiting for trade negotiations. Hence, the priority should be bottom-up unilateral liberalization, with China's opening to the world economy leading the way and setting the example for others in Asia and beyond. Liberalization should now focus more on domestic regulatory barriers. The post-Doha WTO will still be important, but more as a forum for strengthening trade rules than for driving further liberalization. The biggest danger, though, is complacency and reform fatigue, which threatens to halt globalization's advance. Sally makes a vigorous case for the benefits of free trade and provides a penetrating analysis of the dangers confronting the world trading system. Inspired by the precepts of Adam Smith and David Hume, he sets out practical prescriptions for getting trade policy back on the rails as part of a refreshed agenda for freer trade and freer markets that is relevant to the rise of Asia and 21st century globalization. Informative; well-argued; and, above all, highly readable, this book is a stimulating contribution to the emerging debate on where trade policy should go in the post-Doha world.

"This is the most objective, balanced, and thorough book on international trade I've read in the past quarter of a century. Dr. Sally does a superb job of meshing idealism and realism, astutely making the case for unilateral trade liberalization and arguing persuasively that protectionism benefits no one."
--CLAYTON YEUTTER
Former U.S. Trade Representativе

"Razeen Sally brings depth and breadth, both of scholarship and of practical experience, to his task. His restatement of the case for unilateral liberalization is powerful and could not be timelier. His reflections on the prospects for trade policy are lucid and entirely persuasive. This short book is the best and most important volume on trade in years."
--CLIVE CROOK
Columnist, Financial Times

"This short primer provides an excellent, panoramic introduction to the world of trade policy today. Readers will get a clear understanding of the big picture after reading Razeen Sally's splendid book."
--DR. DOUGLAS A. IRWIN
Dartmouth University

Razeen Sally

Razeen Sally is Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), an international economic policy think tank based in Brussels, which he co-founded in 2006. He was on the faculty of the London School of Economics for eighteen years, where he also received his PhD. He has held adjunct teaching, research and advisory positions at universities and think tanks in the USA, Europe, Africa and Asia. He is on the Global Agenda Council for Competitiveness of the World Economic Forum, and was awarded the Hayek Medal by the Hayek Society in Germany in 2011. He is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society. Sally is on the advisory board of the Cato Center for Trade Policy Studies.

Razeen Sally’s research and teaching focuses on global trade policy and Asia in the world economy. He has written extensively on the WTO, FTAs, and on different aspects of trade policy in Asia. He has also written on the history of economic ideas, especially the theory of commercial policy. He has consulted for governments, international organisations and businesses in Europe and Asia, and comments regularly on international economic issues in the media.