Friday 6 June 2008

Doha ad infinitum


World trade talks are dull enough even to make only passing mentions in the serious media, let alone getting near the television news. Big Brother need not worry over its ratings.

However, the latest round of trade talks, called Doha after the city at which they were launched, are close to falling over. With the US presidential election in sight, the US trade representative has little wiggle room. Also India and China flex their muscles more these days and are not prepared to do deals. The EU too, as always never keen to give up farm subsidies, is not a leader of the pack.

All in all, the outlook is bleak and it could be years before there is another free trade agreement. All of which is a shame as a new agreement is exactly what the world needs to help it through the bad economic situation in which it finds itself.

The growth of protectionsim is no good for anyone, not poor african farmers who cannot access foreign markets and not UK banks, caught by protectionist US rules.

Still at least Europe is represented by one of our foremost minds and most capable leaders, Peter Mandelson. Surely if anyone can get an agreement going it is an ex-communist, who twice had to leave the UK government on sleaze grounds?

11 comments:

Old BE said...

If only NL were ex-communists. They are full blown reds, even now - especially Brown and Straw. These people really worry me.

Prodicus said...

A CV like that makes Mandelson the perfect EU Commissar. Sorry. Commissioner.

Anonymous said...

Don't they count as Reds - it's more that they've combined the Authoritarian tendancies of the communists with the pro-big-business tendancies of the right to fuse into something that managed to be nasty AND useless.

Anonymous said...

for ex-communist read "someone who is a communists through and through since the earliest years but realised it wasn't popular with the voting public so toned down the rhetoric for the benefit of individual political advancement whilst maintaining a close affection for the cause". They learned everything from Neil Kinnock who "expelled Militant Tendency from the Labour Party" i.e. made the Marxist wing look less obvious.

CityUnslicker said...

Agree with all your comments. Andy has it right though - the worst of all world's loving big business and protectionism.

So much for the European Free market!

Anonymous said...

Many years ago I was marginally involved in one of Doha's predecessors known as the Kennedy Round (held in Geneva). I could not understand why all the ladies in the typing pool sniggered each time they had to type up the minutes of the meetings with the Canadians on raw furskins....

I wonder if they still discuss these things?

CityUnslicker said...

Anon - yes, everything with an import or export duty is discussed.

Anonymous said...

Dearieme: "the technical term for that is Fascist."

My thoughts exactly. Now if we could bring about the same fate for them as el duce...

Anonymous said...

@ anonymous 8:00 pm

It is for that reason that our armed forces are kept continually overstretched and out of the country. Just as the Germans and the Italians needed to be rescued by an outside power from the governments that they had allowed to take power, so we in Britain now need to be rescued by an outside force. And there are none.

Jeremy Jacobs said...

"Still at least Europe is represented by one of our foremost minds and most capable leaders, Peter Mandelson. Surely if anyone can get an agreement going it is an ex-communist, who twice had to leave the UK government on sleaze grounds?"

Love it

Anonymous said...

aaaa片, 免費聊天, 咆哮小老鼠影片分享區, 金瓶梅影片, av女優王國, 78論壇, 女同聊天室, 熟女貼圖, 1069壞朋友論壇gay, 淫蕩少女總部, 日本情色派, 平水相逢, 黑澀會美眉無名, 網路小說免費看, 999東洋成人, 免費視訊聊天, 情色電影分享區, 9k躺伯虎聊天室, 傑克論壇, 日本女星杉本彩寫真, 自拍電影免費下載, a片論壇, 情色短片試看, 素人自拍寫真, 免費成人影音, 彩虹自拍, 小魔女貼影片, 自拍裸體寫真, 禿頭俱樂部, 環球av影音城, 學生色情聊天室, 視訊美女, 辣妹情色圖, 性感卡通美女圖片, 影音, 情色照片 做愛, hilive tv , 忘年之交聊天室, 制服美女, 性感辣妹, ut 女同聊天室, 淫蕩自拍, 處女貼圖貼片區, 聊天ukiss tw, 亞亞成人館, 777成人, 秋瓷炫裸體寫真, 淫蕩天使貼圖, 十八禁成人影音, 禁地論壇, 洪爺淫蕩自拍, 秘書自拍圖片,

做愛的漫畫圖片, 情色電影分享區, 做愛ㄉ影片, 丁字褲美女寫真, 色美眉, 自拍俱樂部首頁, 日本偷自拍圖片, 色情做愛影片, 情色貼圖區, 八國聯軍情色網, 免費線上a片, 淫蕩女孩自拍, 美國a片, 都都成人站, 色情自拍, 本土自拍照片, 熊貓貼圖區, 色情影片, 5278影片網, 脫星寫真圖片, 粉喵聊天室, 金瓶梅18, sex888影片分享區, 1007視訊, 雙贏論壇, 爆爆爽a片免費看, 天堂私服論壇, 情色電影下載, 成人短片, 麗的線上情色小遊戲, 情色動畫免費下載, 日本女優, 小說論壇, 777成人區, showlive影音聊天網, 聊天室尋夢園, 義大利女星寫真集, 韓國a片, 熟女人妻援交, 0204成人, 性感內衣模特兒, 影片, 情色卡通, 85cc免費影城85cc, 本土自拍照片, 成人漫畫區, 18禁, 情人節阿性,