Download Uruguay Round.

and Washington
Consensus
Uruguay Round
 The Round came into effect in 1995 and has been
implemented over the period to 2000 (2004 in the case
of developing country) under the administrative
direction of the newly created WTO.
 The Round transformed GAAT (General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade) into WTO.
 The main objectives of the Uruguay Round were:
 to reduce agricultural subsidies
 to put restrictions on foreign investment, and
 to begin the process of opening trade in services like
banking and insurance
Washington Consensus
 The concept and name of the Washington Consensus
were first presented in 1989 by John Williamson, an
economist from the Institute for International
Economics.
 Williamson used the term to summarize the
commonly shared themes among policy advice by
Washington-based institutions at the time, such as the
International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and U.S.
Treasury Department, which were believed to be
necessary for the recovery of Latin America from the
economic and financial crises of the 1980s.
List of recommendations
 Fiscal policy discipline;
 Redirection of public spending from subsidies ("especially indiscriminate subsidies")
toward broad-based provision of key pro-growth, pro-poor services like primary
education, primary health care and infrastructure investment;
 Tax reform – broadening the tax base and adopting moderate marginal tax rates;
 Interest rates that are market determined and positive (but moderate) in real terms;
 Competitive exchange rates;
 Trade liberalization – liberalization of imports, with particular emphasis on elimination
of quantitative restrictions (licensing, etc.); any trade protection to be provided by low
and relatively uniform tariffs;
 Liberalization of inward foreign direct investment;
 Privatization of state enterprises;
 Deregulation – abolition of regulations that impede market entry or restrict competition,
except for those justified on safety, environmental and consumer protection grounds,
and prudent oversight of financial institutions; and,
 Legal security for property rights.
Agreements
 Under this consensus were created NAFTA (North
American Free Trade Agreement)and DR-CAFTA
(Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade
Agreement) agreements
Criticisms of the Washington
Consensus policies
 The economists, such as Joseph Stiglitz and Rodrik,
who have challenged what are sometimes described as
the ‘fundamentalist’ policies of the International
Monetary Fund and the US Treasury for what Stiglitz
calls a ‘one size fits all’ treatment of individual
economies. According to Stiglitz the treatment
suggested by the IMF is too simple: one dose, and
fast—stabilize, liberalize and privatize, without
prioritizing or watching for side effects