Thursday, July 13, 2006

Do trade models answer policymakers' questions?

The Subsidy Watch Newsletter this month offers an interesting debate between Frank Ackerman of the Global Development and the Environment Institute at Tufts and Will Martin of the World Bank about the elaborate economic trade models whose quantitative estimates form a center-piece of rhetorical debate over the current Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations. These negotiations, if they ever get out of their current doldrums, have major implications for U.S. agricultural and food policy.

Beyond the debate, the best part of the newsletter is the robust set of links to explanations (.pdf), sharper criticism, and technical details of the economic trade models.