Guyana and the Wider World

EPA: Moral Hazard and the Betrayal of the Public’s Interest Perspective Put in a proper analytical frame two crucial considerations have emerged out of my column last Sunday, which continued the analysis of the Guyana Consultation on the CARIFORUM/EC, EPA and its aftermath.

The EPA: Technicality subverts democratic discourses I have already pointed out that the text of the Cariforum-EC; Partnership Agree-ment (EPA) is very long.

Guyana: Trade-in-goods only In last week’s column I had indicated that I would for the next couple of weeks be evaluating the Guyana Consultation on the Cariforum-EC, EPA held on September 5 and its aftermath.

The Guyana National Consultation on the Cariforum-EC, Economic Partnership Agreement   As a participant and presenter I might have been biased, but I believe that by any reasonable standard the Guyana National Consultation on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) held on September 5 at the National Convention Centre was a success. 

Near-term prospects for the Guyana economy: The internal environment US financial intervention The recent unprecedented and spectacular intervention of the US Federal Government into that country’s financial markets is testimony to how serious the risk of financial meltdown is in the USA, and around the world. 

Near-term prospects for the Guyana economy: A tale of ‘falling prices’ (Continued from last week) Recap Several persons have expressed consternation to me over the Bureau of Statistic’s data indicating an overall increase in the price level of consumer items for the second quarter of this year of only one per cent (1%). 

Near-term prospects for the Guyana economy: A tale of ‘falling prices’The surging increases in food and fuel prices have produced considerable economic uncertainty worldwide.

World economic uncertainty: Cause or consequence This analysis of the recent rapid increases in global food and fuel prices along with the strong surge in bio-fuels production and their combined impact on the Guyanese economy would be incomplete without taking into account major uncertainties that have been confronting the global economy in recent times.

Necessary but dangerous: Non-tariff barriers in action in the EPA Last week I had indicated that this week’s column would illustrate the way in which non-tariff barriers are addressed in the Cariforum-EC, Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

Regulating or manipulating agricultural trade: The shoddy practice of non-tariff barriers A central proposition of this analysis of rapidly rising food prices globally, is that the only long-term sustainable solution to this is the reconstitution of global trade along lines that allow for comparative and competitive advantages to be the main determinants of what and which countries export food products.

The harsh reality of global agricultural trade: Artificial competitiveness and the need for safeguards Most observers would argue that, technical and natural considerations apart, the most positive development favouring the stabilisation of global food prices in the long run would be the successful conclusion of the long drawn-out process of global trade reform.