III/08A Trade and Finance

The course will cover one of the five functions of the WTO, as set out by section III.5 of the WTO Agreement, namely Policy Coherence between the WTO and other international organizations, in particular the IMF and the World Bank. One of the focus of the Coherence Mandate from the WTO perspective is the relationship between financial and monetary developments around the world, on the one hand, and trade and trade policies on the other. The event of financial crises, including the most recent one in 2008/2009 have severe consequences on global trade flows and exert pressures on national trade policies with requests for increased protectionism. The course will provide concrete examples of coordinated policy responses (the G-20 trade finance initiative, the trade policy monitoring mechanism) to deflect the impact of financial crises on trade. Besides, on-going exchange rate fluctuations and their impact on trade will be discussed, particularly in the context of WTO and IMF existing provisions and coherence mechanisms.  

We welcome interested individuals as weekly students in this course. As a weekly student you do not need any knowledge of the field to participate. The price of signing up to this course as a weekly student is CHF 500.

In order to participate in this course, join our MILE Programme or sign up as a weekly student. Contact us if you require more information and we will gladly be of assistance.