There are countries that do not fall under the prevailing definitions of developed and developing country that are employed by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO fails to take into account the special circumstances and needs of these countries. While such special circumstances and needs...

States can defend themselves in cases alleging that they have violated investment treaty obligations on the grounds that situations of economic crisis required that they take emergency action. Likely defenses are the customary international law doctrines of necessity and force majeure, although...

The main strength of today's international monetary system – its flexibility and adaptability to the different needs of its users – can also become its weakness, as it may contribute to unsustainable growth models and imbalances. The global financial crisis has shown that the system cannot...

China's infrastructure-based Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is challenging the US-led Western International Economic Governance Order (hereafter the Western order) that has been in place since the end of World War II, reflecting a global shift in power and influence from the United States to...

Decisions by arbitral tribunals in investment treaty cases do not have formal precedential status. Yet certain issues recur, and prior decisions at the least provide guidance to later tribunals. The content of the most frequently invoked substantive treaty provisions - the obligations to accord...

The number of hungry in the world has crossed the one billion mark, a dubious milestone that has been attributed in large part to consecutive food and economic crises. Over ninety-eight percent of these individuals live in the developing world. Ironically, a great majority are involved in food...

Iceland is a member of the IMF and of the WTO, a party to the European Economic Area Agreement, and a signatory of the OECD Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements. Iceland is bound by Art. VIII IMF not to impose restrictions on current payments. Furthermore, under the GATS, Iceland cannot...

The United States is the largest contributor to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, providing resources in exchange for voting power in these international financial institutions (IFIs). While the Treasury Department manages U.S. participation in these institutions, Congress...

Capital controls have been adopted by emerging economies to change the volume and the composition of capital flows and to protect the economy from sudden stops. The effectiveness measured by empirical studies has remained inconclusive, due to the limitation of the available data. This paper...

One of the most often committed mistakes in economic reasoning is the supposition about continuity of economic processes. Yet what dominates in reality is the process of permanent changes which sometimes happen not in a linear but in a cascade way. It must be acknowledged that the capitalist...