'Trade Blocs' analyzes both the political and economic benefits of trade blocs. It addresses the implications of these new forms of trading arrangements, and analyzes the policy options that countries now face. The book comes to some of the following conclusions: - Selecting high-income countries as partners may be the best option for developing countries in terms of potential for income convergence over time. - There is no evidence to suggest that regional agreements either aid or impede (WTO-based) trade liberalization efforts. - Economic gains depend on securing an effective increase in...

Globalization is already a powerful force for poverty reduction as societies and economies around the world are becoming more integrated. Although this international integration presents considerable opportunities for developing countries, it also contains significant risks. Associated with international integration are concerns about increasing inequality, shifting power, and cultural uniformity. 'Globalization, Growth, and Poverty' focuses on globalization in terms of growing economic integration resulting from the increased flow of goods and services, people, capital, and information. The...

Despite the vast number of books and reports on tropical deforestation, there's confusion about the causes of forest loss and forest poverty, and the effectiveness of policy responses. 'At Loggerheads' seeks to describe ways to reconcile pressures for agricultural expansion in the tropics with the urgent needs for both forest conservation and poverty alleviation. It diagnoses the causes and impacts of forest loss and the reasons for the association of forests and poverty. It looks at how policies modulated by local conditions act simultaneously on deforestation and poverty, creating tradeoffs...