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“We need to democratize global governance if we want to promote the interests of developing countries with less power in the world economy.”
Jostein Hauge
Jostein Hauge, Assistant Professor, Development Studies, University of Cambridge
Jostein Hauge is a political economist and an Assistant Professor in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK, based at the Centre of Development Studies and the Department of Politics and International Studies. He is also the Director of the MPhil in Development Studies program and a Fellow of Magdalene College. His research lies at the intersection of international political economy and development economics. He has published in various academic journals and works with governments and international organizations.
Likewise, the EU is turning towards more neomercantilism in response to China. The worrying thing for developing countries is that states with huge financial firepower and capabilities are expanding their national economic power to the detriment of many other countries. Most developing nations simply can’t match the financial muscles of regions like China, the US and the EU. Where does this leave the rest of the world? In some ways, it is good that we see greater acceptance of the role of the state in developing countries. But the Global South needs to come together more strongly to form economic
alliances like trade blocs. The evidence is pretty clear: Countries that are on similar income levels generally benefit more from trade agreements with one another. We should also be cognizant of the fact that institutions that globally govern trade, finance and development like the World Bank, IMF and WTO are largely controlled by the most powerful sovereign states, usually based in the Global North. We need alternatives to this model of global governance and we need to democratize global governance if we want to promote the interests of developing countries with less power in the world economy.
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