Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy 2007: 2008 trends

This year’s edition of Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy is divided into seven chapters. Chapter I contains an analysis of recent trends in the main industrialized and emerging economies and reviews the possible impact of the financial crisis that began in the United States on the world economy and on the economic and trade performance of Latin America and the Caribbean. The effect of the crisis on the prices of commodities (especially food and oil) and the implications for growth, inflation and the region’s external sector are also examined. Lastly, the chapter looks at the region’s trade figures for 2007 and projections for 2008. Chapter II describes recent developments in the Doha Round, including documents disseminated in July 2008 on negotiations relating to agriculture and non-agricultural market access. It also provides a summary of the main advances and obstacles emerging from those negotiations, with emphasis on the repercussions for Latin America and the Caribbean. Chapter III discusses some new trade-related topics: (i) new security requirements for freight transport; (ii) the development and legal status of private quality standards; (iii) the state of play in discussions on trade and labour rules; and (iv) the debate on the links between climate change, trade and the multilateral trading system. It is argued that these and other issues will be on the international agenda for the next few years and that the region must begin to form unified positions on such topics. Chapter IV examines recent progress in regional integration and the main initiatives under way in the region’s integration schemes (the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), the Andean Community, the Central American Common Market (CACM) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)).