Essay on Finance Articles Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

On Finance Articles - Essay Example To fulfil Doha's mission to alleviate global poverty, the developed world must at the minimum, be prepared to waive tariffs and quotas on exports from countries officially declared least developed. However, they are loath to do so due to domestic compulsions. Studies carried out by the World bank show that if tariffs and quotas were to be totally done away with, it could "boost income in developing countries by $86 bn and pull an extra 30 million people out of poverty". However, the models used by the World bank do not factor in all possible variables and hence the figures are debatable, some other models for example predict a reduction in poverty by 2% for every 1% increase in income, but with globally variable distribution patterns. The Doha talks also suffer from a misplaced sense of priorities. In concentrating only on slashing tariffs in the agriculture sector, it is focussing its efforts on the one area where it is least likely to have any positive impact on the economies' of the least developed countries. It is felt that if subsidies are removed, world food prices will rise, hurting the consumers, the majority of whom are in the least developed countries. ... This is a major achievement in itself. For a change, the developing and least developed countries have a forum in which to voice their legitimated grievances. Partnerships between countries such as between China - Brazil - India have also highlighted the growing clout of these emerging economies and their willingness to stand up to the developed world to counter what they perceive as 'economic imperialism'. References The Economist, December 10th 2005, pp 75-76. ARTICLE 2 - NEW FRIENDSHIPS AND PETROPUZZLES China's unquestionable thirst for oil in the world market is well known, as it seeks to sustain a booming economy, with China's oil demand shooting up by 15% in 2005. A major share of China's oil supplies come from Saudi Arabia and the interdependence between China and Saudi Arabia is evident from the fact that King Abdullah's first official trip outside the Middle East was not to the United Sates but to China. A growing economy should have resulted in a corresponding growing demand for oil. However, China once again confounded al experts by disclosing that its oil demand fell by 0.2% in 2005. Other experts, however, scoff at these figures and maintain that demand actually rose by between 6.4% and 8% in line with economic trends. If China's figures were to be believed, then the OPEC might have to consider cutting production in order to maintain oil prices, even though parallel events in Nigeria and Iran fuelled speculations about a possible rise in oil prices. In Nigeria, attacks by militants resulted in a decrease in production by about 200,000 barrels per day (bpd). Iran's nuclear ambitions and threats to cut production in the face of