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section 1. Globalization and the millennium development goals -- section 2. Economic and social consequences of globalization -- section 3. Health -- section 4. Education

The concept of sustainability can be analyzed from different viewpoints, including sustaining a high rate without which other goals of a "good life," particularly the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are not achievable. Alternatively, the need for reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is employed to assess sustainability. This essay discusses economic progress in West Asia and North Africa (WANA) relative to other developing regions, its success in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and progress toward achieving the SDGs before discussing the region's emissions of GHGs and CO2. The WANA region has performed relatively poorly economically and its performance has deteriorated since 2008, and the oil countries perform worse than nonoil ones. Low investment rates and worsening external balance bedevil its economic prospects. Prospects for the region achieving the SDGs are much worse than other regions and have become bleaker since COVID-19. The region is a relatively high emitter of GHGs.

James Crabtree, The Billionaire Raj, Harper Collins, 2018, pp. 358+ xxv, ₹799, ISBN 9789353020170 (Hardcover).

The Doha Round of multilateral negotiations is at a stalemate. The aid situation is changing as many countries are graduating from the soft loan arm of the World Bank Group. Developing countries built up their foreign exchange reserves to avoid borrowing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), leading the IMF to retrench. This article explores the evolution of multilateralism from, essentially, its political roots to the economic area after the First World War (FWW), though in a limited way, and more fully after the Second World War (SWW). We then discuss how the workings of these economic multilateral institutions resulted in the current situation, where they risk becoming irrelevant. Finally, the article discusses the possible role of theG20 in the revival of multilateralism and, in particular, the role that developing countries might play in the revival.

Despite developing countries accounting for an increasing share of world income and exports, no significant shift in the ranks of the 25 largest economies by GDP has occurred between 1965 and 2007. And only China, and perhaps India but none of the other large developing economies, would account for a significantly higher share of world income by 2025 or 2050. Furthermore, in terms of per capita income, India would continue to remain relatively poor. We then find that there was no significant shift in economic power between 1990 and 2005 on the basis of an index formed from about 20 indicators of economic power. Next we measured how far countries were from the US on the basis of these indicators. Practically all countries, particularly the European ones, had substantially reduced the lead of the US. But China and India starting far away had moved only slightly closer to the US. The ability to generate new technology is a major factor in the power rankings. China had reduced the lead of the US in technology generating factors whereas India had almost stagnated. Consequently, China's prospects of increasing its power were better than India's.

This paper examines five issues: 1) Recent performance of developing countries in terms of growth, investment and integration with the world economy; 2) The impact of the crisis on these economies; 3) The response of policy makers in these economies to mitigate the adverse impact, in particular, the nature of the stimulus packages implemented in these economies; 4) The role developing countries can play in the recovery of the world economy; and 5) The role of China in the recovery, and, in particular, how to deal with the bilateral imbalance between the US and China. Special attention is paid to the behaviour of the economies of the developing country members of the G20 (DG20).1 Finally, the paper discusses what the crisis has revealed about the interests of Russia, India and China in the world economy and consequently a possible strategy for the G20 which would serve their interests.

This article analyses the performance of the South Asian economies in the context of the evolution of the world economy. Recent years have seen considerable liberalisation of trade and capital flows in practically all countries, particularly developing countries. Trade has, consequently, expanded and developing countries are relying more on private flows than on aid to finance their balance of payments deficits. The performance of most developing countries has suffered since the oil price rises in 1974–77. Asian countries are an exception to this as they have grown rapidly. Growth rates in South Asian countries, after lagging behind those in East Asia, now seem to be catching up. Savings and investment rates have been increasing, as also exports. India, among the South Asian countries, is most likely to maintain a rapid growth rate. Manufactured goods feature more prominently in its economic structure and exports, and manufactures tend to show more dynamism. Also, the rapid growth of exports of commercial services, which have been growing particularly rapidly in the world economy, augurs well for the future.

The article examines the performance of the Chinese, Indian and Russian economies in the context of the world economy. The major features of the world economy has been (i) its slowing down for all regions except Asia since the oil price shocks of 1973–74, (ii) the increasing integration of the different economies as barriers to trade have been reduced, and (iii) increasing importance of private capital flows. While the Russian economy, or that of the erstwhile Soviet Union, was not affected by the oil price shocks other economies apart from the Asian economies were. A major aspect of this effect is the decreasing productivity of capital. An important challenge is how the international economic system can be managed to return the world economy to higher rates of growth. In particular, how can growth rates in the developing world be raised? Trade liberalization must assist in this endeavor. Furthermore, increasing private capital flows have created the potential for destabilizing capital movements. It has been recognized that changes must be made in the international financial system. In this article we examine the interests of China, India and Russia in the international economic system.

A review essay on a book by Francine R. Frankel, India's Political Economy 1947-2004 (New Delhi, India: Oxford U Press, 2005).

An important aspect of international economic governance relates to the demand for coherence among international economic organizations. While there is coherence in the philosophy of the three main international economic organizations as they champion market processes, there is no coherence in short-run economic management or in fostering growth. A framework for growth would be particularly important for developing countries. That developing countries could prevent agreements which were against their interest for a long time, except during the Uruguay Round, was compounded by the fact that those countries could not help further their growth. The Uruguay Round agreements broke away from previous negotiations and included liberalization of trade in agriculture and textiles, sectors of interest to developing countries. The agreements also covered services and trade related intellectual property rights, and ex-tended to issues earlier considered domestic matters such as trade related investment measures. Rules regarding contingent protection and dispute settlement were made more transparent and conclusive. However, exports from developing countries continue to face substantial tariff and non-tariff non-border barriers in markets of the developed countries. The question of forming coalitions to help them achieve their objectives is fraught with many problems. Neither bloc style negotiating where all the developing countries act as a block or issue based coalitions of a mix of developed and developing countries have served their interest. As a result developing countries are still unable to get results that would help them achieve their goal of rapid growth.