Over the past few years, Grinnell students have protested at meetings of the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. Which elements of their critique have the greatest promise of ensuring benefits of globalization for both the developing and the developed world? This talk will review the functions of these organizations and identify the policy measures that have proven most contentious as developing countries have come to play a bigger role in the world economy and the scope of these organizations has changed. Arcane terms such as dispute settlement procedures, special and differential treatment, intellectual property protection, conditionality, and structural adjustment are at the heart of these considerations. A goal of this session is that we reach an informed understanding of them.

John Mutti, Sidney Meyer Professor of International Economics, has a B.A. from Earlham College, and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. He spent time in the Peace Corp in Columbia and has served as an international economist in the Office of International Tax Affairs at the US Treasury Department. His primary research focus is on international economics and public finance and his interests are in international trade, investment and tax policy