Trading blocks, again

This week we are finally discussing trading blocks, so do read the material I had posted a month ago on this blog. You can go directly to the post in question by clicking here.

Bhagwati's evaluation of regional deals rules: "...termites in the trading system"! Don't forget to include that in a relevant question!

ADDENDUM: I was just reading again the Economist leader "A second-best choice" and I noticed the comments from readers. They are interesting as they express the dissatisfaction that exists with the WTO process and its bias in favor of developed nations. Quoting bits from a couple of comments:

The WTO trade deal, from a developing countries point of view, is highly flawed as it lets the developed world exploit its competitive advantages (e.g., banking, services, etc) while not allowing the developed world to exploit its - cheap farming.

or,

Is US justified in imposing tariffs to protect 1% of GDP while other countries are asked to open up their market to be plundered? Beats me !

Check them out - you will get a flavor of why the Doha Round has to this point failed.