"There is a fundamental shift taking place in the world economy to which the multilateral trading system has failed to … interests largely in the rich countries, is running out of steam; (ii) the world economy is moving broadly from conditions of … commonality of interests and scope for give-and-take on these new issues make multilateral cooperation worth attempting. "--World …

"For decades the world's agricultural markets have been highly distorted by national government policies, but very … restrictiveness indexes. It then exploits a global agricultural distortions database recently compiled by the World Bank to generate … a sample of 75 countries that together account for more than three-quarters of the world's production of those …

"Despite recent reforms, world agricultural markets remain highly distorted by government policies. Traditional … sector policies are generated without a formal model of global markets or even price elasticity estimates. "--World Bank web …