Does trade raise growth rates of commodity exporters less than those of industrial goods exporters? Do industrial countries gain more from trade? Do world trade booms over the past two centuries help account for the widening gap between rich and poor countries because of some asymmetric growth...

The successful completion of negotiations on the Common Fund has not yet led to the hoped-for break-through for any of the commodity agreements belonging to the Integrated Programme for Commodities (IPC). Opposition, particularly by the industrialised countries, but also by individual producer...

After five years of tough negotiations at numerous conferences about an integrated Programme for Commodities (IPC) the participating countries agreed in March 1979 on basic and operational regulations for the key instrument of this programme, a Common Fund. In its present version it is closely...

Weighty objections have been raised against stabilization of commodity markets through agreements. The drawbacks of commodity agreements can, however, be largely overcome if the rigid theoretical notion of a price fixed strictly for a long period is abandoned.