UNCTAD update

UNCTAD gets fresh mandate, "after a huge battle between developing and developed countries": the G77 hung together and resisted attempts to silence it or narrow its mandate.  the Guardian's Poverty Matters Blog has this: Unctad is astute and progressive – so why don't developed countries like it?  For several of the reasons Vijay Prashad explained, such as:

"Some explanations for the apparently surprising attitude of developed countries can be found from the informal statements made by certain negotiators. One such representative of an important developed country told his counterpart from a major emerging market economy that they "did not want Unctad to engage in intellectual competition with the IMF"!"

The author follows that with "Intriguing, isn't it? Such people are usually all for competition in everything (certainly in labour markets) – except, apparently, ideas."