Insight for Sunday 13 December 2009

When the global financial crisis hit in September last year, world leaders pledged not to repeat the mistakes of the 1930s and erect the sorts of barriers to world trade which helped create the Great Depression.

A year on, members of the G20 most industrialised nations have, it is claimed, broken that pledge on average every three days, while multilateral talks to free global trade remain stalled.

Now, international talks on global warming threaten to place the Doha round of multilateral trade talks firmly on the back-burner, and the multi-billion windfall for the New Zealand economy that would come from a successful conclusion of the round.

Economics Correspondent, Nigel Stirling, looks at the future of Doha and whether or not the regional deals increasingly being pursued by New Zealand can deliver the same prosperity.

Photo:A ship being loaded at Ports of Auckland. Is the recession prompting new barriers to trade?