SOAS International Workshop
“Challenges and Prospects for Commodity Markets in the Global Economy”
A Workshop in Memory of Alfred Maizels
19th -20th September 2008
SOAS, University of London,
Room B102
For further information or to register your attendance at this event, please contact Hannah Bargawi () by the 12th September.
Workshop Programme
Friday 19th September
10: 00 – 10:30
Registration and Tea/ Coffee
10:30 – 11: 00
Welcome: Jeff Waage and a representative from Alfred Maizel’s family.
11:00 – 12:45
Session 1: Commodities and the global economy: Reflections on Alfred’s Maizels life and work
Challenges and prospects for commodity markets in the global economy: An overview (Machiko Nissanke)
Development Finance in the 21st Century (George Mavrotas)
Alfred Maizels’s Legacy (Richard Jolly)
Papers tabled: Commodities, Co-operation, and World Economic Development: The Mission of Alfred Maizels, 1917-2006 (John Toye)
The Poorest, Power and Global Economic Governance (Gerry Helleiner)
CHAIR: Terry McKinley
DISCUSSANT: Raphael Kaplinsky
DISCUSSANT: David Sapsford
12:45 – 13:45
Lunch
13:45 – 15:45
Session 2: The new supply and demand issues in commodity markets
China, commodity prices and the terms of trade (Raphael Kaplinsky)
Commodities still in crisis? (David Sapsford and Stephan Pfaffenzeller)
Crises in Cotton of Francophone Africa: fatality or challenge for multi-dimension cooperation? (Michel Fok)
CHAIR: Adrian Hewitt
DISCUSSANT: Alice Sindzingre
DISCUSSANT: Machiko Nissanke or Andrew Dorward
15:45 – 16:00
Tea/ Coffee Break
16:00 – 18:00
Session 3: Coping with changing environments and structures: Studies on commodity markets, institutions and producers
Tanzania’s agricultural institutions in flux: Lessons from coffee and cotton producing villages (Hannah Bargawi)
Prices and price risks in international coffee chains (Susan Newman)
Comparative analysis of organization and performance of African cotton sectors: Learning from reform experience (Colin Poulton and David Tschirley)
CHAIR: Henry Bernstein
DISCUSSANT: Peter Gibbon
DISCUSSANT: Deborah Johnston
19:00
Dinner (by invitation and prior arrangement only)
Saturday, 20th September
09:30 – 11:30
Session 4: Exploring domestic and international instruments for the management of commodity markets
The impact of copper prices on the Zambian currency (John Weeks)
Exchange rate policy and macroeconomic management in a commodity boom: The case of Zambian copper boom (Elva Bova)
Compensatory finance in the 21st century (Adrian Hewitt)
CHAIR: Christian Haeberli
DISCUSSANT: Jane Harrigan
DISCUSSANT: Stephan Pfaffenzeller
11:30 – 11:45
Tea/ Coffee Break
11:45 – 13:00
Session 5: Commodity markets and the new regulatory issues
An historical account of International Commodity Agreements (ICAs) (Christian Haeberli)
Sustainable standards, agricultural commodities and development (Benoit Daviron)
CHAIR: Richard Jolly
DISCUSSANT: George Mavrotas
DISCUSSANT: Michel Fok
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 16:00
Session 6: Open Discussion: “What next for commodities? Setting an agenda for research and policy”
Paper Tabled: Commodities and International Poverty Trap (Charles Gore)
Global Rules and Markets: Constraints over Policy Autonomy in Developing Countries (Yilmaz Akyüz)
CHAIR: Machiko Nissanke
DISCUSSION PANEL: Michel Fok, Raphael Kaplinsky, David Sapsford, Alice Sindzingre