BBUS 480 Discussion questions for Nov 22 04

What is the WTO? What is the GATT? How are they related? How are they different?

"The WTO is part of a 'master plan' for global institutions that was developed after World War II." Comment.

What is the TRIPS agreement? What is the Doha Declaration on TRIPS? Does the agreement and the declaration "solve" the problem of fundamental differences in philosophy regarding intellectual property, as we read about in the Steidlmeier article?

How does the TRIPS agreement reduce risk for international firms? (More fundamental questions: What type of risk is this? What are the other types of international business risk?)

The TRIPS agreement is example of an international "institution" that has been targeted by critics of "globalization." State the argument against globalization that these critics would make. How is the WTO implicated in this criticism? How are regional trade agreements implicated in this criticism?