Economic data
Why the world still needs World Trade Organisation
The World Trade Organisation has spent much of its recent life being told it is obsolete. In its World Trade Report 2026 launched last month, the Geneva-based body tells us what would happen if the rules are simply allowed to ‘wear away.’ It says the outcome would be quite expensive for the global economy. It models a world that breaks into rival geopolitical blocs and finds global GDP would be 5.1 per cent lower by 2050 than it would otherwise be, with exports dropping by 18.6pc. In a harsher scenario, where multilateral cooperation collapses, GDP falls 6.9pc and exports by nearly 27pc. Set