Prepared for Link Conference

1. Trade and development Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. (Keynes, 1936, p. 383) Just as 'practical men ' are 'the slaves of some defunct economist ' (ibid.), when policy makers and negotiators argue over what types of Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) in trade can best promote development or the interests of developing countries, they are making implicit assumptions about what 'development ' is and about whether and how policy and trade can influence this. They are also influenced by contemporary perceptions about the characteristics of 'developing countries ' and about what normal, non-special treatment is or should be. Increases or decreases in effective assistance to developing countries by other means, such as aid, also alter the need for using trade for development. Suggesting that ‘special ’ treatment in trade will help development assumes that trade matters for development; that it is a significant influence, even a determining influence, on the success or failure of countries ' strategies for development. This is not a universal view, and certainly not a traditional one. Histories of developed countries ' industrial transformation