The Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations has passed its ten-year anniversary unspectacularly and the question is now how to salvage a decade of frustrating progress. Yet even with a new ‘Ministerial’ of the World Trade Organisation being held in mid-December, this column argues that an interim agreement for poor countries and trade is sadly out of reach.

A recent G20 communiqué on the Doha Development Agenda has got economists excited. According to a new book introduced in this column, negotiators now have an opportunity to critically assess what is on the table and to develop a more relevant agenda and more effective ways of achieving reforms. The book aims to provide empirical evidence to inform the choices ahead.