The effect that emerging regional integration -- such as the European Community, NAFTA and APEC -- may have on efforts to achieve multinational free trade will be the focus of the second Policy Round Table sponsored by the Yale Center for International and Area Studies YCIAS.
Officials from the White House and the International Monetary Fund will be among the experts participating in the round table, titled "Regional Free Trade Areas: Are They Building Blocs or Stumbling Blocs en route to WTO Multilateralism?" The event will take place 4-6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, in the auditorium of Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave. It is free and open to the public.
The individuals from Yale who will bring their expertise to the discussion are Gustav Ranis, the Frank Altschul Professor of International Economics and director of YCIAS, who will chair the round table; Jeffrey E. Garten, dean of the School of Management; and Philip Levy, assistant professor of economics.
Other participants will include: Jagdish Bhagwati, professor of economics, Columbia University; S. Lael Brainard, senior director to the National Economic Council, The White House; Lawrence Krause, director of the Korea-Pacific Program, University of California at San Diego; and Jacques Polak, the International Monetary Fund.
For more information, call Kathleen Rossetti, YCIAS public affairs coordinator, at 432-3413.