Trading System Vijay Laxman Kelkar This paper examines the economic factors that have changed the world economy in a fundamental sense, compared to the Bretton Woods system of the fifties, as the quantitative change due to rapid post-war economic growth led to striking qualitative changes. The author discusses the implications for the developed and developing countries of the new wave of technological innovations which has emerged on the world scene as well as the insights of the new trade theories regarding optimal trade policies in the presence of oligopolistic market structures and increasing returns to scale. Against this background, the elements of a new international trading system, based on multilateralism, transparency and universality with the accelerated development of the developing countries as one of the primary objectives are outlined.
