At a Poverty and the International Economy conference in Stockholm in late October a draft Trade, Growth and Poverty paper by senior World Bank researcher David Dollar was strongly criticized by Dani Rodrik of Harvard University. Rodrik argued that Dollar’s “claims regarding the beneficial effects of trade liberalization on poverty have to be seen as statements based on faith rather than evidence.”.
The “extremely misleading” findings were generated from inappropriate indicators of trade openness and a biased base period.