ABSTRACT
The chapter begins by identifying the Commonwealth as a plurilateral economic institution. It briefly examines its involvement in the North-South Dialogue of the 1970s and 1980s. It then singles out managing globalisation, especially for the benefit of its poor and vulnerable members, as the Commonwealth’s principal economic aim in the 1990s and 2000s. This is illustrated by examples of issues addressed during this period: debt relief, tax competition, climate change, trade policy (in both multilateral and regional contexts) and the interaction of economics and politics. The chapter concludes that the political factors that united the Commonwealth have also been helpful in its economic role. The international response to the current economic and financial upheavals should be more inclusive than in the past, which would provide opportunities for rising Commonwealth members such as India and South Africa. But the Commonwealth’s collective task would still be to serve all its members, whatever their size or level of development.
