THE CONTINUING COMMODITY CRISIS OF DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES

Since the early 1980s the dominant feature of the international commod ity markets has been a sharp downtrend in prices, though short-term in stability has also remained excessively high for many commodities. Int ernational policy should therefore be focused on supply management to raise depressed levels of commodity prices. The problem of short-term commodity price instability is best tackled by a series of internation al buffer stocks, rather than by hedging on the financial markets, a t echnique which has serious limitations for exporters in developing cou ntries.