Confounding Ockham's Razor: Minilateralism and International Economic Regulation

10 Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law, 2016, Forthcoming

25 Pages Posted: 18 Jan 2016 Last revised: 30 May 2018

See all articles by Eric C. Chaffee

Eric C. Chaffee

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Date Written: January 16, 2016

Abstract

In Minilateralism: How Trade Alliances, Soft Law, and Financial Engineering Are Redefining Economic Statecraft, Chris Brummer embraces the complexity of the global economic system and its regulation by exploring the emerging role and dominance of varying strands of economic collaboration and regulation that he collectively refers to as “minilateralism.” In describing the turn toward minilateralism, Brummer notes a number of key features of this new minilateral system including a shift away from global cooperation to strategic alliances composed of the smallest group necessary to achieve a particular goal, a turn from formal treaties to informal non-binding accords and other soft law, and the willingness of governments to resort to financial engineering to achieve their goals. While doing so, Brummer’s book explores how and why this shift from multilateralism to minilateralism has occurred, and he discusses the issues associated with managing and shaping the healthy growth and development of this system. He advocates that policymakers and regulators use what he terms “smart minilateralism” in which they define policy objectives, choose the proper minilateral tools, and obtain legitimacy for their actions by seeking the support of the relevant stakeholders.

This Essay engages Brummer’s theories, complicates them, and in a variety of instances challenges them. It explores whether the world is merely experiencing the fine tuning of multilateralism, rather than a shift to minilaterism; whether minilateralism is just better documented today than it has been in the past, rather than the emerging norm; and whether minilateralism is really a new phenomenon. It also challenges Brummer to offer his readers more on how multilateral and minilateral systems interact, how minilateral legitimacy might be achieved, and what role non-governmental entities do and should play in international economic regulation. In addition, this Essay suggests that in various contexts minilateralism is doomed to fail and explores the implications of that failure. Thus, in a style of academic criticism, this Essay reviews the excellent and demands an unattainable level of perfection, especially because it would require Brummer to turn his readable and fully formed text into a multi-volume treatise.

Keywords: Economics, International Law, International Regulation, Minilateralism, Multilateralism

Suggested Citation

Chaffee, Eric C., Confounding Ockham's Razor: Minilateralism and International Economic Regulation (January 16, 2016). 10 Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law, 2016, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2716783

Eric C. Chaffee (Contact Author)

Case Western Reserve University School of Law ( email )

11075 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106-7148
United States

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