The Hong Kong talks, from 13 to 18 December, mark the end of the World Trade Organization's Doha developmentround, aimed at eliminating unfair trade barriers and giving the world's poorest countries easier access to global markets.
Lant Pritchett, of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, argues that faster global migration would bring huge gains for poor countries, exceeding the combined rewards offered by foreign aid, debt relief and trade reforms proposed under the Doha developmentround.