North-South disagreement over compensation and sovereignty doomed the UN corporate code

Evidence

Nationalization and expropriation proved more intractable issues, however. The OECD countries wanted a reference to what they asserted was “customary international law,” including specific language about the right of foreign investors to “prompt, adequate, and effective” compensation. This position was rejected by several of the G-77 countries, whose representatives insisted that there was no consensus on what constituted “customary international law” in the first place. Furthermore, they argued that no international regulation regarding nationalization could supersede domestic law and be made binding on host country governments in the event of a dispute with foreign investors. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1795

Categorization

• XREF: Directly illustrates the NIEO conflict that anchors many foundational neoliberalism histories; connects to how OECD states pushed ‘prompt, adequate, effective’ compensation as a customary-law standard. — connects to: The UN abandoned MNC regulation in favor of corporate partnership within two decades — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1731; The UNCTC balanced development-country aid against corporate information gathering — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1788; Developing countries conceded a voluntary, two-sided code for multinationals — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1793 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Two-thirds agreement on the UN corporate code masked irreconcilable North-South divides #qualifies (0.95) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1796