Marching forwards on sev-eral fronts simultaneously is always difficult. And for the Doha round of trade liberalisation talks, the need for trade-offs between the different strands of the deal - goods, agriculture, services and the rules that govern trade - means delay in one can hold up progress in all.

While agriculture and goods talks still have their problems, it is the tortuous services negotiations that are currently the biggest sticking point. This week, a delegation of representatives from the financial services industry descended on the World Trade Organisation in Geneva in an attempt to generate some momentum. They are sounding both an alarm and a mea culpa.