Why the International Exhibitions Bureau Should Choose Minneapolis for Global Expo 2023

Abstract

In November 2017, the 170 governments in the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE) will vote for a country to host the 2022/23 specialized expo. The United States strengthened its bid in 2017 by a remarkably rapid bipartisan action by the US Congress and Trump Administration to rejoin the BIE which the United States had quit in 2002. This paper reviews the legislative history of US membership in the BIE treaty going back to 1968 and provides a brief overview of the role of the BIE in supervising world's fairs and expos going back to 1928. The BIE is an unusual treaty in having its own customs regime and in making decisions by a majority vote. The paper describes the three competing bids for the expo by Argentina, Poland, and the United States, and discusses the political and legal factors that may be in play in choosing the winning proposal. The paper explains why the bid by Minneapolis/United States is the superior proposal because of the salience and definiteness of its proposed theme of "Healthy People, Healthy Planet."

Keywords: world's fair, international exhibitions, international expos, sustainability, US Congress, Argentina

JEL Classification: H87, Z30, Q18, N44, K33