Trade, Part I

Trade, Part I

Time to begin to tackle a tough issue…trade. I have written

extensively on the issue of globalization in my Week in Review

columns. My very broad opinion is that, of course, we should

have free trade across the globe. At the same time, I am

continuously miffed at the hypocritical policy statements

emanating from our government. And both Republicans and

Democrats are to blame. When I hear our legislators talk of

helping the world”s poor in one breath and then, with the next,

refusing to pass legislation that would eliminate tariffs on textiles

from Africa (clothing that our own manufacturers no longer

produce) which would have a real positive impact on the welfare

of perhaps millions in Africa, I throw up my arms…or just plain

throw up.

And before I really get into the issue, let me touch on a topic that

also makes me sick, that of the self-styled “anarchists” who find

their way to places like Seattle and Washington. Or, as

columnist Thomas Friedman labels them (when combined with

protectionist trade unions and anti-free-trade extremists), “The

Coalition to Keep the World”s Poor People Poor.”

Not to get off on a rant here but I was watching a clip of the

recent action in Washington, D.C. when I saw a kid, who clearly

hadn”t washed in a month or so, kick over a couple of

newsstands. My immediate reaction upon seeing this was what a

way to ruin the poor guy who gets up at the crack of dawn (after

three hours sleep because he holds another job) to fill those

stands. You and I know what an incredibly tough time his boss

would probably give him. The distraught laborer must have feared

for his job. It”s this wanton destruction perpetrated by the vast

unscrubbed that pisses me off. They aren”t deserving of any

forum. Better yet, put them in a maximum security prison with

“Bubba.”

Now then, where were we? Let”s start off by listing some of the

major issues that those who protest against globalization are

concerned about:

Sweatshops, food security, the environment, human rights and

labor standards, debt cancellation, AIDS, abject poverty, an end

to meddling in 3rd world economies.

At the same time, the main authoritarian targets are the

International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World

Trade Organization (WTO), and the U.S. government. All are

seen by the protesters as tools of the large multi-national

corporations which, in one form or another, are supposedly lining

each others pockets.

Some of the issues that are being put on the table are highly

legitimate ones. Nigeria”s new democratically elected President

Obasanjo correctly said the following.

“Never has the world witnessed such massive disparities in

international social and economic activities.”

Obasanjo argues that the WTO has to allow access for poor-

country exports to rich-country markets (my personal issue as

well), but he also understands that poor countries have to look

within before they can criticize the West. Or, as Business Week

columnist Pete Engardio wrote recently, “(It”s) tough to

eliminate entrenched poverty in countries that lack private

investment, clean government and civil society.”

So, let”s look at some opinions on how to deal with the

inequalities in the world as well as how the dialogue itself needs

to proceed. Following are excerpts from President Clinton”s

speech to the WTO in Seattle last December.

“No one in this room can seriously argue that the world would

have been a better place today if our forbears over the last 50

years had not done their work to bring us closer together.

Whatever the problems that exist in whatever countries

represented here, whatever the legitimacy of any of the criticism

against us, this is a stronger, more prosperous world because we

have worked to expand the frontiers of cooperation and reduce

the barriers to trade among people

“When people are working together for common prosperity in a

rule-based system, they have big incentives to lay the differences

down and join hands to work together. So if we just make those

two points to our critics, I think it”s very important.

“No. 1, the world is a better place than it would have been had

we not had the last 50 years of increasing economic cooperation

for trade and investment. And No. 2, the world of the future will

be a safer place if we continue to work together in a rule-based

system that offers enormous incentives for people to find ways to

cooperate and to give up their old hatreds and their impulses to

violence and war.

“Now having said that, we now have to say, ”What next?” I think

we have to acknowledge a responsibility, particularly those of us

in the wealthier countries, to make sure that we are working

harder to see that the benefits of the global economy are more

widely shared among and within countries, that it truly works for

ordinary people who are doing the work for the rest of us.

“I think we also have to make sure that the rules make sense and

that we”re continuing to make progress, notwithstanding the

domestic political difficulties that every country will face. We

all benefit when the rules are clear and fair. I think that means

we have to cut tariffs further on manufactured goods and set

equally ambitious goals for services. I think we should extend

our moratorium on e-commerce. I think we should treat

agriculture as we treat other sectors of the economy.”

Now the above is typical political BS and could have been

uttered by both sides of the political aisle. It”s important,

however, to have it on the table so folks like me can make hay of

it. Of course, it always looks good on paper, it”s what is then put

into practice that matters and, as I mentioned earlier, our

politicians talk a good game and then can”t get themselves to

approve a small measure like eliminating textile tariffs on

African nations.

Well, how about a dissenting opinion? Herewith some remarks

from Henry Kissinger in response to the Seattle disaster.

“The collapse of the WTO conference in Seattle amid chaos in

the streets was worse than a diplomatic fiasco; it spelled a missed

opportunity. President Clinton could have used the occasion to

put forward a farsighted program for dealing with what portends

to be one of the gravest challenges of the new century: the huge

gap between the sophistication of the dominant economic model,

called globalization, and traditional political thinking still based

on the nation-state.

“Globalization has encouraged an explosion of wealth and

technology never approximated in any historical epoch. Such

rapid change challenges prevailing social and cultural patterns.

Markets generate growth but also dislocations. While these

dislocations are arguably the engine of ultimately greater well-

being, political leaders are obliged to deal with their

consequences here and now. A sense of political unease is

inevitable, especially in the developing world – a feeling of being

at the mercy of forces neither the individual nor the government

can influence any longer.”

This last statement of Dr. Kissinger”s is our jumping-off point for

next week.

Brian Trumbore