Who's Afraid of the WTO?Oxford University Press, 2004 M01 29 - 248 pages Who is afraid of the WTO, the World Trade Organization? The list is long and varied. Many workers--and the unions that represent them--claim that WTO agreements increase import competition and threaten their jobs. Environmentalists accuse the WTO of encouraging pollution and preventing governments from defending national environmental standards. Human rights advocates block efforts to impose trade sanctions in defense of human rights. While anti-capitalist protesters regard the WTO as a tool of big business--particularly of multinational corporations--other critics charge the WTO with damaging the interests of developing countries by imposing free-market trade policies on them before they are ready. In sum, the WTO is considered exploitative, undemocratic, unbalanced, corrupt, or illegitimate. This book is in response to the many misinformed, often exaggerated arguments leveled against the WTO. Kent Jones explains in persuasive and engaging detail the compelling reasons for the WTO's existence and why it is a force for progress toward economic and non-economic goals worldwide. Although protests against globalization and the WTO have raised public awareness of the world trading system, they have not, Jones demonstrates, raised public understanding. Clarifying the often-muddled terms of the debate, Jones debunks some of the most outrageous allegations against the WTO and argues that global standards for environmental protection and human rights belong in separate agreements, not the WTO. Developing countries need more trade, not less, and even more importantly, they need a system of rules that gives them--the smaller, weaker, and more vulnerable players in world trade--the best possible chance of pursuing their trade interests among the larger and more powerful developed countries. Timely and important, Who's Afraid of the WTO? provides an overview of the most important aspects of the world trading system and the WTO's role in it while tackling the most popular anti-WTO arguments. While Jones does not dismiss the threat that recent political protests pose for the world trading system, he reveals the fallacies in their arguments and presents a strong case in favor of the WTO. |
Contents
| 3 | |
| 15 | |
2 Why Countries Trade and Join the WTO | 33 |
3 The Adjustment Problem and Protectionism | 48 |
4 Whose Trade Organization? | 66 |
5 The WTO and National Sovereignty | 92 |
6 Trade Policy and the Environment | 105 |
7 Human Rights Labor Rights and Trade Policy | 125 |
8 WTO and the Interests of Developing Countries | 147 |
9 NGOs Multinationals and Global Trade Governance | 167 |
The Gains from Trade and the Global Commons | 186 |
Notes | 203 |
Bibliography | 215 |
Index | 229 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
achieve adjustment agenda anti-WTO anti-WTO protests benefits capital chapter child labor compliance consensus costs country’s debate developing countries discussion dispute settlement Doha Doha Round domestic economic growth enforcement environment European Union example export firms foreign framework free trade gains from trade GATT GATT/WTO global environmental goals governments groups human rights import competition incentives increased industries interests international trade investment labor rights labor standards laws lobbying market access measures member countries ment MNCs multilateral trade multinational corporations NGOs nomic nontrade issues organization participation political poor countries principle problem production protection protectionism protectionist regard require role Seattle social sovereignty tariffs tend tion tional trade agreements trade liberalization trade negotiations trade restrictions trade rules trade sanctions treaty typically U.S. Congress unilateral United Uruguay Round violations wages workers world economy WTO agreement WTO dispute WTO members WTO membership WTO rules WTO system WTO’s