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A BETTER FUTURE

GLOBALIZATION & FREE TRADE

There are many issues involved when looking at global poverty and inequality. It is not simply enough (or correct) to say that the poor are poor due to their own (or their government's) bad governance and management. If fact, you could quite easily conclude that the poor are poor because the rich are rich and have the power to enforce unequal trade agreements that favor their interests more than the poorer nations. The world is becoming more globalized, there is no doubt about that. While that sounds promising, the current form of globalization, neo-liberalism, free trade and open markets are coming under much criticism. The interests of powerful nations and corporations are shaping the terms of world trade. In democratic countries, they are shaping and affecting the ability of elected leaders to make decisions in the interests of their people. Elsewhere they are promoting narrow political discourse and even supporting dictatorships and the “stability” that it brings for their interests. This is to the detriment of most people in the world, while increasingly fewer people in proportion are prospering.

Free Trade Facts - Have other questions about globalization and free trade? Submit your questions to our trade scholars. Select questions will be answered by a Center for Trade Policy Studies scholar and will be posted on their web site.

Globalization, Prosperity & Human Freedom - We live in amazing times and, in the words of Bob Dylan, "the times, they are a-changin'." Much of the world lives in abject poverty, struggling against the chains of political oppression and poverty. At the same time, people in the richest nations on our planet enjoy wealth beyond the wildest imaginations of people just a century ago. The same processes that created wealth and related technological advances are also connecting people around the world at a dizzying pace. These changes -popularly known as "globalization" - are the subject of one of the most significant conversations of our era.

Free Trade and Globalization - The world is becoming more globalized, there is no doubt about that. While that sounds promising, the current form of globalization, neo-liberalism, free trade and open markets are coming under much criticism. The interests of powerful nations and corporations are shaping the terms of world trade.