Rigged Rules and Double Standards: Trade, Globalisation, and the Fight Against PovertyTrade is one of the most powerful forces linking our lives, and a source of unprecedented wealth. Yet millions of the worlde(tm)s poorest people are being left behind. Increased prosperity has gone hand in hand with mass poverty. Already obscene inequalities between rich and poor are widening. World trade could be a powerful motor to reduce poverty, and support economic growth, but that potential is being lost. The problem is not that international trade is inherently opposed to the needs and interests of the poor, but that the rules that govern it are rigged in favor of the rich. If Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Latin America were each to increase their share of world exports by one per cent, the resulting gains in income could lift 128 million people out of poverty. In Africa alone, this would generate $70bn e" approximately five times what the continent receives in aid. In their rhetoric, governments of rich countries constantly stress their commitment to poverty reduction. Yet in practice rigged rules and double standards lock poor people out of the benefits of trade, closing the door to an escape route from poverty. Reform of world trade is only one of the requirements for ending the deep social injustices that pervade globalization. Action is also needed to reduce inequalities in health, education and the distribution of income and opportunity, including those inequalities that exist between women and men. However, world trade rules are a key part of the poverty problem; fundamental reforms are needed to make them part of the solution. Oxfame(tm)s campaign, Make Trade Fair, aims to change world trade rules so that trade can make a real difference in the fight against global poverty. This report gives comprehensive research findings and analysis, presenting a powerful case for changes in trade laws, and a reform agenda to make these changes happen. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 58
Page 1745
... China , India , and Mexico emerging as major suppliers of cutting - edge technologies , as well as labour ... China's special economic zones and workers in the free - trade zones of Central America , to small farmers and agricultural ...
... China , India , and Mexico emerging as major suppliers of cutting - edge technologies , as well as labour ... China's special economic zones and workers in the free - trade zones of Central America , to small farmers and agricultural ...
Page 1747
... China's economic zones are often forced to work twelve - hour days in appalling conditions . Garment workers in Bangladesh are denied the right to join unions . Long working days for poverty - level wages make heavy demands on the time ...
... China's economic zones are often forced to work twelve - hour days in appalling conditions . Garment workers in Bangladesh are denied the right to join unions . Long working days for poverty - level wages make heavy demands on the time ...
Page 1748
... China in excess of $ 3bn . These are only the immediate costs . The longer - term costs associated with lost opportunities for investment and the loss of economic dynamism are much greater . Trade barriers in rich countries are ...
... China in excess of $ 3bn . These are only the immediate costs . The longer - term costs associated with lost opportunities for investment and the loss of economic dynamism are much greater . Trade barriers in rich countries are ...
Page 1749
... China , Thailand , and Vietnam are not rapid import liberalisers . Conversely , many rapid import liberalisers have a weak record on poverty reduction , despite following the spirit and the letter of World Bank - IMF policy advice . In ...
... China , Thailand , and Vietnam are not rapid import liberalisers . Conversely , many rapid import liberalisers have a weak record on poverty reduction , despite following the spirit and the letter of World Bank - IMF policy advice . In ...
Page 1760
... China , between northern Mexico and the ' poverty - belt ' states of the south , and between rural and urban areas of Thailand . Male / female disparities are also widening , as power relations within the household and beyond INTRODUCTION.
... China , between northern Mexico and the ' poverty - belt ' states of the south , and between rural and urban areas of Thailand . Male / female disparities are also widening , as power relations within the household and beyond INTRODUCTION.
Common terms and phrases
agricultural areas associated average Bangladesh benefits capital cent China cocoa coffee coltan commodity markets companies competition corporate costs create developing countries developing world developing-country domestic East Asia economic growth employment export growth factories foreign investment garments global economy global markets globalisation households IMF-World Bank import liberalisation income increased India industrialised countries industry inequalities infrastructure integration intellectual-property international trade labour labour-intensive Latin America levels livelihoods major manufactured market access Mexico million Nestlé Northern governments opportunities Oxfam patent poor countries poorest potential poverty line poverty reduction problems production programmes protection reform region restrictions rich countries rules rural sector share of world smallholder farmers South Asia standards strategies sub-Saharan Africa subsidies tariffs technologies textiles TNCs trade liberalisation trade policy trading system TRIPS agreement Uganda UNCTAD wages women workers World Bank world exports world markets world trade
Popular passages
Page 1753 - People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.
Page 1857 - ... substantial improvements in market access; reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies; and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support.
Page 1796 - The superiority of one country over another in a branch of production often arises only from having begun it sooner. There may be no inherent advantage on one part or disadvantage on the other, but only a present superiority of acquired skill and experience.
Page 1765 - We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own wellbeing is dependent on the well-being of other nations far away. We have learned that we must live as men, not as ostriches, nor as dogs in the manger. We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community. We have learned the simple truth, as Emerson said, that "The only way to have a friend is to be one.
Page 1742 - It is also a source of unprecedented wealth. Yet millions of the world's poorest people are being left behind. Increased prosperity has gone hand in hand with mass poverty and the widening of already obscene inequalities between rich and poor.
Page 1965 - Recognizing the right of Members to regulate, and to introduce new regulations, on the supply of services within their territories in order to meet national policy objectives and, given asymmetries existing with respect to the degree of development of services regulations in different countries, the particular need of developing countries to exercise this right...
Page 1997 - PSE is expressed as a percentage of gross farm receipts (%PSE), it shows the amount of support to farmers, irrespective of the sectoral structure of a given country. For this reason, the %PSE is the most widely used indicator for comparisons of support across countries, commodities and time.