Live8

Well it’s a big night for Bob Geldof with Live8 screening worldwide ifrom 1am NZT. I`l lbe watching as much as I can. It is helpful to remember that this is not just about poverty, it is more about trade. I wrote an article back in 2001which is still relevant today. I entitled it How corporate greed helps the poor. Well, it doesn’t actually. My point was that free trade is not fair. The WTO considers that free trade provides economic growth for poor countries, while WTO-bashers consider free trade will benefit rich countries and multinational corporations.

Forget AIDS, terrorism and third world debt. International trade is the most important issue in global relations, with a $7.5 trillion annual price tag. Fix trade and you go a long way in fixing debt. Fix debt and grow the economy. Grow the economy and increase health services to combat AIDS. Combat AIDS and keep the traders alive. Trade may be one of the motors of globalisation, and can actually help lift people out of poverty more quickly than was ever possible in the past. To do this, trade has to be fair

The article is still relevant in 2005.