Globalization And The Myths Of Free Trade

Written by an international team of contributors this book is a critical examination of the ongoing enterprise of neoliberalism; its history, theory, practice, and most of all, of its outcomes.

In this book Australian economist, Graham Dunkley, explains and critiques the crucial concept of free trade. A policy of free trade is central to today's world-dominating globalization project. The more euphoric globalists uncritically assume that it has universal and unequivocal benefits for all people and countries. And the perpetual negotiations of the World Trade Organization are wholly based on this presumption. Graham Dunkley shows, however, that leading economists have always been more sceptical about free trade doctrine than the dogmatic globalizers realize. There are more holes in free trade theory than its advocates grasp. And the benefits of free trade in practice are more limited and contingent than they acknowledge. He also argues that the World Bank's long-time push for export-led development is misguided. A more democratic world trading order is necessary and possible. And more interventionist, self-reliant trade policies are feasible, especially if a more holistic view of economic development goals is adopted.

Challenges beliefs about free trade, globalization, and economic justice, revealing how top-level economies achieved their wealth through practices that victimized the developing world.

How did the rich countries really become rich? In this provocative study, Ha-Joon Chang examines the great pressure on developing countries from the developed world to adopt certain 'good policies' and 'good institutions', seen today as necessary for economic development. His conclusions are compelling and disturbing: that developed countries are attempting to 'kick away the ladder' with which they have climbed to the top, thereby preventing developing countries from adopting policies and institutions that they themselves have used.

"U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown - a leading progressive voice in Congress - takes apart free-trade dogma, myth by myth." "Ten years after NAFTA, free-trade policies have not brought prosperity to Mexican workers, and more than one million American jobs have been lost as a result of the agreement. Do free-trade pacts foster democracy? Brown examines the facts. Are fast-track agreements necessary to fight the war on terrorism? Brown dissects the arguments and the evidence."--BOOK JACKET.

Now in a fully revised and updated edition, this balanced and clearly written text explores globalization and its impact from economic, political, social, environmental, and cultural perspectives. Providing a framework and platform for student learning, the book gives readers the tools to unravel the complexities of globalization in all its facets. Lui Hebron and John Stack note that as a hot-button term, globalization is used to describe any number of changes within, among, and between societies and states. Their goal isto reduce the noise engulfing debates and interpretations of one of the most dynamic, contested, applauded, and disparaged phenomena of the twenty-first century. Arguing that current assessments—both positive and negative—of globalization are overblown, the authors treat the dramatically changing landscapes of world politics as less a revolution than an evolution of already established structures and patterns of transnational relations. They trace how globalization has affected individuals, societies, states, and intergovernmental and supranational organizations. Making sense of a world seemingly smaller and incomprehensibly larger, simultaneously centralizing and fragmenting, Globalization: Debunking the Myths offers both an indispensableintroduction for undergraduates and a concise review for more advanced students.

The world has become a human laboratory for the momentous social experiment called neoliberalism. Its proclaimed purpose is to reduce global poverty, its protocols are derived from the orthodox theory of competitive free markets and its policies are enforced by the full weight of the rich countries and global institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This book is a critical examination of this ongoing enterprise, of its history, theory, practice, and most of all, of its outcomes. An international team of contributors has been assembled including Lance Taylor, Ha-Joon Chang and Ajit Singh.

Regional trade agreements (RTAs) are not new, but their complexity and importance in global economics and politics has grown exponentially in the past two decades. Tackling this daunting proliferation head on, this book provides a much-needed guide to RTAs. Setting current regional agreements in their economic, political, and historical context, David A. Lynch describes and compares every significant RTA, region by region. He clearly explains their intricate inner workings, their webs of collaboration and conflict, and their primary goals and effectiveness. Lynch's deeply knowledgeable study bridges the ideological divides in scholarly and public debate, including economists' emphases on markets and efficiency versus antiglobalization activists' concerns over inequality and social ills. By building a middle ground between micro and macro analysis and clarifying technical terminology, this concise and accessible book will be an invaluable reference for all readers.

Globalization -- scourge of indigenous peoples, arch-enemy of protesters from Seattle to Genoa, crusade of the Orwellian IMF, WTO and G8: the new evil stalking the globe. Right? Wrong. In this radical new book Alan Shipman turns the myths about globalization upside down. The protesters are right to see globalization as important and potentially dangerous -- but almost always wrong in their diagnosis of the problems and their prescriptions to solve them. Globalization is a potential force for good -- and for the benefit of all. Book jacket.