Free Trade and Poverty
Free Trade and Poverty
A fierce debate rages over whether globalization reduces or increases poverty and inequality. The evidence doesn't always provide comfortable answers for either side. Read the full article in the Spring 2008 issue of Americas Quarterly.
Is globalization a leading cause of rising inequality? Or does it help reduce poverty? These questions are at the heart of the major economic and social challenges confronting both high income and developing countries today. For developed industrial nations, the answers are bound to determine the outcome of the currently troubled Doha Round of trade talks—and possibly the future direction of the global multilateral trading system itself. But the stakes are no less high for developing countries. Finding the right balance between open trade and national investment-and-growth policies will affect the future of millions of people currently existing on the margins of the global economy.
Substantial numbers of those marginalized people live in Latin America. The answers to those questions are shaping the political and economic debates and future of the region.
A number of global trends are clear...
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