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Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 11:23 AM
Subject: [unioNews] Distant voices
> Andy spotted this on the Guardian Unlimited site and thought you should
see it.
>
> To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited site,
go to http://www.guardian.co.uk
> <H3>Distant voices</H3>
> <B><i>A world consensus is emerging on the destructive effects of
globalisation - but the Bush administration is out of line</i></B>
> Joseph Stiglitz
> Thursday March 11 2004
> The Guardian
>
>
> The war on terrorism and in Iraq has distracted much of the world's
attention from the pressing issue of how globalisation should be managed so
that it benefits everyone. A new report, issued by the International Labour
Organisation's commission on the social dimensions of globalisation, reminds
us how far the Bush administration is out of line with the global consensus.
>
> The ILO is a tripartite organisation with representatives of labour,
government and business. The commission, chaired by the presidents of
Finland and Tanzania, has 24 members (of whom I was one) drawn from
different nationalities, interest groups and intellectual persuasions,
including members as diverse as the head of Toshiba and the leader of the
American Federation of Labour Congress of Industrial Organisations. Yet this
very heterogeneous group was able to crystallise the emerging consensus,
that globalisation - despite its positive potential - has not only failed to
live up to that potential, but has actually contributed to social distress.
>
> The fault lies with how globalisation has been managed - partly by
countries but, most importantly, by the international community, including
institutions such as the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation and the
IMF, which are responsible for establishing the "rules of the game". The
commission even reached consensus on a number of concrete measures to help
put a "human face" on globalisation, or at least mitigate some of its worst
effects.
>
> The gap between the emerging consensus on globalisation, which this report
reflects, and the Bush administration's international economic policies,
helps explain the widespread hostility towards America's government.
>
> Consider two issues that have been part of recent bilateral trade
agreements pushed aggressively by the Bush administration. The crises in
east Asia and the recent recessions in Latin America show that premature
capital market liberalisation can result in economic volatility, increasing
poverty, and destruction of the middle class. Even the IMF now recognises
that capital market liberalisation has delivered neither growth nor
stability to many developing countries. Yet, whether driven by narrow
ideology or responding to the demands of special interests, the Bush
administration is still demanding an extreme form of such liberalisation in
its bilateral trade agreements.
>
> The second issue concerns the unbalanced intellectual property provisions
(Trips) of the Uruguay round of trade talks, dictated by America's
pharmaceutical and entertainment industries. These provisions restricted
countries from making generic imitations of drugs, making many critically
important medicines unaffordable in developing countries.
>
> Spearheaded by worries about Aids, activists demanded that something be
done. Just before last year's trade talks in Mexico, the US made some
concessions so that it was no longer the only hold-out. In its bilateral
trade agreements, however, it is demanding what is becoming known as
"Trips-plus", which would strengthen intellectual property rights further,
to ensure that countries only have the right to produce inexpensive generic
drugs during epidemics and other emergencies.
>
> The global consensus, reflected in the commission report, calls for more
exceptions so that, say, drugs can be made available in any case where to do
so could save a life. To those confronting the prospect of death, what
matters is access to life-saving drugs, not whether what is killing the
person is part of an epidemic.
>
> Bilateral agreements form the basis of enhanced ties of friendship between
countries. But America's intransigence in this area is sparking protests in
countries, such as Morocco, which face the threat of such an agreement; it
is also forming the basis of long-lasting resentment.
>
> The commission highlights other issues that have received insufficient
global attention - such as tax competition among developing countries, which
shifts more of the tax burden from business to workers. In still other
areas, the commission'sreport argues for more balanced perspectives. On
exchange rates, for example, it is more sympathetic towards mixed systems,
in contrast to the traditional belief that countries must choose between the
extremes of a flexible system and a fixed exchange rate (of the kind that
contributed so importantly to Argentina's woes).
>
> As this example shows, having different voices at the table in discussions
of globalisation brings new perspectives. Until now, the main worry for most
experts on globalisation has been excessive government intervention in the
economy. The commission fears just the opposite. It argues that the state
has a role to play in cushioning individuals and society from the impact of
rapid economic change.
>
> The way that globalisation has been managed, however, has eroded the
ability of the state to play its proper role. At the root of this problem is
the global political system - if such it can be called. Key players such as
the IMF and World Bank must become more transparent and their voting
structures must be changed to reflect the current distribution of economic
power - as opposed to that prevailing in 1945 - let alone the need to
reflect basic democratic principles.
>
> Whatever one thinks of the commission's many concrete suggestions, this
much is clear: we need a more inclusive debate about globalisation, one in
which more voices are heard, and in which there is a greater focus on the
social dimensions of globalisation. This is a message the world would do
well to heed, lest discontent with globalisation continues to grow.
>
> ***
> Joseph Stiglitz, professor of economics at Columbia University, is a Nobel
prize winner and author of Globalisation and Its Discontents
>
> © Project Syndicate
>
>
> Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited
>
>
>
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