Free Trade: Bane or Benefit?
Free Trade: Bane or Benefit? Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
International globalization has been shown to contribute to total global GDP growth, help produce greater employment, and reduce global poverty. However, there are some sectors and regions that are suffering in our globalizing world, and presenting precisely the opposite picture. Clearly the distribution of gains and losses from globalization is not evenly distributed across regions, countries, sectors and individuals.
One potential example of this is the idea of a trans-Atlantic free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union. Such an agreement could have many economic benefits for residents of the US and the EU. However, third parties such as China, India and Brazil claim that such an agreement could have negative impacts on global economic growth and employment markets.
The Future Challenges team works together to choose each topic that we discuss. This proposal came from the Bertelsmann Stiftung team itself, which is currently (as of May 2013) doing research on this topic. Working together, we came up with this big question:
How do the expectations and attitudes of people in different regions towards international trade differ? Do people believe that international trade affects their daily lives? And if so, how? Where do they see the opportunities and risks of efforts to lower barriers to trade, like the trans-Atlantic free trade agreement currently under consideration?
Future Challenges authors are in 65 countries in the developed and the developing world. Take your pick from the Local Views on the right, and explore the ways in which writers from around the world think about this critical issue.
Tom Fries
Most recent Local Views on ‘Free Trade: Bane or Benefit?’
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Opening to the East? Hungary moves to face the challenges of free trade
Written by Anikó Mészáros
on December 17, 2013. The European Union as a whole promotes free trade but its Member States try to protect their national economies from its challenges, especially when it comes to agricultural products. Eastern members, such as Hungary, are in a disadvantageous position within the EU primarily because of the lower subsidies they receive […]
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Libre comercio, música y mercado cultural en América Latina
Written by oscarguarin
on November 27, 2013.
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TPP: A Powershift of a Different Kind
Written by Morioka
on November 14, 2013. A few years ago, the concept of “the 99%” entered mainstream parlance. It’s a bit of an ironic expression because quite frankly the missing 1% refers to those with the money and the power and leaves the rest of us, the 99%, very much like mere puppets on strings moving […]
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Pakistan’s Gwadar: A Game of Control?
Written by Muhammad Bilal Khalid
on September 30, 2013. A jewel in the heart of the least-developed province of Pakistan, Gwadar Port promises a fair and bright future for the people of Baluchistan province and Pakistan. Under construction for over ten years, its intended function of fueling Pakistan’s failing economy has become a distant dream. Gwadar Port has become […]
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Brazil: Free Trade for Countries That Can’t Be Bothered to Do It*
Written by Luciano Sobral
on July 31, 2013. Free trade in Brazil has an inglorious past and an uncertain future. World Bank data shows that as of 2011the country lies at the very bottom of a ranking of merchandise trade (the sum of exports and imports) as a fraction of GDP: less than 20 percent of Brazil’s annual domestic […]
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Are the Benefits of Trade Really Possible in Uganda?
Written by Mubatsi
on July 31, 2013. In this day and age, no economy can afford to stand as an island. This is even truer when it comes to economic interdependence since no country can solely depend on itself in the long run. Not all countries manufacture the goods and services they want and even those countries that ably […]
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Why Brazil should be interested in regional integration?
Written by Yohana de Andrade
on July 31, 2013. Brazil was under almost 400 years of Portuguese influence, and only at the beginning of the 20th century did the country begin to form its own foreign policy. Most of its foreign policy was predicated on the North-South axis. However, with Lula as president in 2003, the country began not […]
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La perjudicial falta de libre comercio en Bolivia
Written by Diego Salama
on July 26, 2013. Abstract: The notion of economic integration and free trade are not well-understood or implemented in Bolivia. Despite the fact that Bolivia has signed several Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and is actively engaged in regional economic blocs, it still sees more negative than positive aspects to FTA’s. The Government needs a comprehensive […]
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Free Trade Agreements: Handle with Care
Written by Yassmin
on July 5, 2013. Like many other structural policies, free trade agreements are a tool used by governments to achieve their objectives. Now tools can be used or misused, and in this case the tool is not being used to its fullest potential. Free Trade Agreements need to be handled with due care if they […]
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TAFTA/TTIP and the Story of Inclusiveness: A Transatlantic Fairy Tale
Written by Marc Venhaus
on July 4, 2013. It’s now official: TAFTA/TTIP is finally on the negotiation table with the potential to become solid transatlantic reality within the next two or three years. The extremely short timeframe of this joint endeavor might sound very ambitious. Yet both the EU and the US are eager to sign this far-reaching agreement […]
