In recent years, strange sounding acronyms-GATT, NAFTA, and so on-have filled the newspapers and airwaves. While these terms have never really been explained to the Indian public, we have repeatedly been told, ‘Don’t worry, it’ll be good for you’…In this book the author gives voice to those of us who sense that something rings hollow in the cries for ‘free’ trade. ‘Free’ for whom and ‘Free’ from what? The author wrestles these questions to the ground…and offer us a bold and courageous (and possible) alternative…(This book is) a blaring wake-up call. With the demise of communism, free trade ideology has become triumphant, and its proponents now seek basic changes in the world’s economy. Very expansion has brought out many of the fundamental problems with free trade. In a sweeping and clear argument, the book challenges the orthodox view that free trade benefits everyone and that trade organisation such as NAFTA and GATT will create a new global prosperity. The author argues that, on the contrary, free trade serves only a narrow range of established interests, and that to protect international equity and the global environment, trade must be put on a different footing—a "new protectionism"—to regulate external trade while protecting and promoting local interests. This new protectionism, claims the author, presents a viable alternative to the status quo, and would contribute more to prosperity and social justice than would continued trade liberalisation, as the NAFTA and GATT treaties propose. New policies are also needed to toughen environmental protection measures and create much needed local jobs, the areas now most endangered by unfettered free trade. The book analyzes the powers behind the free trade argument-the transnational corporation emerging superblocs to present an important and radical outline of what a viable, more just future could be for a world facing huge economic and environmental problems in the twenty-first century.
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