Free Trade and the Widening Gap Between Rich and Poor Countries

Abstract

The gap between the world's poorest nations and the world's wealthiest nations continues to grow despite the promises made by the proponents of globalization. Increasingly, however, “new internationalists" argue that free trade policy should be reconstituted as fair trade policy. Current policies have only served to strengthen the influence multinational corporations have over the policy debate. The tradeoff has often been at the expense of qualities not easily measured in economic terms such as human rights, depletion of natural resources, and inequitable distribution of wealth. Future trade policy will have to contend with competing forces issuing from those fearing loss of national sovereignty on the right and others concerned with social and environmental well being on the left.