Sunday, April 02, 2006

Stiglitz on Trade

In today's NY Times, Robert Reich reviews the new book "Fair Trade for All" by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Andrew Charlton. (Stiglitz is a winner of the Nobel prize in economics and was an economic adviser to Bill Clinton.)

My favorite paragraph:

Richer nations should also help developing nations get a fair share of the benefits of trade, Stiglitz and Charlton write, by reforming themselves. They should no longer protect their own textile producers, subsidize their farmers (the American farm bill of 2002 increased farm payments by some $83 billion over previous bills), shield their maritime and construction industries, or impose fines on poor nations for allegedly "dumping" exports at below-market rates. More broadly, the authors suggest, all nations that have joined the World Trade Organization should make a commitment to giving complete free-market access to all developing countries poorer and smaller than themselves. Finally, richer nations should allow unskilled workers from poorer nations to migrate temporarily, thereby earning money they can send home.
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It sounds like Stiglitz would endorse President Bush's guest-worker proposal.