Wednesday 14 December 2005

How good is the WTO really?

I'm a big fan of free trade, as I said just yesterday. However, I'm not a fan of the WTO. Free trade does not involve diplomatic negotiations, screeds of regulations, and buildings full of bureaucrats -- it's simply capitalist acts between consenting adults taking place in the public arena.

Free trade does however require the rule of law and the removal of harmful trade barriers, which is why despite my own objections, LibertyScott is a fan of the WTO. But LibertyScott is a bureaucrat himself, so he would be, wouldn't he. :-)

Linked article: The WTO is good!
Related: Economics, Politics-World

3 comments:

Libertyscott said...

oi WAS a bureaucrat! That's defamation... now :)

Peter Cresswell said...

Come on, once a bureaurat, always a bureaurat. :-)

Confess, you still love all that form-filling and all those departmental requisitions and procedures. You'd fit right in at the WTO. :^)

Libertyscott said...

Can't say I ever did form filling, though I have discovered that UK bureaucracy makes NZ bureaucracy look light-handed. Can't have double glazing at our flat because it will interfere with the ambience of the nearby park (former cemetery)!