December 3, 1999

World Trade Organization Tries to Oblige Globalization

Mobilization of globalization is the wave of the future, but the World Trade Organization is not likely the mechanization – simply because the concept is too difficult to pronounce if nothing else.

No wonder many of the 40,000 demonstrators who converged on Seattle ran amok during the WTO meeting. Union members and environmentalists were trying to express themselves about important issues for which there is no immediate fix.

Child labor, pollution of the environment and political oppression are evils that should be abolished. Nevertheless, the rate of improvement is dependent on the integration of third- world economies with those of more advanced nations.

The forum to forge constructive solutions is not the WTO, or World Bank, or International Monetary Fund, or General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, or North American Free Trade Alliance, or European Union, or South East Asia Trade Alliance. Or, even, the United Nations.

These are negotiation committees that monitor – not enforce -- rules on themselves. They are not governments with authority to impose laws binding other governments.

Of the 135 nations making up the WTO, 100 of them are considered “developing” – that is, relying on wages considerably lower than those in the United States, and on reckless disposal of industrial waste.

The crucial factor is competition – the catalyst for democratic capitalism. It is intensified by mobile capital, mobile labor and mobile goods. The term “shrinking world” has become a cliché because it is so evident.

American unions have run up their wages to the highest in the world through freedom to “organize” – that is, to create a virtual monopoly of semi-skilled labor. Nothing wrong with this as long as corporations have a virtual monopoly to raise prices to cover labor expenses.

The AFL-CIO and the Teamsters want to abolish cheap labor abroad -- and/or foreign products restricted by “protective tariffs.”

Environmentalists and nature preservationists want a pristine ecology – and/or foreign manufacturers to install expensive waste neutralizers.

Technology worriers and independent farmers want traditional methods maintained – and/or genetically improved foods outlawed.

President Clinton encouraged the protesters. Before leaving Washington, D.C., he expressed “sympathy” for the rioters. In his speech to the WTO opening session, he declared: “We should open up the [WTO] process to all those people who are now demonstrating outside. They ought to be a part of it.”

Delegates from the developing countries vehemently objected to outside interference with their emerging economies. Bad as they are, they are better than they have ever been – and are bound to get still better if allowed to grow normally.

The United States achieved its level of progress after 300 years of democratic development – in a land blessed with an abundance of natural resources.

Free trade is inevitable in a global economy shaped by television, computers, air liners, super tankers, 24-hour stock markets and multi-national corporations.

People everywhere will adjust to these systems sooner or later. It should be remembered that Japan after World War II moved into the world economy with sub-standard wages, high tariffs and huge exports of automobiles.

American unions and corporations complained bitterly but lowered costs through automation. Meanwhile, Japanese workers organized for better wages and working conditions. Japanese consumers demanded more goods and services which Americans were better able to provide.

Bilateral negotiations between equal trading partners leveled the playing field over time. We can expect today’s emerging nations will experience the same result – on their own, over time.

Clinton double-talks free trade. He sympathizes with labor unions over “loss of jobs” while boasting of 20 million new jobs during his administration and billions of dollars of sales abroad. He doesn’t mention the corollary of a record trade deficit.

In short, trade is a two-way street. Things will even out naturally if governments stop tinkering with economics. Let corporations compete, and let workers organize. They will watch each other. Governments then can concentrate on social and environmental problems.

Globalization is inevitable. We might as well relax and enjoy it.

PARTING SHOTS

When Hillary Clinton was asked last week if she was going to run for New York senator she electrified an audience of teachers with her reply: “Yes! I intend to run.” In Clintonspeak this means absolutely maybe.

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The New York Post reports Mayor Giuliani has had a veneer of porcelain applied to his teeth, and Mrs. Clinton has had cosmetic surgery on her chin and thighs. The New York senate race now is nip and tuck.

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Al Gore last week declared that as president he would veto anti-union legislation: “I guaran-damn-tee it!” Thus he has added invention of an expletive to his list of accomplishments. Stand by with the bleeper.

By Lindsey Williams, columnist for Sun Coast Media Group newspapers