Re: Monbiot on the WTO

[Doug Henwood <dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx>]

Peter Dorman wrote:

> rgely powerless.  It
> benefits from the importance of being unimportant.  The WTO is fatally
> flawed because it rests on the foundation of trade ministers, the
> designated corporate gofers within any government.  On top of that, it
> is the product (as are all really important international organizations,
> unlike the ILO, UNESCO, etc.) of global power imbalances.

Yes, but...it is a one country, one vote institution, and as Bhagwati
argues, for that reason, not a favored instrument of the U.S. or the
other G7 countries.  Its entire budget, as he pointed out, is smaller
than the IMF's travel budget. Unlike the IMF, though, it's ruled
against the U.S. It seems to me less dangerous than the Bretton Woods
Institutions.

Doug