I like this part
Where are they going to get the
resources to fund sufficient social programs if governments are
competing against each other to lower taxes? How do they live up to
their responsibilities if they dare not insist on better working
conditions and wages for fear of investors and employers moving out
of their jurisdiction to elsewhere with a more forgiving
government?
Which government is going to make the first bold move to preempt
climate change, when it fears that the economic costs of doing so
will put its country at a disadvantage?
That's why there is a case for including these subjects -- labour
conditions, environmental standards, health provisions, etc -- in
the agenda of globalisation. If we don't, the dog-eat-dog
competition that is produced may lead to utterly vulgar social
conditions. There will tend to be, among competing governments, a
race to the bottom in terms of tax levels, social and environmental
regulation.
But will negotiations between governments be enough to produce
these harmonisation points? So far, the experience has been
discouraging. Trying to negotiate anything among (at last count)
the 149 members of the WTO must be a recipe for
madness.
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