Free trade
Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. International trade is often constricted by different national taxes, other fees imposed on exported and imported goods, as well as non-tariff regulations on imported goods; free trade is against all these restrictions.Some multi-national entities, such as the European Union, have implemented free trade in some forms between their member nations (customs union). However, there is continuing debate whether free trade would help third world nations with different economic problems and whether free trade is good for the developed world.
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2 Intellectual property and free trade 3 See also 4 References 5 Links |
Many economists argue that free trade increases the standard of living through the law of comparative advantage and economies of scale. Others argue that free trade allows developed nations to exploit developing nations and to destroy local industry in addition to circumventing social and labor standards. Conversely it has also been argued that free trade hurts developed nations because it causes jobs from those nations to move to other countries as well as producing a race to the bottom which causes a general lowering of health and safety standards.
In addition, the current implementation of free trade has been criticized by advocates of free trade itself. One complaint is that developed nations tend to insist that developing nations open their markets to industrial products from the developed world, yet refuse to open their markets to agricultural goods from the developing world. Furthermore it has been noted that the current concept of free trade supports the free movement of products and employers, which favors the developed nations, but not the free movement of employees (i.e., labor), which would favor the people of developing nations. (See also: Immigration.)
Historically, the free trade movement was skeptical and even hostile to the notion of intellectual property, regarded as monopolistic and harmful to a free, competitive economy. Indeed, during the late 19th century, free trade advocates succeeded in reducing the length of the patents available in many European countries. The Netherlands even abolished its patent system (temporarily, as it turned out).
The 19th century anti-patent cause failed largely because the recession of 1874 discredited the free trade movement of the time (and also because patent advocates used a public relations campaign which was remarkably sophisticated for its time).
It is thus quite remarkable (some would even say ironic) that corporations lobbying for expanded intellectual property privileges have succeeded in including TRIPS, a very strong treaty on intellectual property rights, as a membership requirement for the World Trade Organization, the international organization dedicated to furthering the cause of free trade.
Arguments for and against free trade
Intellectual property and free trade
See also
References
Links
Pro-free trade/free-market
Opponents of free trade
