FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 7, 2006 |
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By Gordon Brown
When the great 19th-century British statesmen Bright and
Cobden persuaded the world to equate free trade with liberty,
that philosophy was held high. Today a more skeptical world
is drifting into a new and dangerous protectionism. And once
again the challenge for free traders is to show that we are
fighting not just for narrow interests but for high ideals.
Urgently championing the benefits of free trade is all the
more important because, of all the setbacks for the world
economy this summer -- high oil prices, the recurrence of
inflation and political instability -- perhaps the most worrying
for the long term is the stalling of the Doha round of world
trade talks. And this trade failure is helping to give cover
to a protectionist backlash that is seeing the growth of populism
in Latin America, a resort to "national champions" in Europe
and protectionist calls in the U.S.
I believe this new tide of protectionism with all its worrying
features -- anti-free trade sentiment in all places, and anti-American
rhetoric in some -- can and must be challenged and defeated
by people prepared to stand up for free trade and the values
of freedom and democracy -- values that, at root, Britain,
the U.S. and most of the world share. This will require bold
leadership -- starting at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings
later this month in Singapore. It will also require a new
willingness from pro-free trade leaders in both politics and
business to make the case that the world's best hope is more
globalization, not less, and that for poor countries the only
path out of poverty is not the isolationist route but the
trade route.
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