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:: Across the board ::

This section contains news and analysis of sweeping developments that affect the overall push and pull towards FTAs and bilateral investment treaties. This means major trends relating to bilateralism, often with global consequences, and other cross-cutting issues. New developments arising from US politics, the WTO or South-South alliance-building, for instance, are often reported here as they tend to have systemic impacts.

last update: May 2012


6th global to local webinar on May 24th
The Global to Local Webinar Series addresses key issues in the global to local debate.
Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems
Where neoliberal policies cannot be imposed domestically, they are imposed internationally, through trade treaties.
This is a really dumb way to fix poverty
Hint: it involves taking money from poor people.
An inconvenient truth about free trade
“We have developed a politician who encourages the most dangerous kind of citizenship a democracy can know—the panicky, grasping, idealless kind.”
The era of free trade might be over. That’s a good thing.
In the United States, globalization is widely accepted as a contributor to both wage stagnation and the growth in inequality.
What’s the problem with free trade?
Economists say that free trade allows us to take advantage of the "comparative advantages" offered by other countries. Unfortunately, low labor and environmental-protection costs are seen as a comparative advantage.
Les traités de libre-échange sont des armes de destruction massive
De la décolonisation au Tafta
Global economy moved one step forward, one step back in 2015
The problem of TPP is with the “investment” chapter, which severely constrains environmental, health, and safety regulation, and even financial regulations with significant macroeconomic impacts.
Has free trade been worth the huge costs, Mr Biden?
Has free trade been worth the huge costs it has imposed on residents of cities such as Bethlehem, Gary, Detroit and Pittsburgh and a number of cities across Ohio?
‘FTAs weaken multilateral systems’
Bilateral agreements were weakening the multilateral arrangements that looked after the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

    Links


  • #A18DoA - Global day of action to defeat free trade and investment treaties
    Website for the global day of action to defeat free trade and investment treaties #A18DoA
  • 21st Century Trade Agreements: Implications for Long-Run Development Policy
    A publication of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. The paper examines the policy space available under various free trade regimes for countries pursuing industrial policies for development.
  • Alianza Social Continental
    La Alianza Social Continental es un foro de organizaciones y movimientos sociales progresistas de las Américas, creado para intercambiar información, definir estrategias y promover acciones conjuntas, todo ello encaminado a la búsqueda de un modelo de desarrollo alternativo y democrático, que beneficie a nuestros pueblos
  • ICC
    International Chamber of Commerce
  • Movimientos.org
    A multilingual (English, Spanish, Portuguese) website focusing on social movements and their campaigns, including those against bilateral and regional FTAs.
  • Pambazuka
    In this week’s edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...
  • People over profit
    People Over Profit is a campaign network that unites peoples movements and NGOs across the globe to stop free trade agreements (FTAs) and corporate plunder, launched in October 2016.
  • Peoples Global Action
    In February 1998, movements from all continents met in Geneva to launch a worldwide coordination of resistances to the global market, a new alliance of struggle and mutual support called Peoples’ Global Action against "Free" Trade and the World Trade Organisation (PGA).
  • Regional/Multilateral Integration Agreements
    Selected research papers on regional trade agreements, from internationaleconomics.net
  • SOMO
    SOMO links the negotiations and rules on international trade and investment with the actual conduct of corporations within these rules and agreements.
  • South Centre
    An intergovernmental organisation of developing countries
  • Stop fast track!
    10 days to stop fast track in the United States: Jan 22 - 31 2014
  • Third World Network
    TWN’s website is a good source of information and analysis about what’s happening within the multilateral trade system (WTO, UNCTAD, G77, etc).
  • WorldTradeLaw.net
    WorldTradeLaw.net offers a free library of current trade news and resources; a database of dispute settlement tables and statistics; and a user-friendly search tool for legal texts, and other documents.