Ha-Joon Chang of the University of Cambridge writes the following in the Independent (based on a book he has coming out):
Both the history of rich countries and the recent records of developing countries point to the same conclusion. Economic development requires tariffs, regulation of foreign investment, permissive intellectual property laws, and other policies that help their producers accumulate productive capabilities. Given this, the international economic playing field should be tilted in favour of the poorer countries by giving them greater freedom to use these policies.
I'm not sure I agree with the assertion about what economic development requires, but regardless, isn't the current trading system tilted in favor of poor countries already? I know it's hard to balance out all the rules on either side of the equation, but overall the poorest countries have not committed to much (relative to what rich countries have committed to anyway). If they want to keep out foreign trade and investment, don't they have plenty of tools at their disposal?
(Hat tip to Eyes on Trade)
