Word: trade
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Bill Clinton has always been an unapologetic advocate of expanded trade," says TIME White House correspondent Jay Branegan. "As a moderate governor of a farm state, he's always maintained business-friendly policies and emphasized that prosperity depends on opening up foreign markets for your products. He's helped turn the Democrats into a pro-business party of fiscal responsibility...
...course he's had no trouble convincing corporate America to sign on to that idea, but he's struggled elsewhere. His tussle with labor organizations over the NAFTA agreement resulted in many Democrats on Capitol Hill colluding with Republicans in stripping Clinton of his right to negotiate "fast-track" trade agreements. He's increasingly faced opposition on both sides of the aisle to free trade policies, which have left him vulnerable to populist attack. "Pat Buchanan complains that both parties are now too pro-business, and that resonates with some people," says Branegan. Because as Seattle showed, there are many...
...Seattle may doubt the effectiveness of taking up their grievances at the polls in an electoral system totally beholden to the millions of dollars of corporate "soft money" that greases the wheels of both parties. Long after the ink has dried on the last signature of the last trade deal in Seattle, the aftershocks of the battle for its streets may reverberate in American politics...
...world is getting a crash course in international trade this week as it ponders the clash of visions and interests at the meetings of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle. Meshing the interests of the 130-plus governments at the meetings would be hard enough, without the added complexity of the kaleidoscope of interest groups and activists that have turned the streets of Seattle into a mix of protests, political muscle-flexing and violence. The WTO is portrayed by its supporters as protector of the poor and bulwark of global prosperity, and by its foes as an unaccountable, secretive...
First some facts. The WTO is basically a framework of international trade agreed among its member governments, together with a nascent dispute settlement mechanism for enforcing those agreements. It is much less an international bureaucracy. The Geneva headquarters hosts a mere 500 workers, including support staff. This staff mainly supports international negotiations, analyzes trade patterns and manages the dispute settlement process. Contrary to charges on the streets of Seattle, it does not write international trade rules: the member governments do that in the course of negotiations...