WTO Update — Day 3 of 5

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Wed, 14 Dec 2005 14:07:02 -0600 (CST)

" Global Trade Watch " <publiccitizen

[FAIRTRADE] WTO News 3/5: Poverty on the Rise

 

 

http://www.democracyinaction.org/

 

WTO Update — Day 3 of 5

 

 

Poverty on the Rise

 

Dear Fair Trade Activist,

 

The WTO Summit in Hong Kong remains in a deadlock — why? Because the

decade-plus test run of the WTO's corporate globalization regime has

actually increased poverty, both internationally and here in the

United States. Given all of the WTO's other failings, it's a powerful

indictment that it has not only failed to deliver on its economic

promises, but has actually made matters worse!

 

In fact, the number and percentage of people living on less than $1 a

day (the World Bank's definition of extreme poverty) in the regions

with some of the worst forms of poverty — Sub-Saharan Africa and the

Middle East — have increased since the WTO went into effect, while the

number and percentage of people living on less than $2 a day has gone

up during the WTO era for these regions, as well as for Latin America

and the Caribbean.

 

Please help spread the word about the WTO's failures by writing a

letter to your local newspaper.

 

A new study from Tufts University, " The Shrinking Gains from Trade: A

Critical Assessment of Doha Round Projections, " shows just how little

any of us have to gain from the agenda on the table — further trade

liberalization — in Hong Kong. Two years ago, the World Bank projected

that a completed WTO Doha Round would generate $832 billion in global

gains — with developing countries gaining $539 billion of that sum.

Now, two years later, according to more careful, but still optimistic,

new World Bank projections, the most likely total gain is $96 billion

— with developing countries getting only $16 billion. That's less than

one cent per person per day in the developing world, if the gains were

evenly distributed!

 

Meanwhile, during the WTO era, the U.S. trade deficit has risen to

historic levels, almost $700 billion, and approaches six percent of

national income — a figure widely agreed to be unsustainable, putting

the U.S. and global economy at risk in the future. Soaring U.S.

imports during this decade of WTO and NAFTA have also contributed to

the loss of nearly one in six U.S. manufacturing jobs. That's 3

million net manufacturing jobs lost; so, it's no surprise that 11

years into the WTO era, U.S. real median wages are barely at 1970s levels.

 

On top of this massive job loss, over the last decade the U.S. income

and wage inequality has also dramatically increased. In 1995, the top

five percent of U.S. households by income made 6.5 times what the

poorest 20 percent of households made, while this gap grew by nearly

10 percent by 2003.

 

It is time for the Bush administration, and trade officials from

around the globe, to go back to the drawing board and create trade

policies that actually benefit working people everywhere. Please write

a letter to the editor or e-mail us to get connected to local events

in your area.

 

http://www.democracyinaction.org/

 

Tomorrow: The WTO's Cancer on Democracy.

 

Sincerely,

The Global Trade Watch Team