The Wto: Five Years of Reasons to Resist Corporate Globalization

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Lori Wallach has got to be on her way to a Nobel Prize. She has hit an exposed nerve of the corporate system, and illuminated it in a manner that moves tens of thousands. This book, a very short version of a much longer study, is very cogent and well-documented. The bottom line is clear: the WTO operates in secrecy, for the convenience of corporations, and is systematically undermining and overturning higher standards of protections and sanctions related to the protection of children, public safety, and the environment.It merits comment that Wallach (and her lesser known co-author, Michelle Sforza) would never have reached as many people with their thinking in the absence of the Open Media Pamphlet Series. This series is addictive, brilliant, and consistently cuts to the heart of major issues.

This brief, well thought out and detailed criticism of the WTO is very readable. Points out that the WTO, an unelected irresponsible body has been placed above the world's governments and given the power to nullify the laws enacted by those governments. Shows how the WTO has allowed corporations to circumvent the limitations placed upon them by government. Provides specific examples of how the WTO is systematically undermining responsible market practices. Should be read critically by those on the left and the right. If we continue on this road, we will despoil our environment, destroy representative government and enslave our people. The question here is not free trade verses no trade, as the apologists for the corporate state would have us believe, but rather who will benefit from our trade policies. The WTO is a tool of the biggest multinationals, and represents their interests alone, over everyone else. Buy it.

Everybody thinks they understand "free trade" but nobody bothers to investigate what the WTO does; which is make life more profitable for corporations at the expense of citizens around the world. Ms. Wallach is a brilliant writer/investigator who explains what the WTO is doing to our environment, health and labor rights; not very good things I might add. I believe in free trade as long as it is fair trade. I believe Ms. Wallach does too, although the corporate lackey's try and label her as "anti-trade". This is a quick read - buy it and become informed.

This is a concise, informative book which provides an excellent overview of the major issues raised by the WTO (and similar organizations, present and future). Specific examples are provided to illustrate exactly why the WTO is so damaging in the areas of public health, food safety, the environment, the advancement of underdeveloped nations, labor and human rights, and many others. The authors have a strong case and they basically let the (well-documented) facts speak for themselves; if anything, they're surprisingly restrained in their evaluation.Economic issues aren't particularly sexy, of course, and I had expected this book to be dry. It was anything but. It's a brisk read, and it packs the maximum amount of useful information into its relatively few pages. If you were confused by the protests in Seattle and Washington and want to know what those people were REALLY shouting about--something you're certainly never going to get from CNN and friends--read this book. It's an essential guide to what are fast becoming the key issues of our time.