Can the Open Market Forces Regroup?
Lots of Generals, Not Many Soldiers Missing from the ranks in the battle for open markets are business firms and consumer groups. The most energetic soldiers are economists. As Stalin famously remarked, “How many divisions does the pope command?” That said, many strategic concepts have been offered for regrouping the Open Market forces and sparking public enthusiasm for globalization. Everyone wants business and government leaders to speak out more forcefully in favor of free trade and investment. Beyond that common theme, strategies differ. For brevity, I will summarize the ideas of leading strategists in caricature. Jagdish Bhagwati and Daniel Tarullo: “Back to basics.” Focus the WTO on border barriers. Reconsider the TRIPs agreement (as T. N. Srinavasan has urged). Bhagwati goes further: forget about regional groups—they’re a nuisance at best, and more likely harmful. In other words, get the WTO out of difficult national sovereignty questions, and don’t burden commerce with a spaghe
