OK, so finally you got to the point. LMCs bribe powerful local people to do otherwise illegal or unethical things.
Once again, you've concentrated on one of the many problems at hand. Bribery is but one issue, and hardly a universal one. Poor wages, an inability of local industries to compete with LMC's, little/no legislation protecting workers, weak or ineffective enforcement of the law, and many other things feed into this.
Saying "bribes are the only problem" is akin to blaming WWII on the Australians - sure, they were involved, but they're only one tiny part of the equation...
The fault is mostly with those corrupt local people.
Yeah, just like WWII was mostly the fault of the Jews
The "fault" lies in many places. Part if it lies here in the west - the demands for products at the lowest possible price drive some companies to prey on 3rd world nations to achieve that. Part of the fault lies in our western free trade agreements - as in the ones you so positively laud - because they both prevent us from using punitive tariffs to make that practice unprofitable, and are exclusionary to those who are non-signees.
The message should be "down with the Nigerian generals", or "down with corruption", but not "down with free trade". Free trade in itself isn't a problem, which is what I expected all along, and now you've agreed to.
Really, where did I agree to that? Oh wait, I didn't - you're simply twisting my words.
Free trade is not the answer to this issue. In the presence of free trade punitive tariffs against companies/countries that use/allow such practices cannot be implemented. In the presence of free trade, a developing country cannot protect its domestic economy from outside competition. In the presence of free trade, a country cannot take action to protect its currency, protect its workers, and protect its companies.
Free trade is great if you have a developed economy. But for a developing one, it is a recipe for disaster.
This is a old and well understood problem. I'd recommend reading up on the post-1960's
No. All your reading has left you lazily following the same rhetoric as all the drug-smoking spoiled rich-kids.
Translation: kallog reject reality and substitute my own.
The book I am thinking of was written by Brazils minister of industry (or perhaps trade, its been a few years so I don't remember the specifics) during the 1960's. In it, he outlines the problems they faced (largely LMC's profiteering off of natural resources, at the expense of the local economy), and the actions they took to rectify that. Its an amazing read, and when you consider what has happened in Brazil over the past 60-ish years, is pretty much a how-to guide on how to industrialize an undeveloped nation.
But hey, I understand your point. Its much easier to be obstinate about an idea than it is to approach it with an open mind, and to learn from the very people who dealt successfully with the problem in the past.
Bryan
