Intervenções no blogue 'The Lisboners' (V)

[Em resposta a este artigo.]

I have a few issues I’d like to raise about this post.

The first one is that I can’t help but find it slightly patronising to say that the Indian people simply can’t hold their Government to account, when India is, I believe, a functioning democracy, with functioning democratic institutions.

The second one is that free trade is not about benefitting one side or the other. It’s about lower prices and higher wages in real terms for all sides.

The Common Agricultural Policy, though, is, in fact, about benefitting one side over the other, and it is extremely detrimental to developing economies hoping to export their agricultural products to the European market. That’s what we should be reforming, and in earnest, not at the snail’s pace we currently are.

Also, we should think about protecting people as individuals, and their ability to make choices, not small businesses ‘per se’. People should be able to choose what goods they buy, and they should do so based on their individual preferences, not because there is no alternative. Small businesses can adapt to the new environment – they can, for example, form trade alliances to generate the necessary economies of scale to compete.

Indian business will adapt to the new environment. It will become stronger and more competitive because of competition, and that kind of strength is much more sustainable than that provided by Government protection.

I wonder if the production of generic medicines will be restricted, or whether the provisions at issues are about counterfeit medicine being restricted. These are not the same thing. Of course, I agree whole-heartedly, generic production should not be stymied in India (or anywhere, for that matter).

I also wonder about your concerns about «legislation on health and the environment» being hampered. Could you be more specific? Why are these concerns being raised?

I find it is our responsibility to sign and ratify free trade agreements that lower tariffs across the globe, because free trade creates wealth, and it also creates interdependence – which leads to a predisposition towards peaceful solutions for quarrels that may emerge.

I also find it is our responsibility to reform our global governance institutions to make them more transparent and increase their democratic legitimacy. Free trade is predicated on the existence of an adequate institutional framework, after all.

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I would like to ask anyway: how would people feel about an International Commercial Court, with a responsibility of dealing with international transactions taking into account their complex nature and specificities?