Fair Trade 12

The need for equitable development to address growing poverty is more urgent than necessary. The self interest of wealthy nations has drawn the promised free and fair trading system offered in 1999 by WTO, into a decade long catalogue of self interest and a pretence of commitment to free trade. Pascal Lamy’s declaration that the next Ministerial Meeting will take place end 2009, together with the escalating financial crisis, make it likely that protectionism and with it much more intense unfairness in trade will follow. With that, the Millennium Development Goals will become more distant. Free and fair trade is the engine for growth and it is growth – not aid – that can ensure the achievement and maintenance of these goals in less developed countries. Yet US and European policymakers have opted to hide from the difficult system changes required to fix a failed financial system and instead o pandering to the excess and mistakes of the few whilst sacrificing the many. Is it not time to seek a new solution and instead of spending trillions on crutches for an obsolete system, should not a more sustainable and fair solution be sought?

Decades ago it was smoke and mirrors that were used to create illusions. Today’s illusionists are a little more sophisticated – they use brands, certificates, and a lot of money – they have after all, much more to gain than J. N. Maskelyne or Harry Houdini. The illusion I talk of is a strange one; […]

The June 2008 issue of ‘The Director’ Magazine of the IoD, included a well researched feature on the subject of CSR. It was to me, an informative, yet bewildering overview of the subject. Informative because it is a comprehensive and well researched feature, bewildering because in many cases, the businesses that practice this ‘corporate social […]