Trade, Development, and Inequality

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In The Media

Trade, Development, and Inequality

The most powerful underlying force driving increased inequality is not trade by itself but skill-biased technological change.

By Uri Dadush

Published on Oct 28, 2015

Source: Current History

To trade or not to trade? Judging by the narrow vote by the US Congress in June 2015 to grant President Barack Obama fasttrack negotiating authority for trade agreements, the answer today remains in the affirmative, as it has for decades—but resistance is on the rise. According to the many opponents of such deals, trade is a bitter medicine to be taken only in small doses while guarding carefully against its dangerous side effects. If new trade deals are to go ahead at all, the critics say, they should include strict safeguards, such as provisions to uphold environmental and labor standards, and penalties for currency manipulation. Although the trade debate in the United States, the architect of the postwar global trading system, tends to draw the spotlight, the hand-wringing over trade is even more intense in the developing world. Since developing countries protect their home markets more comprehensively than the United States does, the stakes in their trade debates are higher...

This article was originally published in Current History.

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About the Author

Uri Dadush

Former Senior Associate, International Economics Program

Dadush was a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He focuses on trends in the global economy and is currently tracking developments in the eurozone crisis.

Recent Work

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The Labors of Tsipras
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Economy Trade North America

Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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