Question

What do you think about the activities of the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank? Why do you think riots break out when they have their meetings? Why do some people dislike free-trade?

Answer 1

WTO, IMF and World Bank were created to foster globalization through facilitating free trade (with WTO), fostering capital creation and investment and economic development (with IMF and World bank).

WTO manages the international treaties of trade that get singed among countries, could be bilateral or multilateral as well. It provides guidilines, helps increase in free trade, resolve international trade disputes etc. IMF and World bank have objectives of providing capital/financial help to economies for economic developemment. Such as it lends capital etc.

When meetings held at these institutions then member parties participate in discussion. These memebr parties are representatives of economies/countries. Each economy lobby for its own interest such as developing countries may lobby for more special drawing righst to IMF or special preffered treatment from WTO. Such lobbying from different countries are in conflict of each others and hence riots break out.

Free trade may create strong threat to domestic companies which may weaken the economies state of industries. This could be one reason for disliking free trade. Free trade may also decreases the domestic suppliers' bargaining power making them more vulnerable, Also involves flight of foreign exchange that is required to take loans from IMF. All these could be the reasons.