The crisis and the birth of a new model

The failure of the OIC did not discourage the negotiators, who could not be enough just to ensure IBRD based investments or liquidity provided by the IMF, It was to advance in trade liberalization as a way to stimulate economic growth and, consequently, create a more structured world economically. Like this, It was soon established the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT, its acronym in English), which is formed by a series of trade liberalization rounds. In 1995 GATT was replaced by the World Trade Organization (OMC), which also included several rounds of trade liberalization, allowing a continuous, although not regular, increased liberalization of world trade.

Historically, it is important to note that since 1944 much has been done in terms of regulation of trade, but little in financial terms or investments. Foreign Direct Investment (IED), so celebrated during the late 1990 and even a short time, It is now starting to show a side not so interesting. The states, especially the less industrialized, They spent a lot of time and political effort in a frantic attempt to FDI attraction, believing that the entry of these resources in the national economy would be the great salvation. This was the picture of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Lula's first term. Now you begin to realize that does not serve any IED, that countries should have a development project and should only seek FDI portfolio, that is, one that brings in projects linked to the real needs of the country.

The point is that now the billions of dollars that entered the country as FDI begin to seek their return paths and much of the time, its output will take a little effort that helped countries in recent years. Again, countries will be lost and with few resources, precisely because they would not bother with a more planning, would not rethink the IBRD while guiding the collective attempt to (re)build a stronger world economy. The focus was all on trade.

In fact you can not deny that global trade liberalization significantly increased international flows, increased the world's stock of wealth and brought an improvement effective material for a significant part of humanity. The question remains whether we have followed the best route. The current economic and financial crisis has shown that we have reached a turning point in the way we go through and maybe change has to occur at such high speed, likely negative impacts cancel several of the progress made.

In this crisis scenario governments are not denying the principle of trade itself, something that would be very difficult today, after decades claiming that this was the best way. however, They are adjusting trade with different patterns. Until the crisis prevailed the idea that trade should be based upon the best prices, sealed only the possibility of dumping, it would be an artificial way to misrepresent and compatitividade, like this, cause distortions in some productive sectors. Today what we see is a move to restrict trade on the basis of issues that go far beyond the prices charged. Tariff barriers are losing ground to the so-called non-tariff barriers, those that are of a technical nature, sanitary and phytosanitary.

This is the way that old issues finally econtraram your space into the world of commerce, such as environmental and labor. The choice of a green or socially sustainable product will soon cease to be a personal matter, of individual ethics, and will be a problem for governments. Today begins to realize more strongly that a product does not carry itself just a utility and value, also carries an environmental and social liabilities and that will begin to be more and more decisive about their right of movement. I am not advocating that governments were hit by a willingness to seek an ethical-commercial positioning, but that the very current crisis puts this out as one of the few viable for a re-arrangement of the international trading system.

For indirect routes and, largely, not deliberate, we are experiencing the slow birth of a new model of trade. It is not visible yet, but underneath the actions of various governments to try to forward solutions to the crisis, you can see it appear.

Originally published in Journal Author

www.revistaautor.com