Particularly Bad Timing (Globalization propaganda by the NY Times)

[groovedaddy]

With the global economy slowing, prices soaring for oil and food and protectionist passions boiling up everywhere, it is an especially dangerous time to give up on international trade negotiations. Unfortunately, the world’s leading trading nations seem ready to abandon the World Trade Organization’s seven-year effort to reduce some of the world’s obstacles to trade.

The talks, initiated in 2001 in Doha, Qatar, were supposed to help the world’s poorest countries. An agreement would open markets to their main products, like food and textiles, and reduce the lavish farm subsidies in the rich world that have put poor farmers out of business. After years of wrangling, the negotiations now appear to be deadlocked.

While the reluctance to cut farm subsidies in Europe and the United States had been a main obstacle, the big developing countries also bear a lot of responsibility.

At marathon meetings this week in Geneva, the United States offered to further lower the ceiling for its agricultural subsidies — to roughly $15 billion a year from the current $48 billion. Europe — with France objecting — also fleshed out a new offer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/opinion/25fri2.html?th&emc=th

[Hydra]

1. Hey, "Free Traders"!

You had your 15 minutes(For the last 30+ years)! Since everything you've done has failed miserably...SHUT UP!

[Odin2005]

2. The Corporatists preach "free trade" then run to Uncle Sam for handouts when...

Things get tough. A bunch of hypocrites, all of them.

Oh, and Big Ag and the Corn Lobby can take their subsidized High-Fructose Corn Syrup and pump it up their collective ass.