This reduces governments' degree of control over their fiscal policy and can threaten the stability of major currencies. It has therefore been suggested that a tax be levied on such transfers to damp down their scale. Since the proceeds would amount to billions of dollars, the UN with its arrears problems, and the Third World with its debt load and uncertain income, have a desperate interest. As the volume and value of international trade grows, it raises new problems of negotiation, regulation and adjustment. The World Trade Organization will have a key role in dealing with the rapidly growing trade in services, chronic problems with agriculture, the issues of international investment and corruption, environmental and labour standards, and the taxing of international trade between parts of supra-national corporations.
Many economic agreements are already global.
These will inevitably grow, and become more complex as trade blocs form. The UN may be the only acceptable resident physician in many cases. The international rules in regard to such bodies remain very limited. Somehow such organizations must be persuaded to respect a minimal system of supranational norms, or jurisdiction if necessary. Only the UN system has any hope of accomplishing this.