Keep your wits about you - the new round of global trade talks starting in Seattle will throw up plausible sounding arguments from all sides. National governments, international trading blocks, trade unions, environmentalists, farmers, multinational companies and many other pressure groups will be represented and will try to convince the world their vision of the future for world trade is best. They'll all try to paint themselves as the good guys, but they can't all be right. You could do worse than bear the following points in mind. And all the time remember, when it comes to trade, there are generally no good guys or bad guys - just interested parties out for the best deal for themselves.
Trade enables countries to produce more of what they are good at and buy other products in return.
That's what economics tells us and how it's been in practice. The periods of rapid economic growth and rising living standards have coincided with rising trade. Periods of rising barriers to trade such as the 1930s have been associated with low economic growth and rising tensions between nations. Watch out for protectionism Many of the arguments against trade are protectionism in disguise. The US shows great concern for labour standards in developing countries and is threatening to bar goods from countries without labour protection laws.