> With respect to Bhagwati, last time I checked
>he was fervently pro-free trade but was sympathetic
>to capital controls of various sorts. I see that in this
>letter what he is unhappy about vis a vis the WTO is
>the assertion by rich countries of strong patent rules
>and intellectual property protection. Is this combination
>of positions still a fair characterization of his overall
>position? If it is, I am quite sympathetic with it.
Yes. He's pro-free trade in goods, but skeptical about capital flows, and very hostile to IP clauses in trade agreements. During the interview, he got quite upset about the fact that the World Bank is lending money to African countries so they can set up their own patent & trademark offices - protecting First World IP rent at the expense of some of the poorest countries on earth. Lovely, eh?
Doug