>>Michael McIntyre wrote:
>>
>>> Anyone hear Lori make an argument like that at the debate with
>>>Bhagwati et al. in Seattle?
>>
>>Lori Wallach wasn't in that debate. It was Ralph Nader, John
>>Cavanagh, and Vandana Shiva for the anti-WTO side. The anti side
>>was not impressive.
>>
>>Doug
>
>Is there a transcript? Why were they not impressive?
I have a CD of the audio, but I don't think there's a transcript. It was not impressive because they couldn't answer the economic arguments very effectively. Shiva went on about how much she liked the farm ladies who sold her vegetables - much nicer than a supermarket - she sounded like Marie Antoinette in a sari. Nader rambled, and when David Aarons (I think I'm spelling that right), the then-Undersecretary of Commerce for International Affairs, asked Nader how a consumer advocate could support import restrictions (which generally means less selection and higher prices - a pretty sharp question, I thought), he sputtered all over the place. He said he supported energy import restrictions, to promote energy self-sufficiency (as if self-sufficiency were self-evidently desirable), and then said he supported restrictions on pornography imports too, apropos de rien.
Of course the whole way the issue was framed - you're either pro- or anti-trade - is silly.
Doug