Ian asks:
"If the WTO can't even stop the simple dynamic of "protection for sale" -the commodification of legislation- by national governments then what is it good for?"
C. Ian,
Well, I see no particular harm in horsetrading among nations as such. Aren't all treaties financial arrangements at some level? It seems to me that tariffs are explicitly made to be traded for changes in trade behavior. Tariffs and quotas are not constitutional principles, surely.
peace
boddi