Without a lot of fanfare, trade negotiators formally began the Doha Round of trade talks last week in Geneva. That the talks are being held at all is a victory; the original attempt to launch them unleashed "the battle of Seattle," when antiglobalism protesters turned that peaceful city into a riot zone. But if that spasm of violence is now a high-water mark, the forces that were unleashed have only subsided. Failure to ensure that these talks yield truly equitable results for all will undermine support for free trade.
The case for trade liberalization is strong. Economic theory still posits that the best route to growth and prosperity is an open international economy that allows countries to maximize productivity in areas where they are most efficient. Experience confirms the theory. East Asia's economic growth of the last several decades is proof, as is Japan's stunning economic performance after World War II, as is the Chinese record over the past decade.
But growth alone is not enough. It is vitally important that the benefits -- the accumulated wealth -- be shared as well, and here the results have been considerably less impressive. Indeed, in the past several decades, the gains from trade liberalization have been remarkably one-sided. Quite simply, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.