Review: Who's Afraid of the WTO?
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200506000229 |
| Date | 01 June 2005 |
| Published date | 01 June 2005 |
| Author | Mark R. Brawley |
| Subject Matter | Review |
I
Reviews
|
On this point, this book is an excellent exercise in hypothesis genera-
tion, to use the language of my own research community. With regards to
Tabb's
hypothesis that the
IMF's,
World
Bank's,
and
WTO's
policies are
more consistent with US interests
than
those of smaller member states due
to the US hegemonic position in the international political economy, Tabb
offers
some important plausibility probes concerning these
GSEGIs
in
chapters seven and ίο. I use the term plausibility probe because his his-
torical
evidence may not completely
persuade
some readers. For example,
Tabb
treats the United Nations as a competitive structure to the
GSEGIs.
Yet
the UN was also a creation of US power and interests after
WWII,
and
the United States has not been subsequently able to dominate its
effective
operation. For
Tabb,
this difference seems to stem from institutional vot-
ing procedures: one country-one vote in the UN general assembly, but qual-
ified
majority voting in the IMF and World
Bank.
However, even with the
more favourable US voting position within these
GSEGIs,
US interests can
be
and have been outvoted. As such, it is not inevitable that the American
interests dominate within them. And if American interests do completely
dominate these
GSEGIs,
then we clearly need to focus more on regional
development banks and
trade
institutions as a potential mechanism for
smaller
states to reassert their national economic sovereignty.
David
H.
Bearce/University
of
Pittsburgh
WHO'S
AFRAID
OF THE
WTO?
Kent
Jones
New
York:
Oxford University Press,
2004.
xii,
236pp.
$48.00
cloth
(ISBN
0-19-516616-7)
It
may have taken an economist to write such a book about the WTO, but
certainly
the result is something quite useful for any instructor covering
globalization.
The author deftly exposes the political
truths
about the work-
ings of the WTO and the mistaken assumptions underlying the criticisms
voiced
by most anti-WTO protestors. People need to be reminded of these
truths,
however simple they may be. The WTO is a body composed of its
member states. States cannot be forced into membership. They choose to
participate based on the costs and benefits associated with membership.
The
advantages to membership are largely economic. In deciding to
join,
I 590 I International
Journal
|
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2005
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