The People Meet the World Trade Organization
By Donella Meadows
–November 18, 1999–
The high priests of free trade are getting nervous. Corporate and government officials from the 134 nations that belong to the World Trade Organization (WTO) have long planned to meet in Seattle at the end of this month to negotiate the next round of global trade rules. Now they discover that thousands of angry citizens will [...]
Labor Day is a Time to Tell the Truth About Jobs
By Donella Meadows
–August 29, 1996–
For some reason we still celebrate Labor Day, though corporations are downsizing, labor unions are losing membership, and the stock market rises when people get fired. Those of us who still have jobs, or want to, wonder whether anyone in charge cares about labor any more.
“Of course we care,” our leaders say, and indeed they talk [...]
How to Talk About Changing a System
By Donella Meadows
–December 1, 1994–
Most of what government does makes little long-term difference, thank goodness. Spend more money here and less there; strengthen a regulation here, weaken one there. Those are fiddles, small and reversible adjustments to the existing system.
But every now and then government actually changes the system in a way that has long-lasting effects. That’s what it failed [...]
GATT Concentrates Too Much Power in the Wrong Hands
By Donella Meadows
–October 27, 1994–
There’s one huge, discussible reason why GATT (the world trade agreement that will come before Congress next month) should not be passed. There’s an even huger, undiscussible reason.
The discussible reason is that the new GATT will push down wages and environmental standards worldwide and destroy the ability of communities, states, and nations to make their own [...]
The Silence About GATT
By Donella Meadows
–October 20, 1994–
If NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) was controversial, GATT (the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) should be inflammatory. NAFTA linked the economies of Canada, the United States, and Mexico in a “free trade” zone; GATT links the world. NAFTA had weak agreements to protect labor and the environment; GATT has none.
But the nation [...]
