e world's food. This 20% minority is also responsible for producing about 75% of the world's environmental pollution. Economic growth will not solve the problems we face. During a period of significant growth in world trade (1960 to 1989), global inequality got significantly worse: the ratio between the richest 20% and poorest 20% of the world population went from 30 to 1, becoming 59 to 1. In Quebec, American leaders pledged to the desire for free trade. The proposed free trade area would eliminate trade barriers from the northern reaches of Canada to Cape Horn in Chile, and become the largest trading bloc in the world once implemented. Protesters had a message in Quebec, even if the leaders were not listening very well. Competitive markets may be the best guarantee of efficiency, but not necessarily of equity. Financial crises have become increasingly common with the spread and growth of global capital flows. They result from rapid buildups and reversals of short-term capital flows are likely to recur. But, there is some benefit of the intrusion of multinationals in impoverished states. When an MNC sets up shop in Kuala Lumpur, its positive presence is felt directly and immediately: a factory building perhaps, two hundred jobs, a fixed and secure salary, increased purchasing power. But when a fund manager buys equity in newly listed Malaysian companies or buys the Malaysian currency, speculating on its strength, the path from their computer terminals to the pockets of the average Malaysian is anything but direct. The neoliberal experiment has failed much more miserably than most people know, even on its own terms – that is, ignoring the distribution of income and wealth. For the last twenty years, Latin America has chalked up about zero growth per capita, as compared to a more than 70% increase in the previous two decades. For Africa, the decline has been even worse, with per capita income actually shrinking ove...
