The Truth about Trade: The Real Impact of Liberalization

Clive George's provocative book examines the evidence both for and against world trade. He exposes the myths, and presents challenging new proposals for comprehensive reform.  Based on ten years of in-depth research into the impacts of the trade agreements that are forged in the World Trade Organization and through regional negotiations it reveals that few of the claims made by the major players stand up to scrutiny, while many of the counter-claims lack rigor in their analysis of key issues.  From its analysis of the relationships between trade, social transformation, economic growth and environmental sustainability, the book concludes with proposals for how the rules by which trade is governed might be reformed to help tackle the world's most pressing problems instead of making them worse.

Clive George is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Environment and Development at the University of Manchester. Through his work for UNEP and the European Commission he has become one of the world's leading experts on assessing the economic, social and environmental impacts of international trade agreements.