After World War II, the global economy was rife with high barriers to trade and investment, decimated industries in Europe and Japan, and an exchange rate system where the value of currencies were askew. In 1944, some 24 nations met in Bretton Woods New Hampshire to map out a post war strategy to revitalize the global economy. In 1947, this agreement forged the creation of three international organizations: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Monetary Fund.
The World Trade Organization
There are many criticisms and justifications given to the continued existence of the World Trade Organization. Criticisms generally focus around the issue of sovereignty. Opponents believe that organizations like the World Trade Organization often can infringe on member sovereignty by passing dictums that supersede the legal structures established by individual countries. Opponents often argue that the World Trade Organization is a forum that supports corporate interests in place of the human interests of many countries. They argue that the system allows the rich to get rich while the poor continue to get poor. Moreover, they also argue that the lowering of world trade barriers allows domestic companies to close production in their home countries, seeking cheaper labor in less developed countries - condemning workers to the perpetual subjugation of corporate elites.
Support for the WTO generally focuses around comparisons of the pre-World War II and post World War II periods. Supporters point out that prior to the creation of GATT, there were no international avenues to settle disputes in international trade. Thus, countries often dealt with disputes by raising barriers to trade to punish other countries. This, proponents argue, lowers living standards and threatens global economic prosperity. Proponents also argue that after World War II, international trade was faced with unsurpassable barriers. Thus, the GATT was instrumental in helping international trade grow. Over 75 percent of the international trading rules in effect today were written fundamentally by U.S. trade negotiators over the past 50 years. World trade has expanded from less than $100 billion in the late 1940s to over $6.3 trillion in 1996. Moreover, the volume of world trade in merchandise goods and services totaled an estimated $6.6 trillion in 1997.
