TRADE

CLIVE COOK, Deputy Editor, The Economist, October 7, 2003
CZIKOWSKY: Do you believe there are long term political benefits to international trade? For instance, it is my hope that the Chinese government, through greater interaction with other countries, will learn from our economic, judicial, and political systems and over time there will be pressure and eventual adoption of measures that greater respect human rights. Or, are such political goals too far detached from the economic issues to be of any significance?
COOK: You make a key point. I am absolutely convinced that trade, and hence growth, have a strongly beneficial effect on politics in the developing countries. The process you describe is already under way in China—though admittedly it still has a long way to go. Or look at South Korea, where rising prosperity led to calls for greater democracy, which the ruling regime in due course heeded. Trade, I believe, actually brings two kinds of benefit in the regard. The first is direct: It raises incomes, which frees people to worry less about mere survival and more about how they are governed. The second is direct: Trade brings people into contact with each other across borders. Knowledge about democracy and civil rights spreads through this channel, and people begin to understand what they’ve been missing.