Moving Towards an Open World Economy - Article Example

They should also change their message by not reinforcing fears but reassuring citizens that trade is just one of many forces that affect their lives and the government's role is to help them adapt to change. WTO should encourage governments to address barriers to competition within countries. The victims of restrictive practices are consumers inside each country who must pay higher prices because of a less competitive market. These barriers also harm exporters and foreign consumers. Liberalizing should address investment restrictions too.

There are fears insufficient investment restriction encourages companies to relocate to lower-wage countries, but people should understand foreign direct investment would go from rich countries to other rich countries rather than poor ones. Nevertheless, there are differences between views people have in the U.S. and the views people have in most developing countries about the WTO and trade liberalization. In developing countries, people fear that increase trade liberalization will lead developed countries to take advantage of their resources. In the U.S.

, the perception is that increased free trade will lead to a loss of sovereignty.