U.N. Study Finds Global Trade Benefits Are 
Uneven
By ELIZABETH BECKER 
 February 24, 2004 

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 - The uneven benefits of globalization are 
creating a growing divide between rich and poor countries, as well as 
within countries, according to a two-year study by the United Nations' 
labor organization. 
The report found that the opening of borders, new trade agreements and 
the establishment of the World Trade Organization after the end of the 
cold war failed to speed the growth of global gross national product, which 
lagged behind the economic performance of previous decades. 
Entitled "A Fair Globalization," the study was commissioned by the 
International Labor Organization and prepared by 20 officials and experts, 
including Joseph E. Stiglitz, the American economist who won the 2001 
Nobel in economic science. 
The underlying premise was that "the potential of the global market 
economy for good is immense and has demonstrated great productive 
capacity for hundreds of millions of people."
The authors were asked to describe the social and economic dimensions 
of globalization that have spawned the growing antagonism toward trade 
in hopes of finding a way to reduce the pain and point to ways to regulate 
trade and development.
Echoing sentiments heard during the current Democratic campaign for 
president, the reports' two co-chairmen, Tarja Halonen, the president of 
Finland, and Benjamin William Mkapa, the president of Tanzania, wrote: 
"Currently, globalization is a divisive subject. It verges on a dialogue of the 
deaf, both nationally and internationally. Yet the future of our countries, 
and the destiny of our globe, demands that we all rethink globalization."
The report, to be released on Tuesday in London, found that 188 million 
people are unemployed worldwide, or 6.2 percent of the labor force; that 
the gap between rich and poor nations has widened, with countries 
representing 14 percent of the world's population accounting for half the 
world's trade and foreign investment; and that in the developing world, 
women have been harmed more than men by globalization. 
The report also said that women's traditional livelihoods as subsistence 
farmers or small producers have been undermined by foreign subsidized 
agriculture or foreign imports but, as women, they face cultural barriers 
when looking for alternative occupations. 
Within some rich nations - Britain, Canada and the United States - the gap 
between rich and poor has grown wider as well. The United States posted 
the greatest gap, with the top 1 percent earning 17 percent of the gross 
income, "a level last seen in the 1920's."
Globalization has also affected the rate of taxes collected by countries, the 
report said. In the world's 30 wealthiest nations, the average level of 
corporate tax fell from 37.6 percent in 1996 to 30.8 percent in 2003.
The report did note two bright spots: China and India, the two Asian 
nations with a third of the world's population.
While the number of people living in absolute poverty worldwide declined 
from 1.2 billion in 1990 to 1.1 billion in 2000, most of the improvement was 
in China and India. 
The report argues that globalization is at a turning point and international 
institutions need to address social inequities as well as other 
consequences of open borders.
Globalization's "volatility threatens both rich and poor,'' the report said. 
"Open societies are threatened by global terrorism, and the future of open 
markets is increasingly in question." 
Among the suggestions offered to expand the benefits of globalization 
were: improved international governance, more transparency in trade 
laws, better protection for people and goods crossing borders, increasing 
development assistance to poorer nations and better enforcement of 
international labor standards and immigration rights. 
Arguing that globalization has its most direct effect on people through their 
work and employment, the report called for the enforcement of the four 
core international labor standards. They are the right to organize and 
bargain collectively, the elimination of compulsory labor, the abolition of 
child labor and the ending of discrimination in employment.
Both leading candidates for the Democratic nomination for president - 
Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and Senator John Edwards of 
North Carolina - have made the enforcement of those labor standards part 
of their trade agendas.
In its trade agreements, the Bush administration calls on countries to 
enforce their labor laws. Most nations subscribe to these standards.
The report said, however, these standards are often ignored and pointed 
to an estimated 246 million child laborers worldwide, as well as continued 
forced labor in agriculture, the military and sex work.