World Trade Organization - WTO

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the sole international trade organization that keeps tabs on trade between countries. Not only does it keep tabs on them, it also is them. The WTO’s basis is from agreements signed by major world traders. This is mostly a set of trade rules that everyone’s agreed to.

Those in favor of the WTO are those that benefit from it most: multinational corporations, because trade results in net gains for them, but also for their customers. Yet, WTO skeptics think the WTO artificially alters the free market, making the international wealth gap greater than it would be without the WTO. The data shows this for both sides: global trade has expanded, and yet there’s been a negative impact on local communities and human rights at the same time.

What to do with the WTO? Only time will tell.