trade aid

In response to my post on global white band day, iiq responded that people can,

Help to make a difference to poverty from lack of free trade and choices.

Agreed.

The distinction between free trade and fair trade is important when considering third world countries. People trade and nations trade - rather, all people and all nations trade in different ways and at differing levels of status. Googling Fair Trade will get heaps of info on the minutiae I'm sure - but IMHO, China's the problem.

The astonishingly low prices that an item can be made for in China is just nuts (take the NZ price, divide it by 8 and that's the cost in US dollars to get it made, packaged AND to a port of your choice in China). Global trade has to be about open access (USA and EU not doing very well) and reasonable prices paid for goods. The price of Chinese goods is, simply, too low. The single biggest action any government can take to make fair trade happen is for China to float the Yuan.

I suspect that, unfortunately, would cause a global financial crisis. I don't know the answer to that whopping problem.

The depressing reality is that global poverty isn't going to end in my lifetime. Prove me wrong and I'll be happy - but I'm not wrong on this one.

NGO's like Oxfam, and campaigns like Make Poverty History will make a difference - but only to some, and only slowly. It doesn't mean that individual actions should be ignored as irrelevant. It's up to consumers to make change happen slowly with their wallets. It's hard to make those choices - in fact it's a bitch (Foodtown Mt Eden, in particular, should be able to keep Scarborough Fair coffee in stock more often).