'The development of the international economy in the period 1945-91 favoured rich countries at the expense of the poor.' How far do you agree?

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2. ‘The development of the international economy in the period 1945-91 favoured rich countries at the expense of the poor. How far do you agree?

The international economy started developing rapidly after the period 1945-91 as part of the United States policy to gain a foothold against the Soviet, especially in the light of the cold war situation. Rich countries would refer to the developed nations while poor countries would refer to the less developed nations. In the question, however, it can be said that a third group, the communist bloc have been left out as they had little, if any, participation in the development of the international economy. The development of the international economy would then refer to the setting up of certain organizations as part of the Bretton Woods system. These include GATT, world bank and IMF. However, for simplicity sake, we shall look at specifically GATT and its workings to determine whether it favoured rich nations over the poor ones.

The General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was founded in 1947 as a predecessor to the aborted International Trade Organisation (ITO) and was one of the three pillars that supported the post World War Two international economic order. Its aims were primarily to reduce trade barriers and free world trade. To say that GATT favoured rich countries at the expense of the poor can only be agreed upon to a small extent. This is due to a number of factors like the motivations behind the formation of GATT, the incompetence of the poorer countries and other circumstances.

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The assumption that GATT favoured rich countries at the expense of the poor arises when one considers the Prebisch and Radical school of thought, that GATT was a means of exploiting poor stated and denying them opportunity. They also believed that free trade, which GATT so passionately tries to promote, would not lead to prosperity but was a blatant effort by the developed countries to perpetuate their dependence on the developed countries.

GATT focused on the trade interests, industrial tariffs and manufactured goods of the developed countries. Such preference brought little benefits to the less developed countries, or ...

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