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Glossary of Economic Globalization Terms | Letter Writing
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Glossary
Aid
The transfer of goods, services and money between any entities such as
nations, commercial banks, international agencies or non-governmental agencies. Aid is a highly generalized term, covering both grants and loans.
APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)
A group of 29 countries on the Asia Pacific rim, which meets periodically to discuss trade issues and to increase the free flow of trade between Pacific and Asian Nations. Infamous in the Northwest and around the world for its recent conference held in Vancouver in 1997.
Bretton Woods
A town in New Hampshire, famous for a major international meeting in 1944 where world leaders mapped out a common strategy for the post WWII economy. This led to the formation of the Bretton Woods institutions: The World Bank; the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
BCNI (Business Council on National Issues)
Formed in 1976 by Canadian corporate leaders in an attempt to have greater influence over governments. The BCNI develops policies that reflect its objectives of greater deregulation of the economy and lobbies governments to implement its suggested reforms.
Capital
In Economics, capital traditionally refers to factories, machinery and equipment. More recently, it is also used in the context of financial assets, such as stocks and bonds (more accurately referred to as “financial capital”).
Comparative Advantage
The notion that because of different cultural, geographical and historical circumstances, some nations are more efficient in the production of certain goods. This concept underlies the justification of free trade.
Corporation
A form of business organization where the firm has a legal existence separate from that of its owners. Corporations can be privately owned or publicly traded.
Debt
The accumulated deficits of a government which is the principle amount owed to domestic and international creditors (the people who lend the government money).
Deregulation
The removal of laws and regulations that govern corporations, public utilities and industries in order to facilitate the free flow of trade.
Fraser Institute
A BC-based right-wing/neo-liberal think-tank that produces literature and holds seminars on economic, environmental and social policy issues.
Free Trade
Trade arrangements where tariffs or other barriers to the free flow of goods and services are eliminated.
FTA (Free Trade Agreement)
Agreement between the United States and Canada, in effect since 1989.
FTAA (Free Trade of the Americas)
A US-led expansion of NAFTA that would bring all of the countries of North and South America, excluding Cuba, into a single trade bloc by 2004.
GATS (The General Agreement on the Trade of Services)
The mandate of the GATS in the liberalization of trade in services and the gradual phasing out of government “barriers” to international competition in the services sector.
GATTS (The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade)
Originally signed by 23 nations in 1947. An informal multilateral agreement covering international trade activities among nations. A series of rounds – the Kennedy Round, the Tokyo Round, the Uruguay Round etc. – have moved nations to freer trade through removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers.
GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
The generally accepted measure of economic performance. The total of goods and services produced in a country.
IMF (The International Monetary Fund)
Created as a central pillar of the post WWII global economy to coordinate the international monetary system. It provides emergency loans to countries that find themselves unable to meet current international payments, in exchange for the imposition of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPS).
ILO (International Labour Organization)
A United Nations Agency, which promotes internationally-recognized human and labour rights through governments, labour and employers, unique in the UN system.
Intellectual Property Rights
The privatization of knowledge and ideas, including rights to inventions and discoveries in such areas as patents for new drugs, trademarks, and seeds as well as the ownership of idea, indigenous traditions, and genetic information.
Majority World
Countries referred to as “Third World”, “Developing”, or the “Global South”; considered a more accurate and politically correct word.
Multilateral
Covering a multitude of areas.
MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment)
A package of trade rights giving power over to investors; a corporate bill of rights that includes no corporate responsibility and severely limits the ability of national, provincial and local governments to establish laws and policies in the public good. This agreement was defeated through public pressure in 1998.
NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
Designed to reduce impediments to trade and investment between Canada and the United States and Mexico. NAFTA drastically limits the ability of governments to regulate corporate behavior. Came into effect January 1, 1994.
Neo-Liberalism
A right-wing paradigm of thought based on the free market, deregulation, and opposition to state intervention in the economy. Also based on the belief that economic and corporate globalization are inevitable.
Non-Tariff Barrier
Non-tax barrier, such as a national standard or policy, which impedes the free flow of trade between nations. For example, environmental legislation, human rights standards, health and safety laws.
OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)
A Paris-based research organization providing the world’s richest 29 countries, including Canada, with information and advice about economic policy.
Sanction
Government refusal to import goods from a country it is protesting/boycotting. Used to punish members of a free trade area for violating trading agreements.
SAPS (Structural Adjustment Policies)
SAPS are policy reforms created by the IMF, which entail the mass deregulation of national standards and the cutting of social programs in order to generate foreign capital by attracting corporations. Imposed upon countries in the Majority World in an attempt to introduce then into the global economy and to “strengthen” their economic situations.
Tariff
A tax on goods imposed on the exporting country/corporation and collected by the importing country. Implemented in order to strengthen local economies and promote the sale of nationally made products by making foreign products comparatively more expensive.
Tobin Tax
A tax proposed by nobel laureate James Tobin on international financial transactions. The tax would be applied to currency speculation in efforts to stabilize national currency.
TNC (Transnational Corporation)
A corporation with ecomomic activities and operations in two or more nations. Also known as Multinational Corporation (MNC).
World Bank
Originally known as the international Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Set up after WWII to facilitate the reconstruction of economies in Europe devastated by the war. In later years, it took on the role of providing loans to majority world countries for the puposes of economic development. The World Bank is a sister organization to the IMF – both of which are based in Wahington DC.
WTO (World Trade Organization)
A Geneva-based free trade association with 140 member nations. Formed in 1995 to administer the GATT, as well as the trade in services and intellectual property. WTO secret panels rule on trade disputes among member nations.
Glossary of terms provided by RAIN (the Real Alternatives Information Network)
So You’re Gonna Write That Letter…
(Check back for more tools that will help you get your message out there. We will be adding more sections soon.)
You’re concerned about an issue, have some questions for a certain CEO or you just don’t understand Canada’s position on International Trade and you are going to write a letter. We have provided some hot tips for those who want to commit pen to paper and get it all out.
Letter writing is a great thing to do on your own. You can write them to just about anyone – a government representative, a newspaper, the head of a company. The most effective letters are those that are handwritten. Although they may be more time consuming, handwritten letters convey to the receiver that you are very concerned about the issue.
Before You Start!
Think about the following things. They will make it easier to write the letter.
- What are your intentions?
- Do you want to inform a group of people?
- Do you want certain actions explained or justified?
Helpful Hints
- Be brief – Even if the issue is complex, two paragraphs should be enough. The letter should be no more than a page.
- Be factual – Make sure you can back up your arguments with facts and include all the relevant information.
- Request a reply – Ask (politely) for a response to your letter. This creates a dialogue between you and the other person and encourages follow through on their side.
- Who are you? – Clearly identify who you are in the letter and on the envelope. If you are writing on behalf of a group it helps to identify who the group is and your position in it.
- Always – Include a return address so they can respond.
Here is a sample letter to the GAP in regards to their use of sweatshop labour that encourages them to pay a living wage:
Donald Fisher, Chairman
The Gap, Inc.
One Harrison St.
San Francisco, CA 94105Dear Mr. Fisher,As a Gap Customer, I want to express my concern about the sweatshop conditions and labour abuses on the island of Saipan. As a global company contracting in dozens of countries worldwide, the Gap has an obligation to its customers and its workers to reverse the race to the bottom in labour standards that is occurring in the garment industry.
In Saipan, the Gap has a responsibility to lead the way towards ending labour and human rights abuses by taking steps to:
Protect workers’ rights, including the freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Abolish the use of labour contracts that deny workers their basic human rights.
Ban the collection of recruitment fees and create a trust fund to repay such fees for all present or former workers, and pay return passage for any present or former worker who wishes to return home.
Set up a credible, enforceable independent monitoring system, with semiannual public reports, to ensure an end to all labour, health and safety abuses.
I thank you for your attention to this urgent matter and look forward to hearing your response.
Sincerely,
Where are they? Tracking down that politician.
There are a couple of services that hook you up with online connections to your politicians. To find your Member of Parliament try here.To find your MLA go here.To contact Mayor Sam Sullivan the Mayor of Vancouver regarding Municipal Affairs write to him:
Mayor Sam Sullivan
City Hall
453 W 12th Ave.
Vancouver, BC
V5Y 1V4
Phone: 604-873-7621
Fax: 604-873-7685
Email: sam.sullivan@vancouver.ca
Books
Asha’s Moms
Blue Gold – Clarke, Tony & Barlow, Maude
Upside Down – Galeano, Eduardo
Power Politics – Roy, Arundhati
The Activist’s handbook: a primer for the 1990’s
and beyond by Randy Shaw
Organising for social change: a manual for activists in the
1990’s by many authors
Bridging the Class Divide and other lessons for grassroots
organising by Linda Stout, Howard Zinn
Talking about a revolution by South End Press Collective,
Bell Hooks, Howard Zinn
50 Things you can do to Save the Earth by the EarthWorks Group.
50 ways to fight censorship by Dave Marsh.
Global Rift: a History of the Third World by Leften S. Stavrianos
[ed. If you ever read any history book, read this one. It's has changed my understanding of politics and economics more than anything else. Reading it can be a radicalising experience, not because of it's retorical arguments, but it's clear and methodical explanation of the history of capitalism as it
relates to the third world.]
Magazines
Adbusters
Alternatives
Briar Patch
Canadian Perspectives
CCPA Monitor
Colors
The Ecologist
Mother Jones
Ms.
Multinational Monitor
The Nation
New Internationalist
NACLA report on the Americas
This
Utne Reader
Yes Magazine
Z Magazine
Our Times
Third World Resurgence
The Rice Paper
Red Pepper
The Union Farmer
Movies
1984
A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict
A Place Called Chiapas
Affluence
All the President’s Men
Baraka
Bob Roberts
Bombs Away
Bottle Babies
Bowling for Columbine
Bread & Roses
Brown Women, Blonde Babies
Bulworth
Cry for Justice (Amnesty International)
Cry Freedom
El Norte
Erin Brockovich
Farenheit 451
Fight Club
Girls Town
Grease, Gristle + Globalization
In the Name of the Father
Manufacturing Consent
Matrix
Maxime, McDuff & McDo
Norma Rae
Reds
Roger and Me
SLAM
Steal this Movie
Testify – Rage Against the Machine
Big One
The Bus Riders Union
The Candidate
The Children of Chochabamba
The Corporation
The Cradle Will Rock
The Global Assembly Line
The Insider
The Real Thing
The War Room
This is What Democracy Looks Like
Trade Off
Turbulences
Underground
Music
This seems to us to be an essential component. Enjoyable
politically relevant music. Music plays such an important
role in so many people’s lives. The following artists and
songs are meant only as a taste of music we like. If you
have suggestions please let us know. We will add them to
our list.
Michael Frenti & Spearhead
Bad Religion
Jello Biafra
Deltron
Snapcase
Up Bustle and Out
Billy Bragg
Public Enemy
Saul Williams
Rage Against the Machine
Sweet Honey on the Rock
Bob Marley
James Keelaghan
The Weakerthans
Propaghandi
Tracy Chapman
Dan Beru
Ani Difranco and Utah Phillips
Sarah Jones
DJ Shadow
The Slam Soundtrack
De La Soul
Gil Scott Heron
Woody Guthrie
Black Eye Peas
Common(sense)
Leon Rosselson
Arrested Development
Nomi Lamm
Chumbawumba
Eric Bogle
Dead Kennedy’s
Kinnie Star
