The WTO, the IMF and the impact of their free-trade policies on developing nations

This paper argues that the free-trade policies of both the WTO and the IMF fail to recognise that the import consumer durable goods generate a defence liability that can only be internalised through tariffs. The argument presented here, which is based on the Thompson-Hickson hypothesis on international co-operation, argues that such policies add to the social and political instability in developing countries. They also generate hyperinflation when developing countries enjoy sufficient policy independence, as was the case in the 1970s and 1980s.