Observations on Trade Law and Globalization

Abstract

I imagine most people with an interest in the subject have their own working definition of globalization. My definition goes something like this: Globalization is at least in part about the spread of mass markets and common tastes, albeit with variations. International trade law, by reducing the possibility that individual countries can “prefer” their own productions, is one of the mechanisms for facilitating the spread of these common tastes. I am by no means implying that the global tastes are elevated ones; in fact, the mass-appeal products sought might be inferior in many ways to what came before. The irony of the franchise, for instance, is thatbetterorworsedoes not matter—only sameness. The important thing is that the tastes are commonly held across a national-culture-free zone, and recognized as such.