Pros And Cons Of Fair Trade

Free trade and fair trade advocates have very different ideologies and there are several different generalizations that can be made. Because of differences in political outlook, there are always debates within national legislatures. Free trade advocates are commonly conservative or libertarian who support smaller government and less regulation. This generally leads them to be disbelieving of government programs that attempt to redistribute wealth. Fair trade advocates on the other hand generally have a communitarian outlook that is more inclined to supporting government action with improving people’s quality of life (Gillikin, J). Through an economical lense, economists accept that free trade provides the least amount of expenses while maintaining

Through fair trade certifications given to producers, consumers can be ensured that goods they purchase are sold ethically.
Engel argues that two pros are evident in fair trade, good pay with community benefits and worker safety and protection are guaranteed. And that through purchasing of fair trade products, people who created them are ensured a living wage that’s much higher than what they would typically earn (Engel, H). Fair trade organizations also claim to allow participants to invest in their communities to support things like education and medical care. Alongside these benefits, workers can reap healthy benefits of rigorously set standards for safe working conditions. Discrimination of gender, religion, or culture is also prohibited in fair trade businesses providing equal possibilities for all workers. Managers of fair trade businesses are also required to protect children providing education opportunities and protection from

“Economic efficiency” stated previously is an effect in the long run that doesn’t benefit the factory workers who could lose their job in the short-term. Free trade increases a nation’s overall economy and productivity, but at the same time, millions are forced to change careers as seen in a 2013 report showed how NAFTA -a free trade organization- forced one million U.S job losses (Williams J). In addition to this, Robinson also argues that free trade encourages businesses to move countries which entail “systematic labor abuses and destruction of the environment” in these poor environments. On top of these two cons, economists envision trade barriers to be insignificant but politicians signing trade agreements are always biased to their own interests. This leads to documents with heaps of loopholes and potential advantages for established businesses. In many cases, agreements replaced existing regulations with new ones that favored bigger