The broad picture

The subject of this edited book is the interface between four major trends in the global economy, which have become apparent during the last two decades.

The first of these trends is the large expansion in trade between nations. International trade has been growing since the adoption of the GATT in 1947, but it has significantly accelerated over the last two decades. During the period 1980–2000, global trade grew very significantly. In addition, a number of new nations (e.g. China) have joined the WTO in recent years, thereby expanding the scope of application of WTO trade rules. It is widely believed today that participation in international trade is a key factor in economic development, and that increased global trade contributes to the prosperity of nations.

The second of these trends is the revolution that took place in the telecommunications sector. The first aspect of this revolution relates to market-opening reforms. For much of the twentieth century, telecommunications were organised in many countries around a monopolistic operator. The performance of these operators proved, however, to be disappointing and, in the 1980s, some countries decided to liberalise their telecommunications sector. These countries believed that competition in telecommunications would provide for lower prices, greater innovation, and a greater degree of consumer satisfaction. Such reforms have now extended to a large number of countries. While less than twenty countries had opened the provision of any fixed basic telecommunications services by the mid-1990s, 40 per cent of all countries had done so by the year 2000, including about seventy countries which have allowed competition in basic local services.