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Cato Daily Dispatch for September 15, 2003

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WTO Talks Collapse in Cancun
Sweden Rejects the Euro
Nike Free Speech Lawsuit Settled

WTO Talks Collapse in Cancun

"Global trade talks collapsed abruptly Sunday afternoon in an unprecedented uprising by scores of the world's poorest nations against the United States, European Union countries and other wealthy nations," reports The Washington Post.

"The impasse among the 148 nations of the World Trade Organization threatens to derail prospects for a global trade agreement that was supposed to be concluded by 2005. Negotiations were launched two years ago in Doha, Qatar, to lower trade barriers with special emphasis on increasing development in poor nations."

Johan Norberg, author of the new Cato book, In Defense of Global Capitalism, anticipated a possible breakdown of the negotiations in "Developing Countries Betrayed by EU and USA." Norberg writes that the 1999 trade meetings in Seattle collapsed because developing countries did not get increased market access: "If that happens in Cancun, developing countries may drop out of the trade talks. This would be a shock to the multilateral trade system. And it could end the wave of economic and political liberalization that has made life better in many parts of the world."

Sweden Rejects the Euro

"Sweden decisively rejected the European Union's single currency, defying expectations of a late surge of sympathy votes for the pro-euro government after the murder of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh," Reuters reports.

"But the European Commission, big business and Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson warned Swedes that they could be frozen out of EU decision-making after spurning the currency used in 12 nations from Finland to Portugal."

The future of the euro--an even more timely topic now--will be the focus of the Cato Institute's 21st Annual Monetary Conference on November 20. Featured scheduled speakers include Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Alan Greenspan and Nobel Laureate James M. Buchanan.

Nike Free Speech Lawsuit Settled

"A lawsuit that only months ago was expected to produce a landmark ruling on the free speech rights of corporations ended with a whimper Friday. Nike Inc., the athletic shoe and clothing company, agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle the case, in which it had been accused of making misleading statements about its global labor practices," reports The New York Times

"In June, despite hearing arguments and considering three dozen briefs, the Supreme Court decided not to decide the case after all. Some justices suggested that after a trial, the court might be willing to return to the case, which had reached them after only preliminary rulings from California courts."

"Jeff Milchen, who is the director of the antiglobalization organization ReclaimDemocracy.org said the California Supreme Court was right to place additional limits on corporate speech. 'Corporations have a legitimate role to play in society by doing business,' Milchen said. 'But they do not have a legitimate role in influencing public policy. Corporations do not have any claim to the protection of our Bill of Rights.'"

In "Contrived Distinctions: The Doctrine of Commercial Speech in First Amendment Jurisprudence," Jonathan W. Emord, author of "Freedom, Technology, and the First Amendment," writes: "The Court's commercial speech jurisprudence is a striking anomaly in First Amendment law, for -- with the exception of obscenity and fighting words -- no other speech content is so disfavored by the Court. Despite its willingness to single out business and economic communication for disfavored treatment, the Court has never articulated a principled reason why discrimination against commercial speech content is consistent with freedom of speech."

Jonathan Block, editor, jblock@cato.org