Life in a Trading World

Abstract

The question is often asked, ‘Which of these is the “key” to development: trade or aid?’ In a recent interview on BBC Radio a former Conservative Member of Parliament stated that the word ‘development’ was simply a ‘politically correct’ version of the word ‘aid’. Such a view reveals a profound ignorance of the needs of LDCs and their relationship with MDCs, and the purpose of this chapter and the next is to show that the role of trade in development cannot be reduced to a single issue, a straight choice, a single ‘key’, or a simplistic phrase: there are a number of issues involved, and many of them intertwine.