Fair trade debate

Fair trade debate
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Fair trade's increasing popularity has drawn criticism from both ends of the political spectrum. Different arguments are used by those who favour and by those who oppose fair trade, or feel that more strict standards and higher fair trade prices are needed. These arguments can be divided into five broad categories:

• The price distortion argument, advocated by the Adam Smith Institute,[1] and The Economist magazine[2] calling fair trade a "misguided attempt to make up for market failures" encouraging market inefficiencies and overproduction.[3]
• The creation of insider/outsider markets argument, defended by the Institute of Economic Affairs[4]. This argument does not explicitly criticize the ideals behind fair trade, but rather current certification, production and pricing systems.
• The trade justice argument, championed by French author and broadcaster Jean-Pierre Boris[5] criticizing fair trade for stopping short of actively advocating immediate trade policy changes that would have a larger impact on disadvantaged producers' lives.
• The mainstreaming argument, defended by French author Christian Jacquiau, which criticizes segments of the fair trade movement for working within the current system (i.e. partnerships with mass retailers, multinational corporations etc.) rather than establishing a new fairer, fully autonomous trading system.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade_debate