Philippe Legrain

Eleven international NGOs have signed up to a new accountability charter, which says We recognise that transparency and accountability are essential to good governance,whether by governments, businesses or non-profit organisations. Wherever we operate, we seek to ensure that the high standards which we demand of others are also respected in our own organisations… We agree [...]

In a thoughtful comment on my recent Doha post, Matthew argues that It is simply not the case that the enormous growth of the Asia tigers is evidence of the efficacy of free trade because most of those economies were protected behind trade barriers and currency controls for most of their development and still are. [...]

NGOs demand that governments, businesses and international organisations be open and accountable for their actions. Hear, hear. But what about NGOs themselves? The likes of Oxfam and Greenpeace fall far short of the standards on which they rightly insist in others. These self-appointed guardians of global rectitude are scarcely models of transparency and accountability – [...]

Discussing debt relief and third world development with Noreena Hertz on the Today Programme. Listen here

Many French people rejected the constitution because they regard Brussels as the handmaiden of "ultra-liberal" Anglo-Saxon capitalism, intent on deregulating markets and opening up the French economy to competition. Just look, they say, at the EU’s proposed services directive, which would tear down barriers to trade in services, or at the eastward enlargement of the [...]

Globalisation is not perfect, but it is overwhelmingly a force for good. The rapid growth of trade and investment across national borders is spreading greater prosperity and opening up new opportunities to billions of people around the globe. China has recorded the fastest fall in poverty the world has ever seen. Global inequality is now [...]

Ann Pettifor and Philippe Legrain discuss whether globalisation can work for smaller countries

"Listen man, I smoke, I snort … I’ve been begging on the street since I was just a baby. I’ve cleaned windshields at stoplights. I’ve polished shoes, I’ve robbed, I’ve killed. … I ain’t no kid, no way. I’m a real man."

What is the truth about globalisation? Is it a benign force for prosperity or a ruthless engine of injustice?

Last month, Michael Lind argued that free-trade globalism locks in rich-world advantage and kicks away the ladder. He is wrong.

Progressive politics ought to be about hope: that we can create a fairer society where everyone can make the most of their potential. Yet the prevailing mood on the left is despair. Globalisation, many believe, is leading the world to rack and ruin – and there is little we can do about it. American-led corporate [...]

Free trade is good for poor countries despite what protesters and protectionists claim. But there is less of it than most people think. Most trade is regional, not global, and next month’s WTO meeting in Doha is unlikely to change that.

The left must learn to love the World Trade Organisation.

One of the enduring myths about globalisation is that it is bad for the poor. Yet the facts suggest otherwise.

Europe is finally reforming. Governments are starting to liberalize. European Union leaders have pledged to nurture the new economy. Germany’s parliament has approved radical tax reform. France’s finance minister is talking about tax cuts too. Amazing. But is globalization forcing their hands?