ABSTRACT
The establishment of short-term evaluation periods, such as those common in industry, would be inappropriate for the agricultural sector. The argumentative character of the preliminaries to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Millennium Round illustrates that the WTO and United Nations Development Programme world-views are clashing together. On one side are those who adhere to a world-view of unlimited possibilities which pursues the maximisation of free business interests, serving the few who are able to portray unconditional free trade as the key precondition of global public welfare. On the other side are those countries where policy-makers have recognised the limitations of the planet and who are trying to take into account the welfare of the largest number of people possible. Global economic policy has to be evaluated by institutional benchmarking if it is to do justice in providing prosperity and wellbeing for humankind.
