ABSTRACT
The global trading system is a considerable political achievement as well as an amazing economic phenomenon. Changes in the technology of transportation and communication have been a powerful force for global integration or ‘globalization’, but only the increasing sophistication of global governance ensures systemic stability. Markets in some sectors may approach global size, but communities are still resolutely local. The World Trade Organization (WTO), part of the governance of the world economy, is a forum for the management of the global trading system.
