Greg Buckman

Greg Buckman is an economist and researcher with a long involvement in the Australian environment movement. He is the former national finance manager for the Wilderness Society of Australia and currently treasurer of the Australian Greens. He is the author of Globalization: Tame it or Scrap it? (Zed Books 2004).

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  • Global Trade

    Past Mistakes, Future Choices

    By Greg Buckman     January 2005

    Trade, along with the free movement of capital, is at the heart of today’s international economy. But international trade is an intensely political and contested subject. This book traces the history of global trade, the impact of current global trading arrangements on poverty, inequality and the environment, its hugely differential consequences for high-income and low-income countries, and future options for revised trading arrangements. It argues that factors like future fossil fuel costs, global warming and the economic imbalances between North and South are likely to impel a radical reshaping of the WTO and the principles enshrined in its agreements. It outlines the diverse proposals advocated by the global justice movement to make global trade more sustainable.

  • Globalization

    Tame It or Scrap It?

    By Greg Buckman     January 2004

    Greg Buckman discusses the two main approaches within the anti-globalization movement. The ‘Fair Trade and Back to Breton Woods’ school argues for immediate reforms of the world’s trading system, capital markets and global institutions, notably the World Bank, IMF and WTO. The ‘Localization’ school, takes a more root and branch position and argues for the abolition of these institutions and the outright reversal of globalization. Buckman explains the details of each school’s outlook and proposals, their weaknesses, where they disagree, their common ground and where they might come together in campaigns.