9. Develop Community Control Over Capital; Promote Socially Responsible Investment

Local communities should not be beholden to the IMF, international capital, multinational corporations, or any other non-local body for policy. Communities should be able to develop investment and development programs that suit local needs including passing anti-sweatshop purchasing restrictions, promoting local credit unions and local barter currency, and implementing investment policies for their city, church, and union that reflect social responsibility criteria.

• ACORN

• United for a Fair Economy

• Alliance for Democracy

• Social Investment Forum

10. Promote Fair Trade Not Free Trade

While we work to reform 'free trade' institutions and keep corporate chain stores out of our neighborhoods, we should also promote our own vision of Fair Trade. We need to build networks of support and education for grassroots trade and trade in environmentally sustainable goods. We can promote labeling of goods such as Fair Trade Certified, organic, and sustainably harvested. We can purchase locally made goods and locally grown foods that support local economies and cooperative forms of production and trade.

• Fair Trade Federation

• TransFair USA

• Coop America

• Oxfam America

• Green Festivals

Investor Rights or Citizens Rights The Dangerous Expansion of nafta Investor Protections Through the ftaa and wto

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Many people would be surprised to learn that their government has, in many ways, given up its sovereign right to pass laws protecting citizens' health, the environment, and labor rights. They would likely be more surprised to find out that the wheels are in motion to enact trade agreements that further threaten democracy by granting additional rights to giant multinational corporations (MNCs). This, however, is the frightening reality underlying trade agreements that are currently being negotiated. If multinational corporations succeed, new investment agreements under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) will ensure that democracy is further eroded in exchange for corporate profit maximization.

It is not surprising, however, that the average citizen is not aware that the current situation is unfolding. This is no accident. The negotiations are undemocratic, they lack transparency, and they are being conducted without input from the very citizens whose lives will be affected. It is ultimately in the interest of MNCs to hasten the progress of such negotiations without interference from civil society, as such propositions would likely be met with strong resistance in the face of a public dialogue.

The Growth of Foreign Investments

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is one of the most politically sensitive 'trade' issues, as it involves foreigners exercising control over national assets and resources through investment. When a company closes a factory in the U.S. and moves it to China to take advantage of cheap labor, it is investing in China. The expansion of this FDI in the global economy has reached an unprecedented level. In 2001 more than 65,000 transnational corporations had expanded FDI through the creation of more than 850,000 foreign affiliates. That companies invest in foreign production is good, as long as they do it in ways that respect local laws and benefit local development. Not unexpectedly, MNCs have been actively lobbying governments to ensure that agreements are included under both the FTAA and WTO to strengthen the rights of investors at the expense of the rights of citizens.

Investment agreements currently proposed under the WTO and FTAA will greatly restrict the ability of governments to implement national policies for development and poverty reduction - the same policies that were used by the industrialized countries to develop. Furthermore, such agreements conflict with the 1962 UN Resolution on Permanent Sovereignty over National Resources, whose mandate is to regulate foreign investment by recognizing the state's permanent sovereignty over natural wealth and resources as a key component to the right of self-determination.