The New Zealand that Mike Moore grew up in was an
insular place. “Even the humble spud was opposed by the merchants and
church in its day. A church leader railed against the potato as being a
dangerous narcotic, almost as bad as tea. The merchants and farmers
wanted to protect their profits… against this dangerous, competitive
new crop,” he writes in his latest book, “A Brief History of the
Future”. If New Zealand turned its back on the world, the world ignored
New Zealand. Ideas did not flow into or out of it. It produced wool,
not world leaders. Mr Moore, who takes over at the World Trade
Organisation on September 1st, has changed that.
Trade
Objection
On a recent trip to Tokyo, Charlene Barshefsky, America’s trade representative, gave her hosts a wigging. She demanded concessions, threatening sanctions if Japan did not reflate, deregulate and curb steel exports. The Japanese shrugged. They have come to expect fighting talk from the woman they call “Dragon Lady”.