Free trade and its virtues are one of the mantras of contemporary economics. Yet the Seattle Summit of the World Trade Organization (WTO) collapsed in disagreement and protest at the end of 1999. The gulf between rich and poor countries in the 21st century has never been wider and there are more abjectly poor people in the world than ever before. Even the industrialized countries are seeing the closure of manufacturing plants and consequent unemployment. So what of the much vaunted link between free trade and economic development?Here, Graham Dunkley takes a look at this important economic policy issue. He argues that contemporary trade has become much more complex, deregulated and divorced from development than is desirable. Free trade now has the capacity to damage economies, the social fabric, cultures and the environment. He also suggests elements of a new approach to development and an alternative world trading and economic order.