Trade by comparative advantages not by regulations

Comments on Joel Rathus’s comments on Haruhiko Kuroda’s “theories”, 21/05/2009, http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2009/05/19/asian-development-bank-and-the-invention-of-a-new-asian-growth-paradigm/

Joel, your comments caused me to reflect on the term "interest groups". It may appear to be a remote link, but I can't help seeing a shadow there. Intraregional or extra-regional trade, it should all be based on comparative advantages and changes in those advantages overtime. They should not be regulated or forced by some authorities according to their will, such as the ADB with little real accountability.

The blunders that the IMF made to some Asian countries during the Asian financial crisis in the second half of the 1990s have been well known. Few people from IMF back then have been held accountable for the huge costs their mistakes caused to some Asian countries. One would hope that the ADB would learn from the IMF experience and avoid making similar mistakes.