We live in a pragmatic world of political economic reform where across-the-board opening is not as easy or even politically feasible. I'm suggesting a more open, neutral approach that looks at the real world and says each country is different.

We have more scientific know-how today than we did before. We know the vulnerability; we know the hot spots. But prevention is far more the exception than the norm.

Liberalizing trade by itself is not enough to generate growth and to fight poverty. While the World Bank has done the right thing in promoting more open trade worldwide it has not done everything right to help generate the payoffs.