Editing Liberalization (section)

==In economy and trade==
{{main|Economic liberalization}}
Economic liberalization refers to the reduction or elimination of government regulations or restrictions on private business and trade.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = O'Sullivan |first1 = Arthur | author-link = Arthur O'Sullivan (economist) | first2 = Steven M. | last2 = Sheffrin | title = Economics: Principles in Action | url = https://archive.org/details/economicsprincip00osul | url-access = limited | publisher = [[Pearson Prentice Hall]] | date = 2003 | publication-place = New Jersey | page = [https://archive.org/details/economicsprincip00osul/page/n191 175] | isbn = 0-13-063085-3}}</ref> It is usually promoted by advocates of [[free market]]s and [[free trade]], whose ideology is also called [[economic liberalism]]. Economic liberalization also often involves reductions of taxes, social security, and unemployment benefits.

Economic liberalization is often associated with [[privatization]], which is the process of transferring ownership or outsourcing of a business, enterprise, agency, [[public]] service or public property from the public sector to the [[private sector]]. For example, the [[European Union]] has liberalized gas and electricity markets, instituting a competitive system. Some leading European energy companies such as France's [[Électricité de France|EDF]] and Sweden's [[Vattenfall]] remain partially or completely in government ownership.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} Liberalized and privatized public services may be dominated by big companies, particularly in sectors with high capital, water, gas, or electricity costs.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} In some cases they may remain legal monopolies, at least for some segments of the market like consumers.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} Liberalization, privatization and stabilization are the [[Washington Consensus]]'s trinity strategy for economies in transition.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

The [[Bretton Woods Conference]] of 1944, which recommended the establishment of [[International Monetary Fund|International Monetary Fund (IMF)]] ''and the [[World Bank]]'', had also recommended the establishment of an [[International Trade Organization]] (ITO). Although, the IMF and the World Bank were established in 1946, the proposal for ITO did not materialize. Instead, the [[General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade|General Agreement on Tariff and Trade]] ''(GATT)'', a less ambitious institution, was formed in 1948. The primary objective of GATT is to expand [[international trade]] by liberalizing trade so as to bring about all round economic prosperity. GATT was signed in 1947, came into effect in 1948 and lasted until 1994. It was replaced by the [[World Trade Organization]] in 1995. The original GATT text (GATT 1947) is still in effect under the WTO framework. Thus liberalization was born.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

There is also a concept of hybrid liberalization. For instance, in [[Ghana]], [[Theobroma cacao|cocoa crops]] can be sold to competing [[Privately held company|private companies]], but there is a minimum price for which it can be sold and all exports are controlled by the state.<ref>Marcella Vigneri and Paulo Santos (2007) "[http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=422&title=ghana-cocoa-marketing-dilemma-liberalisation-without-price-competition-achieved Ghana and the cocoa marketing dilemma: What has liberalization without price competition achieved?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307102105/http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=422&title=ghana-cocoa-marketing-dilemma-liberalisation-without-price-competition-achieved |date=7 March 2012 }}", [[Overseas Development Institute]]</ref>
The term liberalization has its origin in the political ideology [[liberalism]], which took form by the early 19th century.