The advantages of liberalization and deregulation are questioned in many ways. Both of these phenomena are related with the “Washington consensus.” The consensus is a set of market-related policy prescriptions supported by neoliberals for economic growth of developing countries. Critics, however, argue that the policies are used to exploit poorer workers by corporations from rich countries.

Activists and scholars alike somewhat agree that markets are, in reality, neither truly free nor fair. For example, there are subsidies paid by the government to cotton producers in the United States and the European Union. This, in reality, artificially drives the prices down, putting African cotton farmers in an uncomfortable state.

Critics note that the issue is not about the freeing of markets per se but, rather, that the companies of wealthier countries are manipulating the term to their own benefits at large.