For all its recent commitment to liberalisation the Brazilian government is still a rule-spewing, incumbent-protecting monster.
The reformers of 1991, who include the present prime minister, have turned out to be not visionaries, but pragmatists without a deep commitment to liberalisation who have been unable to build a lasting consensus among voters and the political class in favour or reform.
But when a new trade round is just starting, America's lack of commitment to greater liberalisation may be almost as bad.
China's commitment to economic liberalisation is in doubt and it is hard to understand why an international bank, even one with deep roots in Hong Kong, would wish to tie itself more closely to an undemocratic regime.
A serious commitment to trade liberalisation from Beijing, accompanied by the underlying message of competitive neutrality between private firms and state-owned enterprises, would reinforce Liu's valiant efforts in recent months to re-prosecute the full implementation of China's stalled "phase two" economic reform programme, first announced in 2013.
In December Turkey agreed to start taking back illegal migrants crossing into the EU, against a commitment to negotiate a visa-liberalisation deal for visiting Turks.
However, this article suggests the company's activities in no way indicate an ideological commitment to any general process of liberalisation.
They also reiterated their commitment to free trade within APEC, and to global trade liberalisation under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation, but offered no initiatives to bring either one about.
The march of history towards economic liberalisation was irreversible, he said at another point, restating China's commitment to free trade.
As ever, the government pays lip service to economic liberalisation, but has neither the courage nor the authority to free itself of the commitment to pay billions of dollars in direct and indirect subsidies: prices of basic goods such as fuel, bread and medicine are ridiculously low.There is endless talk of encouraging non-oil exports.
And despite the liberalisation of laws in the US at state level, the US federal government's commitment to both the War on Drugs and the international agreements that bind world powers to prohibition, means that Britain's politicians couldn't currently deliver Fine's solution, even if they wanted to.
