One of the greatest difficulties facing the financial oligarchies
of the entire world surfaced at their "World Economic Forum's"
annual meeting held on February 1-2 in Davos, Switzerland.
According to media reports, "Economic globalization, once seen as
an unstoppable trend, is running up against growing popular
opposition in the Western world, and governments need to do
something urgently to convince ordinary people that it was
beneficial, prominent economists warned..."
C. Fred Bergsten, Director of the U.S. Institute for
International Economics warned of a "globalization backlash," and
U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers, "urged business
leaders to see that 'no one gets left behind' because of
globalization."
According to the news reports, "...public opinion in the
West is increasingly sceptical about its (globalization's)
benefits. Globalization has resulted in old jobs being destroyed
as companies shift their attention to the emerging markets and
wage rates falling in response to competition from the developing
world. Individual firms react to globalization by cutting jobs,
leaving employees to face the consequences."
According to Horst Siebert, president of the Kiel Institute
of World Economics, "Adjustment is not an issue for firms - they
react by cutting cost and shedding labor. Labor, however, gets
under pressure; in the U.S. it is real wages, in Europe it is
unemployment."
Sir Leon Brittan, Vice-President of the European Commission,
speaking about the growing debate on the consequences and
implications of globalization, said that the process of
globalization has brought "new political and moral challenges."
He referred to the fears about "the impact of globalization on
our economies, jobs, societies and cultures." According to
Britain, there is a "broad international consensus in favor of
globalization. But this consensus is not universal nor is it
immune from threats."
According to the news reports, "There were however few
concrete suggestions on what was to be done to avoid a
'backlash'." Far from it, the economists merely reiterated the
imperialist propaganda according to which "there is no
alternative." According to news reports, "Despite these problems,
business leaders, economists and politicians here are in no doubt
that there is no alternative to globalization, and that it still
represents the best strategy for long-term prosperity." According
to Sir Leon Brittan, "There is no genuine alternative to
globalization. Anything else would be a blind alley. But we are
able to handle globalization in a way that maximizes welfare. All
of this is demonstrable, but it needs demonstrating."
Brittan suggested that governments explain to their people
three things: "First that globalization is not the only cause of
change in our economic life: there are other reasons such as
demography, why our labor markets and social security systems
must be adapted, second...our economies can respond to new
conditions in a way which creates jobs and growth; third that
protectionism solves no problems, but invites retaliation and
will in the medium-term lead to fewer jobs and lower growth."
The news reports say that Brittan "said the power
of governments to intervene in national economies had been
severely curtailed by globalization. Regulating economic activity
was 'no longer possible when flows of foreign exchange are
unfettered, and in a world where up to a third of international
trade takes place within transnational corporations.' He
commented that 'we are in a new game with new players. The old
rules no longer suffice.'"
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
