How is it that economic and neo-liberal globalization is being interrogated from inside even in developed countries? What are the economic consequences of such globalisation?. (UPSC CSE Mains 2015- Political Science and International Relations, Paper 2)
- Globalisation, among many other phenomenon, is a project of increasing free trade.
- The anti-globalisation movement first came to worldwide attention during a WTO meeting in Seattle in the year 1999. It went down after a series of protests, but the voices of discontent are rising yet again.
- In theory, the globalisation of trade in goods and services would benefit consumers in rich countries by giving them access to inexpensive goods produced by cheaper labour in poorer countries. This, in turn, would help grow the economies of those poorer countries. But on the ground, globalisation has caused job losses and depressed wages, particularly the competition between workers in developing and developed countries that helped drive down wages and job security for workers in developed countries. Importing goods from developing countries reduces the demand for unskilled workers in Europe and the United States.
- The neo-liberal prioritisation of finance and trade over the welfare of people has disappointed people resulting in a rising distrust of the establishment that is blamed for the inequality. The right-wing is rising in the USA and Europe with warning against rampant globalisation that is endangering their civilisation. Unemployment and high inequality give rise to insecurity which is often directed at the immigrants who are blamed for stealing jobs.
- Joseph Stiglitz writes in Globalisation and its Discontents that the problem is not globalisation, but how the process is being managed. If globalisation is to benefit most members of the society, strong social protection measures must be in place as in the Scandinavian countries.
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