29 June 2007

Fortress America - the Bi-Partisan Fantasy of Globalization Deniers

Globalization is a reality that activists on the right and left deny. Globalization deniers on the left fear shadowy groups of corporate elites who conspire to suppress wages and destroy jobs. Globalization deniers on the right fear shadowy groups of radical Muslims who conspire to suppress freedoms and destroy lives.

Globalization is a reality. Today, a guy in the Ukraine and a gal in Fresno can collaborate via the web to create a new product and then subcontract to a company in India to manufacture it. If this new product is better or cheaper than what is currently designed in Germany and made in Mexico, Germans and Mexicans will lose their jobs. It’s not clear that anyone is going to reverse the technological advances that have led to this reality.

Globalization is a reality. Every year, there are about 172 million people coming into the United States across our borders. Nearly 6,000,000 visas are granted each year. Our economy depends on the tourism revenues and the cross-pollinating of business and academic professionals. It's not clear that anyone is going to shut down our borders in order to eliminate illegal immigration.

Any policies that pretend to reverse globalization ought not to be taken seriously. The bad news? We can’t isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. The good news? We can’t isolate ourselves from the rest of the world.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

People sense something is wrong and they are reacting. But Globalization is not the problem. It's the natural sequence in World political events as we grow closer together in this technological revolution.