Published: June 02, 2004 in Knowledge@Wharton In the fierce debate on globalization, Jagdish Bhagwati, a highly regarded authority on international trade who has advised the United Nations on globalization, stands out as a voice of reason. Currently teaching at Columbia University, he argues persuasively for the world-wide embrace of free trade in a book which should respond to some of the concerns that globalization has raised.

 

Reason and hope are keynotes of Bhagwati’s new book, titled In Defense of Globalization. The author has need of both, since trying to make sense of the contending voices in the debate requires the patience and detachment of a philosopher. Indeed, the debate on globalization resembles the classic philosophical scenario where four observers of a traffic accident, each on different corners of an intersection, are interviewed for their eye-witness accounts. Each, because of where he stands, has a different perspective of the event.

A look at the archives of the New York Times from October 2003 illustrates how this analogy applies to globalization. Three Times articles – Joseph Kahn’s examination of sweatshop working conditions in Anshan, China; Larry Rohter’s piece on the resistance of Bolivia’s poor to free trade, and Louis Uchitelle’s survey of the flight of U.S. jobs to other countries – provide apparently conclusive evidence that globalization is a head-on collision.

 

And what does Bhagwati see from his corner? He is far too humane a man to dismiss the cost to both industrialized and developing nations of job loss or poor working conditions. He does dispute many of the headline-grabbing assertions of the popular press, suggesting that political and societal factors frequently cause problems for which globalization is unfairly blamed. Taking the long view, he maintains that globalization is transforming the world’s economic and social structure for the better.
[continue]

Page 1 of 6 > >>