I’m on the road out of the country so I’ve had a weird kind of schedule to post these past few days and that will continue the rest of the week. And it’s really late now so…a quickie…
Checked out this piece in the Wall Street Journal from today:
Free-Trade Alert: A Warning on Globalization Backlash By MARCUS WALKER
June 20, 2007; Page A4
Globalization may be hurting low-skilled workers in the U.S. and Europe enough that politicians in both places may find it increasingly hard to sell voters on the benefits of free trade and open markets, says one of the world’s leading economic institutes.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based institute backed by the governments of 30 leading industrialized countries, is a staunch believer in free trade, which most economists believe makes all countries richer overall, including those with high wages.
But in its annual labor study, the OECD acknowledges growing popular unease about globalization — the growing integration of the world economy through trade and cross-border investment — and frets about a popular backlash if governments fail to ensure that lesser-skilled workers share the benefits.
You may remember the other day I pointed out that journalists still seem a little perplexed by the opposition to globalization fueled by so-called “free trade.” You can still feel that in this piece to here:
“Millions are benefiting from globalization, but at the same time there’s a feeling something’s wrong with the process,” says OECD Secretary General José Angel GurrÃa. That is creating political resistance to further moves to free up international trade and investment, he says, particularly in the U.S. and France.
Which “millions” was Gurria referring to? The newspaper didn’t seem to question that assumption. Do you think the same willingness to let a statement go unchallenged would occur if someone stated that so-called “free trade” was damaging most of the people of the world? Hmmm…
