What's In Decline?
Globalization, it would appear, is facing greater disfavour from a worldwide general public. And, one supposes, this is hardly surprising, given all the deleterious publicity surrounding the topic, replete with heated public rhetoric at rallies mounted in denial of globalization, given the suspicion most ordinary people feel when faced with the realization that government and industry appear to be heading in a direction that causes real angst of uncertainty and potential instability to the lives of those they govern.
Protesters in wealthy countries detest the very thought of globalization which in the final analysis won't harm the GDP of wealthy countries, but can do real harm to undeveloped countries. It's the usual refrain of the rich getting richer and the poor standing stock-still, then gradually sliding in a backward manoeuvre not of their own desiring. And, not surprisingly, populations of activists in what used to be called third-world countries are uncertain, yet fearful that globalization will have a deleterious effect on their further development.
It certainly gets a bad rap. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and WorldPublicOpinion.org released an 18-country poll last month demonstrating that majorities around the world feel economic globalization and international trade has an ultimately harmful effect on the environment and threatens job security as well. Right in line with earlier studies on the same subject.
In some countries protectionist sensibilities have prevailed to the extent that there is an environment of outright dissent, driven mostly by the fact that the public believes that globalization represents a real threat to employment. Support for the ongoing use of protective tariffs and assorted trade barriers for the protection of national companies and jobs has accelerated significantly in almost 50% of the tracking countries in the last 4 years.
Average 13-nation support for protectionism now stands at a whopping 76% from a previous 68%. Surprisingly enough G7 countries such as Germany, Italy and Canada have seen the greatest surges in public sentiment for protectionism. A recent GlobeScan poll has revealed a sharp drop among urban Chinese and Brazilians in support of globalization with the steadily emerging view that it is not in their best interests.
India and Russia also appear to harbour misgivings, albeit to a lesser degree. While there remains a theoretical support for globalization, there is a strongly concomitant support for measures in support of job protection and for protection of national companies. A large number of people universally express a majority support for trade agreements to include minimum labour and environmental standards. Good to know that people are actively aware.
Retraining programmes, established as a national antidote for displaced workers is seen as helpful in encouraging support for free trade in North America. What is kind of surprising is that a country like India which has traditionally seen the benefit of jobs migrating there from higher-paying North American and European sources has the largest percentage of protectionists in the countries polled.
All of which is not that dreadfully mystifying. Generally the theory of more open borders, more transparent trade agreements, but with self-protection provisions makes good sense. The thrust should be toward fairness, the achievement of fair trade, over free trade. Surprisingly, gratifyingly, a majority of people residing in wealthy counties don't feel their governments negotiate in a sufficiently fair manner with less developed countries.
They express real concerns about the impact on the global environment through unrestricted globalization and resulting free trade. They want to be assured that workers in less wealthy countries won't be sacrificed to the greed of more powerful countries and their global industries' outreach. They want to be assured, particularly in this more recent atmosphere of worries about global warming, that the environment won't suffer set-backs as a result of increasing globalization.
Governments have been placed on notice. They're being expected to build a more comprehensively correct system for national protection and to extend protections as well toward less privileged societies and for the overall protection of the global environment. Here's hoping responsible governments will heed the anxieties expressed by their electorates.
There's an awful lot at stake. Not the least of which is a voter-revolt at the earliest opportunity should they not heed the cautions expressed by the public. Wishful thinking? Hope not.
Protesters in wealthy countries detest the very thought of globalization which in the final analysis won't harm the GDP of wealthy countries, but can do real harm to undeveloped countries. It's the usual refrain of the rich getting richer and the poor standing stock-still, then gradually sliding in a backward manoeuvre not of their own desiring. And, not surprisingly, populations of activists in what used to be called third-world countries are uncertain, yet fearful that globalization will have a deleterious effect on their further development.
It certainly gets a bad rap. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and WorldPublicOpinion.org released an 18-country poll last month demonstrating that majorities around the world feel economic globalization and international trade has an ultimately harmful effect on the environment and threatens job security as well. Right in line with earlier studies on the same subject.
In some countries protectionist sensibilities have prevailed to the extent that there is an environment of outright dissent, driven mostly by the fact that the public believes that globalization represents a real threat to employment. Support for the ongoing use of protective tariffs and assorted trade barriers for the protection of national companies and jobs has accelerated significantly in almost 50% of the tracking countries in the last 4 years.
Average 13-nation support for protectionism now stands at a whopping 76% from a previous 68%. Surprisingly enough G7 countries such as Germany, Italy and Canada have seen the greatest surges in public sentiment for protectionism. A recent GlobeScan poll has revealed a sharp drop among urban Chinese and Brazilians in support of globalization with the steadily emerging view that it is not in their best interests.
India and Russia also appear to harbour misgivings, albeit to a lesser degree. While there remains a theoretical support for globalization, there is a strongly concomitant support for measures in support of job protection and for protection of national companies. A large number of people universally express a majority support for trade agreements to include minimum labour and environmental standards. Good to know that people are actively aware.
Retraining programmes, established as a national antidote for displaced workers is seen as helpful in encouraging support for free trade in North America. What is kind of surprising is that a country like India which has traditionally seen the benefit of jobs migrating there from higher-paying North American and European sources has the largest percentage of protectionists in the countries polled.
All of which is not that dreadfully mystifying. Generally the theory of more open borders, more transparent trade agreements, but with self-protection provisions makes good sense. The thrust should be toward fairness, the achievement of fair trade, over free trade. Surprisingly, gratifyingly, a majority of people residing in wealthy counties don't feel their governments negotiate in a sufficiently fair manner with less developed countries.
They express real concerns about the impact on the global environment through unrestricted globalization and resulting free trade. They want to be assured that workers in less wealthy countries won't be sacrificed to the greed of more powerful countries and their global industries' outreach. They want to be assured, particularly in this more recent atmosphere of worries about global warming, that the environment won't suffer set-backs as a result of increasing globalization.
Governments have been placed on notice. They're being expected to build a more comprehensively correct system for national protection and to extend protections as well toward less privileged societies and for the overall protection of the global environment. Here's hoping responsible governments will heed the anxieties expressed by their electorates.
There's an awful lot at stake. Not the least of which is a voter-revolt at the earliest opportunity should they not heed the cautions expressed by the public. Wishful thinking? Hope not.
Labels: Inconvenient Politics
posted by Pieface | 6:18 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home