I realized anotehr reason Globalization is a farce

[Armstead]

Listening to Clark in tonight's debate made me realize something on a different level about so-called "free trade."

This is just a theory, and I'm thinking out loud, so feel free to point out where you see flaws. Anyhow here it is.

The idea of globalization is that the world must become One Bog Market. That countries have to make products for the world, and otehr countries will make different products.

This has become conventional wisdom over the last 25 years.

With modern transportation and technology, globalization is inevitable to some extent. And international trade can be good in some ways.

But it seems like we are losing something in the process. And some of this "inevitability" has been political marketing, rather than true economic destiny.

So why the hell can't we encourage national and regional markets too? Going back to the old verity of a balance between world trade and domestric industries seems like it would make a lot of sense.

In other words, encourage more domestic industries to produce for their own national markets, rather than everyone trying to be a global firm. We could have American clithing makers making clothing for the US, Asian clothing makers making clothing for their nations or regions, etc.

This would go against the philosophy of encouraging gigantism. But IMO that would be a lot healthier than the direction we're goingtowards being ruled by an unweildy crew of large multi-national conglomerates.

Returning to a more domestic orientation would also bring about more economic diversity. It would also make the economy less of a zero-sum game.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

1. when you have extremely rich people, markets don't work

When you have a core minority of extremely rich billionaires, that can manipulate markets as well as bribe governments, you don't really have anything close to the idea of a "free market". It's just make believe, voodoo economics.

If we had a relatively equal standard of living and income, then a global free market would be great and wonderfully efficient. Allowing US corporations to offshore work to totalitarians regimes will make things worse, not better. Privatized prisons and slave labor and sweatshops can never be tolerated by civilized people.

[Kitsune]

2. Globalization is not a farce.

Globalization is not even an entirely economic idea. It also includes transmission of ideas between cultures or regions that were previously seperated from each other. I like being able to watch Trigun, Haibane Renmei, Azumanga Daioh, etc. Globalization will continue to happen regardless of whether the neoliberal free traders win or not. Opposing 'globalization' is like opposing the industrial revolution. Yes, some parts of it sucked, but frankly I like indoor plumbing and computers.

I'm not saying that the Total Free Trade neoliberal ideal is something we absolutely must accept, mind you. Frankly, I'm sick to death of it, but that's mostly because I'm taking a course on Globalization that was supposed to be a P&G class but is really an economics course where we do nothing but read neoliberal crap. >_<

[Armstead]

4. You are correct

I perhaps used shorthand too much in using the term globalization.

What I was referring to is the Neoliberal nonsense, which is just a justification for undermining the sovergnty of nations and enabling the power of multinationals.

But I still believe that if we stopped accepting that every industry and sector of the economy has to be "global" we would be a lot healthier.

[Dirk39]

3. Captitalist Globalization is only about one thing...

facing one over-production-crisis after the other, the global players, the US corporations, the Japanese and Canadian corporations and not at least the french and german corporations need new markets. The IMF and the Worldbank are completely controlled by US corporations. Their only interest is to destroy foreign markets and push them to buy their products. This is what they are doing for decades now. With millions and millions and millions of victims.
This isn't Globalization, it's the globalization of a few hundred global players against mankind, nothing else. The IMF and worlbank have killed more people than both worldwars, Hitler and Stalin.
I'm convinced that there is no way back to local markets. We have to globalize democrazy and the UNO and we have to stop these global players and give them the Nürnberg-trials they deserve.

Hello from Germany,
Dirk

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. The prophets of the Church of Corporate Globalization

ignore the fact that the wrold's current economic success stories, the countries that have managed to modernize themselves up from a pre-industrial state, namely Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and yes, the United States, did so under heavy protectionism and while developing domestic industries for their own needs.

The country that came out of the Southeast Asian currency crisis of 1997 most quickly was Malaysia, after that country instituted foreign exchange controls, despite predictions of disaster from the worldwide cabal of corporatists.

Oh, and has anyone else noticed that Japan's economy started to deteriorate after it was pressured to adopt American-style business practices and to open its markets to American retailers? Yes, the bad debts held by the banks were a factor, but companies began firing older, more expensive employees, and corporate retail giants like Toys R Us and CostCo came in and did incredible damage to local retailers. Yes, the local retailers cost more, but not so outrageously much more that people were unable to afford their merchandise.

So much for the Japanese "threat" of the 1980s. Just make them adopt our lousy business practices and retail models, and the problem goes away.