The author persuasively defends the principles of international economic integration, arguing that the biggest obstacle to global economic progress has been the failure not of the market but of politics and government, in rich countries as well as poor.
He examines the threat that terrorism poses and maps the way to a global market economy that can work for everyone. Martin Wolf is associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times in London. A definitive analysis. It is vital that his message be widely read and understood. All the topics he addresses. The definitive treatment of the subject, and an absorbing read for anybody with an appetite for moderate intellectual exertion.
Why Globalization Works. For those of us concerned with one of the most far-reaching issues of our time, this elegant and passionate defense of trade liberalization is essential reading. It is informed, careful in its dissection of the arguments and well written. Essential reading for those who would like to understand the real problems facing us. Why Globalization Works is a wonderful alchemy of accessible prose and academic rigor. Martin Wolf is associate editor and chief commentator on economics for Financial Times.
Wolf was educated at Oxford University. He has won numerous journalism awards, and was senior economist at the World Bank in the s. Imagine a United States of un-united states. What if the country's economy were fragmented among 50 regional fiefdoms, each with barriers blocking the free flow of goods and services?
Say that Microsoft could not open an Omaha office without oppressive tariffs. Imagine Florida farmers paying tariffs to export grapefruit to Georgia or customs agents searching cars going from the sovereign dominion of New York into the sovereign republic of New Jersey. What would happen in this "house divided? The not-so-United States would sink overnight into global economic mediocrity. Those wishing to bring the U. Tragically, much of the world faces exactly this plight today.
Thus, it does not come as a surprise that Wolf contradicts the critics of globalization as transnational corporations are not and will not be more powerful than states.
For him, the alleged "tyranny of brands" is "much ado about nothing" Transnational corporations neither exploit poor countries nor their workers. Even though his language often shows excitement and anger, disapproval and affection, Wolf continuously presents strong statistical evidence supporting his defense of globalization. However, there is one decisive weakness in his central argument, as it could easily be turned around: In the 20 th century, the world did fall into totalitarianism, two world wars, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, because modernized societies did not manage to convince their citizens that in the end they would profit adequately from free trade.
Wolf seems to underestimate this risk when he assumes it could simply be cured by more free trade and a consequent rise in welfare. To be sure, the absolute level of material welfare alone is not a precise predictor of citizens' overall life satisfaction, political support, and their susceptibility to the temptations of demagogues.
Many historical examples show that the relationship between welfare and citizens' acceptance of institutions is [End Page ] more complicated. In the citizen's view, social change and economic development lead to both a rise in general welfare and more uncertainty about what to consider normatively correct and desirable concerning new role expectations in the age of globalization. Both effects occur simultaneously within societies — and as consequences of globalization in general, as in a globalized world we have to adjust to new situations more often than ever before.
From its beginnings, sociologists have warned us of this seemingly contradictory development in the process of modernization. In his "Roses. A social hypothesis", Georg Simmel exemplifies how more equal and widespread participation in desirable goods may surprisingly lead to a sharp rise in social awareness of remaining inequalities. Such welfare dissatisfaction may cause such protests as the contemporary anti-globalization movement.
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