Globalization: What's New by Michael M. Weinstein (Editor)

From the Publisher

From the streets of Seattle to corporate boardrooms to new factories in third-world nations, globalization is subject to very different and often explosively divergent interpretations. Where some see globalization as driving poor countries into further poverty, others see it as the path to economic salvation and democratic rule. With original contributions from ten eminent economists, Globalization: What's New cuts through the confusion and rhetoric to offer straightforward, incisive analysis of globalization and its future.

Coming from some of globalization's most prominent supporters (David Dollar), its most vocal critics (Joseph Stiglitz), and those in-between, this collection presents diverse and original perspectives on globalization's immense reach that dig to the core of many debates. The contributors analyze recent trends in trade, immigration, and capital flows; why some poor countries have grown while others have stagnated during the past two decades; future opportunities for low-wage workers; globalization's impact on jobs and wages in poor countries and in the United States; the surprising environmental benefits of globalization; the degree to which foreign aid helps developing countries; the failures of international institutions in governing the global economy and supporting democracy; and how foreign loans and investments can wreak havoc on a nation's economy.

Foreign Affairs

Globalization has been occurring at least since the European expansion of the sixteenth century, when coffee, tea, sugar, potatoes, corn, and other products from distant lands radically altered consumption patterns and lifestyles in Europe and elsewhere. In this book, nine prominent economists examine different aspects of globalization today, focusing mainly on what is new in the past two decades. Together they cover trade, capital movements, migration, foreign aid, and the environment; the consequences of globalization for growth, poverty, and inequality; the tensions between globalization and democratic control over local social and economic conditions; the sometimes helpful but sometimes damaging effects of rich countries' policies on poor countries; and the imposition of sometimes helpful but sometimes inappropriate conditions on poor countries by international financial institutions. The authors do not all agree with one another, on, for example, the desirability of more international migration, or the freedom of capital movements, or high local autonomy in formulating economic policy. But this book offers a cornucopia of relevant facts and a stimulating collection of interpretations; it moves the debate on globalization to a higher level.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents