Globalization — Good or Bad?

Defeating Global Poverty (Dave Richards): Globalization — Good or Bad?

I continue to be very interested in better understanding whether the globalization movement is having a net positive or negative impact on our economically disadvantaged brothers and sisters. I have a growing reading list on poverty-related literature from a wide variety of viewpoints. Bhagwati in In Defense of Globalization (read my review) argues for the net positive conclusion while pointing out numerous negatives. Sachs in The End of Poverty (read my review) argues that without a financial aid "jumpstart", globalization will continue to bypass many people.

One of the best articles that I seen written on the impact of globalization was published on the front page of the Wall Street Journal on May 24, 2007 entitled "Wealth of Nations: Globalization's Gains Come With a Price".

Here's the summary…

…….

The net is that on an absolute basis, globalization has had a truly phenomenally positive impact on reducing poverty (especially in the historical context). Yet on a relative basis the wealthiest people have increased their wealth faster.

Thanks to Dave for highlighting this article.