Globalization and its discontents
T
oday, globalization is being challenged around the world. There is discontent with
globalization, and rightfully so. Globalization can be a force for good: the globalization of
ideas about democracy and of civil society have changed the way people think, while global
political movements have led to debt relief and the treaty on land mines. Globalization has helped
hundreds of millions of people attain higher standards of living, beyond what they, or most
economists, thought imaginable but a short while ago. The globalization of the economy has
benefited countries that took advantage of it by seeking new markets for their exports and by
welcoming foreign investment. Even so, the countries that have benefited the most have been those
that took charge of their own destiny and recognized the role government can play in development
rather than relying on the notion of a self-regulated market that would fix its own problems.
But for millions of people globalization has not worked. Many have actually been made worse
off, as they have seen their jobs destroyed and their lives become more insecure. They have felt
increasingly powerless against forces beyond their control. They have seen their democracies
undermined, their cultures eroded.
What is needed are policies for sustainable, equitable, and democratic growth. This is the reason
for development. Development is not about helping a few people get rich or creating a handful of
pointless protected industries that only benefit the country’s elite; it is not about bringing in Prada
and Benetton, Ralph Lauren or Louis Vuitton for the urban rich, and leaving the rural poor in their
misery. Development is about transforming societies, improving the lives of the poor, enabling
everyone to have a chance at success and access to health care and education.
The developed world needs to do its part to reform the international institutions that govern
globalization. We set up these institutions and we need to work to fix them. If we are to address the
legitimate concerns of those who have expressed a discontent with globalization, if we are to make
globalization work for the billions of people for whom it has not, if we are to make globalization
with a human face succeed, then our voices must be raised. We cannot, we should not, stand idly
by.
Joseph E. STIGLITZ, Globalization and its discontents, 2002
Joseph Stiglitz, born in 1942 in Indiana, was Chief Economist at the World Bank until January 2000. Before
that he was Chairman of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors. He is currently Professor of
Finance and Economics at Columbia University. He won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001. His book
Globalization and its discontents is an international best-seller.
QUESTIONS
1. Using some of the expressions below, give your own definition of “globalization”: type of
business, economic system, cheap labour, charge, high price, consumer.
2. Read the text quickly and note down the key sentence in each paragraph.
§1:
§2:
§3:
§4:
3. Using the idea contained in each key sentence, find a simple title for each paragraph.
§1:
§2:
§3:
§4:
4. Read paragraph 1. Find two words expressing disagreement. Is the author neutral, or does
he express his own viewpoint?
5. Pick out the verbal forms the author uses to express:
a. present situations
c. past actions
b. the present result of past actions
d. possible or virtual effects
a. present situations
b. the present result of past actions
c. past actions
d. possible or virtual effects
present tense
present perfect
preterit
modal can / modal would
Which of them enables the author to take stock of the situation?
6. What conditions must be filled to benefit from globalization?
To benefit from globalization, a country must fulfil the following conditions:
–
–
–
–
7. Read paragraph 2. How can its discontent be anticipated? Pick out expressions with
negative meanings. Which of them can sum up the consequence of globalization upon
numerous people?
8. Read paragraph 3 and find the synonyms of useless, durable, just, for everyone.
Say what development is and isn’t, according to Joseph Stiglitz.
9. In paragraph 4, who does the pronoun “we” refer to? What effect is achieved by its
repetition? How is the idea of duty expressed?
Globalization represents the key component of “free market” or “free trade” ideology.
In the eyes of the “globaphiles” – represented by the World Bank, the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and governments from the northern
hemisphere – all trade is good trade and any barrier is a bad barrier.
“Globaphobes” by contrast are acutely pessimistic about trade, believing it leads to more poverty
and exploitation by the trans-national corporations of poor countries. The evidence of the last
twenty years bears this out – the huge increase in wealth generated by trade under globalization
has not been matched by parallel progress in poverty reduction, or in a broader progress towards
human development.