Globalization’s Second Death?

Globalization is in trouble when the US adopts a protectionist stance, argues Niall Ferguson. Extreme proposals, such as building an enormous fence along the US-Mexican border, reveal an isolationist attitude that could extend beyond the immigration issue. Politicians scrutinize the movement of labor, capital and goods in a way that calls to mind what Ferguson labels the “death of globalization” nearly a century ago. At the start of the 20th century, a US spree of restrictive immigration and protectionist trade legislation, as well as WWI, disrupted an integrated world economy and led to the Great Depression. Globalization critics take up the cause of US groups most threatened by the worldwide competition, including high school dropouts who lose jobs to immigrants and unskilled-blue collar workers who lose jobs to free trade with countries like China. Ferguson argues that globalization did not create inequality in the US, and nativism and protectionism are not the proper responses. Instead, he targets unprogressive taxation and uneven welfare distribution for causing US problems. With its massive account deficit, the US sustains a standard of living with the help of foreign capital. Advocates for the poor in the US should stop blaming globalization for problems, according to Ferguson, and instead focus on education for producing a workforce with diverse skills. – YaleGlobal