Globalization’s Unequal Discontents

Sometimes globalization is a mechanism that levels playing fields and sometimes it is a bulldozer. Throughout history, globalization has often enriched business owners and risk-takers, while doing little for ordinary workers. In recent years, the modern workforce has gradually included more workers from China, India and other emerging nations, and that global competition has stagnated wages for many workers in the western world. But labor competition did not eliminate jobs, notes analyst William Overholt. Instead, improved technology and productivity reduced many positions in the US, the EU and China. Global competition protects many jobs as companies increasingly sell more products in foreign markets than at home – while also raising living standards, life expectancy and other quality-of-life measurements in China and other developing nations. A protectionist stance may ease some frustration, but offers no tangible benefit for the unemployed worker. Indeed, protectionism only spreads job loss. The best hope for labor: open economies and education systems that increase specific skills quickly while encouraging adaptation. – YaleGlobal