The Virtues of Deglobalization

In the last two years, globalization has gone from panacea to scourge. And the many policy responses to the current crisis reveal this sentiment, as governments focus on national initiatives to strengthen financial regulations, revealing how policymakers are beholden to their own constituents and domestic markets. While many of globalization's champions bemoan the erosion of economic integration, Walden Bello, a long time opponent of globalization and Filipino congressman, sees this trend towards “deglobalization” as a chance to take a more locally based, and thus socially sustaining, approach. Bello presents eleven points of this “paradigm,” many of which are uncontroversial and attempt to foster economic activity within existing social structures – such as driving urban land reform, promoting quality of life over growth, and instituting civil society watchdogs to monitor private and national projects. However, other suggestions such as quotas on imported goods and state-supported manufacturing growth remain contentious prescriptions that could upend the WTO. While Bello's argument that minimizing production expenses can lead to troublesome social and environmental costs is well taken, the degree to which developing economies can or should strive for self-sufficiency remains an open question whose answer could require sacrifices few are willing to make. – YaleGlobal