In The News

How to Cure the Globalization Backlash

Harold Sirkin December 23, 2016
Those who fear globalization are often dismissed as bigots, but anxiety over security and jobs is another factor, explains author and professor Harold Sirkin for Forbes. Many in the developed world have lost confidence. “Unfortunately, too many people in the industrialized West have too much idle time on their hands – and not by choice,” he explains and that compounds the anger and fear. “People...

Seizing Opportunity in a Post-TPP World

Stephen S. Roach December 1, 2016
Trade is the glue for globalization and without it other connections can subside. But US voters rejected a US leadership role in global trade deals and elected billionaire Donald Trump who has already signaled intent to have the United States to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership with 11 other nations. Analysts suggest that China could step into the US role, but “The baton of global...

The Problem with Abandoning the Paris Agreement

Robinson Meyer November 30, 2016
If the United States unilaterally withdraws from the Paris climate agreement, the nation can expect immediate diplomatic consequences. Foreign policy experts warn that such a move could create an opening for China to take leadership on climate-related issues and perhaps even profit from development of alternative energies. Observers cannot anticipate the Trump administration’s foreign policy, but...

Wanted: Equal Opportunity Globalization

Branko Milanovic November 29, 2016
Populist stances are resonating with dissatisfied voters in the wealthiest places including Europe and the United States. The West has posted low growth rates for its middle class over the past 25 years while the average income growth of a median household in Asia during the same period was about four times as high – Asia still has some catching up to do as income levels and gross domestic...

Russia Wants to Remake Globalization in Its Own Image

Richard Weitz November 24, 2016
Globalization and global institutions are in crisis, confronting varying levels of mistrust around the world. The Valdai Discussion Club, a group of Russian and foreign international affairs experts, assessed the global order. “Russians described Western-led neoliberal globalization as universally destructive economically, culturally, and politically and responsible for sparking a worldwide...

Globalization’s Last Gasp

Barry Eichengreen November 23, 2016
World trade was slowing and protectionist tendencies were apparent years before the British vote to leave the European Union and Donald Trump’s winning the US presidential election. “It means that the benefits of openness and specialization are being squandered,” suggests Barry Eichengreen, a professor of economics, for Project Syndicate. “So far, slower trade growth has been the result of slower...

The Losers of Deglobalization

Pierpaolo Barbieri November 22, 2016
Brexit and Donald Trump’s presidency both rode to success on a wave of nationalistic fervor, based on the view that globalization on balance harms the UK and the US. Yet the histories of those countries demonstrate that economic protectionism can lead to political instability and worse, total war. In the 1930s, devaluation of British and American currencies, in the aim of making their own goods...