Globalization a Mixed Bag: Patten

Globalization does not help every individual or country, but it is by no means a conspiracy by the rich against the poor, said Chris Patten, chancellor of Oxford University and former British governor of Hong Kong, during a lecture in India. Evidence suggests that trade and economic growth have ended poverty for millions of people. World labor markets, especially for skilled workers, are highly integrated, with Patten pointing out that about one-third of the physicians in the British National Health Service and one-third of the engineers in the US space program are of Indian origin. Globalization creates an array of choices and competition – while exposing hypocrisy. “Globalization is about choice, but sometimes it seems we have more choice than we can easily handle,” noted Patten in reviewing many paradoxes of globalization. He notes that no country alone can solve global problems and cooperation is essential, yet the US alone has “the strength to assemble the alliances necessary to tackle the problems thrown up by globalism.” – YaleGlobal