2005: The Limits of Globalization

The Limits of Globalization

Speech at World Economic Forum Krysnica, Poland, September 2005, by Michael Breisky

1. What is Globalization? According to the Polish writer Andrzej Stasiuk, Globalization means the end of melancholy in the East and the end of privileges in the West.

Other definitions: It is a system relying on the availability of cheap oil (how long?); or it is the establishment of one sole and world-wide context for every issue, as technological progress connects now everything to everything else around the globe.

In economics Globalization means the world-wide dominance of market-forces, made possible by a) the end for customs and quotas, transnational division of labour and out-sourcing, b) global information network, as estrablished by the combination of English and Microsoft, c) the global access to venture capital. The world has become a single market and should in theory (Milton, Thomas Friedman) be able to solve all economic problems.

2. Globalization may be irreversible, but it has its severe problems: (more…)

Continue Reading2005: The Limits of Globalization