Now the Wall Street Journal is reporting economic issues “seem to have put globalisation itself at question. After accelerating through the 1990s, the movement across borders of capital, goods and people has already slowed.”
American and European investors are selling foreign stocks and bringing money home Foreign direct investment in major emerging markets such as Brazil and Argentina are lower than they have been in a decade. And the boom in global mergers and acquisitions has faded. Ill will among trading nations is stalling trade-liberalisation talks. And fears of terrorism and instability have forced some firms to reconsider their overseas strategies.
The global economy began to take root for the first time during the Victoria era, fed by the industrial revolution and British imperial expansion. That period ended with the First World War and the Great Depression that brought rising trade barriers and capital controls.
By some measures, the world economy didn’t reach the level of openness of the pre-First World War period until the 1970s. And the big factor in the current push toward globalisation has been the application of free-market policies in the major economies.
The World Trade Organisation’s next ministerial meeting is set for September in Mexico. By then, we should have a clearer idea of where the world is heading.
And all this when The Bahamas debate on globalisation and free trade was just getting started. Looks like we are late to the party again.
Editorial, The Nassau Guardian
