Why Globalization Works

by Martin Wolf

Book Overview

A powerful case for the global market economy

The debate on globalization has reached a level of intensity that inhibits comprehension and obscures the issues. In this book a highly distinguished international economist scrupulously explains how globalization works as a concept and how it operates in reality. Martin Wolf confronts the charges against globalization, delivers a devastating critique of each, and offers a realistic scenario...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300107773
• ISBN13: 9780300107777
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Packed With Knowledge!

In this purpose-driven book, author Martin Wolf stakes out his intellectual turf clearly and defends it. Wolf begins with the concept that the value of the individual and the importance of that individual's right to pursue economic advancement are the foundation of the world's great democracies. From there, he levels a devastating critique against the anti-globalists and the diverse interests that oppose the global integration of markets. He presents strong evidence that the power of international corporations has been exaggerated, and concludes that the issue isn't too much globalization, but rather too little. This clear-eyed, well-researched defense of globalization should become a mainstay in any library of economic rationalism. We recommend it most highly.

A powerful defence of free markets and globalization

Every time I see a book like this, I feel that much better: there are rational people in the world. In the book, Wolf, a respected columnist for the Financial Times, systematically dismantles many of the arguments used against globalization and then constructs a picture wherein we see that the problem is not that poor countries are exploited by the rich but that they are not. Many of the poorest countries have largely been excluded from world markets much to their disadvantage and the anti-globalization pack are making the plight of their citizens worse. Wolf begins his book with a line: "Ideas matter". Let us hope for the sake of the world that his view (one that he shares with many thinking people) is the idea that matters. This short summary hardly does justice to the book. Read it, and spread the word!

Good questions

As a distinguished columnist (the most sophisticated in the stable at the most sophisticated Financial Times), Martin Wolf can be expected to write clearly and persuasively. He does. Any reader of his columns (I am a loyal one) would expect mountains of carefully considered statistics. They are there in abundance. These virtues, however, are not the best reason to read this book. The greater interest is in Wolf's emphasis on the importance of government probity and policy in economic development. Indeed, his commitment to free trade -- while deep and wide -- seems almost secondary to his belief in sound government. That is partly the luxury of success. Tariffs and barriers in most countries and industries have fallen so low that they are only occasionally important impediments to prosperity. Still, it is remarkable to see Wolf cautiously endorsing the protection of infant industries. The emphasis on government in the longer second portion of the book seems rather at odds with the market-centred reading of history in the first. Wolf is far from the anti-globalisation caricature of the economist as theory-driven and uncaring about human suffering. On the contrary, he is entirely focussed on the economic good, particularly of the poor. The moral tone of much of the book is especially appealing. The reader can hardly not share his dismay at the corruption of the poor and the indifference and selfishness of the rich. I would have liked more political analysis, considering Wolf's enthusiasm for the government role in economic health. In particular, while Wolf is very enthusiastic about democracy, he is very sceptical about the institutional strength of democracies in the rich countries. There is a possibly dangerous paradox there. Wolf's analysis would be very interesting.

A Master at Work on Globalization

Reading Martin Wolf's explanation of globalization and why it works is like watching a master craftsman build an expensive, finely tuned watch. Wolf knows both the parts and the design intimately and shows how they were developed, how they fit together, and how they work. He also shows where and how flaws and incomplete assembly can result in a product that doesn' work at all. This book is a must read not only for economists and policy wonks, but for the broader public striving to understand the world in which it lives. After describing the nature of the debate now in train between globalists and anti-globalists, Wolf defines globalization as the organization of economic activity through markets and their ever greater integration across borders as both natural and man made barriers to international economic exchange fall. This inevitably, says Wolf, increases the impact of changes in one part of the world on what happens in other parts. While this process is driven by technological development that shrinks time and distance, Wolf does not accept the technological determinism that argues for the inevitability of globalization. If technology dictated policy, he says, liberalization would not be a policy but a destination. And he emphasizes the fact that the extensive globalization of the 19th century came to a grinding halt and was reversed by the polices and events that resulted in the two world wars and the Great Depression. Indeed, it took until the end of the 20th century to regain the level of globalization that prevailed at the end of the 19th century. Wolf makes the case for market economics in terms of superior growth and productivity. But the real bedrock of his case is a firm faith in the superiority of the democratic form of government and the conviction that only market economics founded on private property and rule of law are compatible with and supportive of democracy. Wolf is at his best when making the case for globalization and batting down the objections its opponents. He emphasizes that globalization has dramatically increased the world's economic growth and store of wealth. Far from increasing inequality, it has lifted millions out of poverty and dramatically decreased inequality. Far from being a matter of exploitation of labor, it is the driving force of rising productivity and wages in country after country. Far from harming the environment, it contributes to environmental protection. Far from being run by giant corporations, globalizatoin is controlled by sovereign governments acting individually and in concert in multi-national organizations like the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. But Wolf is not starry eyed about how all this works. He levels powerful criticisms at the International Monetary Fund where he once worked and notes that, as Winston Churchill once said of democracy, globalization is the worst systems except for all the rest. Not only does Wolf make a convinc

Four cheers for Globalization

This remarkable book should be read by all those who are interested in the future of the world and how the blessings enjoyed by rich nations could and should become general. Martin Wolf explains how such progress depends on the spread of liberal capitalism and how this necessarily involves further globalization. He refutes with care and remarkable politeness the ill-considered arguments of his opponents. The book?s outstanding quality derives from the author?s passionate goodwill for humanity and the controlled patience which he has brought to the rebuttal of arguments which are often exceedingly weak or even downright silly. Being on the side of the angels is not enough to produce a great work but, as the author has the additional qualities of an incisive mind and elegant style, the result is a book which will increasingly be recognised as a classic.