What Is Globalization?: Viewpoint

What Is Gtobalization? VIEWPOINT by Jay R SUnMc -Ln their recent, and very important work, Globalization and History: The Evolution of the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic Economy, economic historians Kevin O'Rourke andJeffrey Williamson remind us that international economic integration is not unique to the late twentieth century. Between the middle ofthe nineteenth century and World War I, the ties between economies on both sides ofthe Atlantic became closer as both international trade andforeign investmentgrew to historically high levels. Although it is useful K) |»mt OO the historical antecedent of œncempoary ¿lobalization. the similarities bet «ven the nineteenth Century phenomenon and the process underway at present slxxild not be overdrawn. In particular, the geographic scope of what occurred in the first period was significantly narrower than that at present. In the nineteenth century, participation in the international economy was largely confined to Europe and regions of settlement bv Europeans such as North America. Iktause the process was delimited in this wav. its positive impact on economic growth was confined today, in contrast, die extent of geographic inclusion in the international economv is much more widespread, invoking parts of Latin America. Asia, and Africa that formerly were either omitted altogether or were onlv partiallv integrated, as occurred in colonial settings. Because this is so, the contemporary experience raises the possibility that economic development may spread more extensively than in the past and that as a result underdevelopment and poverty mav be overcome in a way that the earlier experience did not approximate. Fundamental in differentiating the two historical periods of integration is the fact dial advances in new communications and information-processing technologies, bv phenomenally increasing the speed at which information and goods can trawl, have reduced the importance of distance in economic activity. There are few locations todav that arc so geographicalIv reinóte that investors are discouraged bv location alone. Industries can Ix- established and jobs can now be created virtually everywhere. What makes this so significant is that economic growth remains the only way to reduce third world poverty. Whatever merits mav Ix- attached to redistributive policies, Health must be created before it can be reallocated. In the poor countries of the world it is production—more accurately the failure to produce sufficiently—that has kept people mired in poverty. That failure lias to be overcome if there is to be any hope of extensively reducing worldwide uiipoveiishment. In the contemporary world what thai means is that poor countries must attract investment and technology from abroad while finding market outlets both domestically and internationally. It is hard to imagine a low-income country today overcoming its underdevelopment if it turns its Kick on globalization. Development, however, docs not come cheaply. It requires poor countries do invest in physical infrastructure and to spend adequately on educating their populations. The technology of contemporary modernization requires schooling and the provision of electrical power, water, sewage systems, and roads, to name just a few. With these investments in people and public facilities, all countries, no matter their distance from the major markets of the world, can become attractive locations in which producers can set up shop. In assessing the potential for contemporary globalization to reduce poverty, it is important to distinguish the possibilities associated with the use of computers, faxes, and the Internet from the markct-intcgratin¿ policies supported by the United States and continuai on page IO Danielle Lightburn, who also started working with us last year and contributed two articles to our first newsletter, is a senior, with a dual concentration in history and French language and literature . Her senior honors thesis deals with modern American history, examining the desegregation of the Boston public school system in the 1970s and the resulting busing controversy. Her interests , however, are not limited merely to Europe and America, as she also spent last summer in Nigeria, conducting research on the role of nongovernmental organizations in this newly democratizing West African state. Danielle's other pursuits include playing on the Boston University women's water polo team, representing the University through the Office of Admissions, gallivanting about the greater Boston area and, when time permits, catching the occasional catnap. The Historical Society has established its...