| Harold L. (Hal) Mansfield, Ph.D. | |
| 7366 North County Road 27, Loveland, CO 80538 | |
| Phone: 970.667.3878 | E-mail: hal.mansfield3@gmail.com |
Some very unfunny things have happened on the way to the "Globalization Utopia." First, the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have come under fire from groups and individuals representing a broad spectrum of cultural, social, political, ecological, religious, and economic positions for the roles each have played in "lousing up" the globalization movement.
A major piece of evidence of dissatisfaction came in 1999 with the Seattle riots. Since then, numerous demonstrations and other examples have surfaced and multiplied.
One of the most telling sources of "damnation" came with the publication of Joseph E. Stiglitz's "Globalization and Its Discontents." What makes the Stiglitz book important is that he was on the "inside" working for globalization for a number of years. First, he chaired President Clinton's Counsel of Economic Advisors. After that, he served in a key post at the World Bank.
According to Stiglitz, the WB, IMF and WTO - all too often - instituted policies and procedures and set agendas that actually defeated their avowed missions of: global free trade, reducing poverty, and helping the emerging economies of third world countries. In essence, the actions of the WB, IMF and WTO represent a "new form" of colonialism, which, though different from the historical colonialism, nevertheless exploits the poor people and "emerging" nations of our globe. Guess who reaps the benefits of this exploitation?
As a result of these counterproductive, counterintuitive policies, procedures and agendas (most of which were actually proposed and championed by special interests in developed countries, especially the United States), billions of people in the third world are now socially, economically and politically worse off than they were a decade or two ago and most third world countries are in deeper trouble than they otherwise would have been.
The recent demonstrations against these three entities, in Washington, D.C., have once again brought the "world spotlight" to bear on them, their unfair policies, procedures and agendas, and the bureaucratic bungling of the past couple of decades of which they have been guilty!
Few things make the operatives of such quasi-governmental agencies more uncomfortable than being held up to the "lamp of truth." As a result, policies, procedures programs, approaches and agendas are under review. Dramatic changes may be in the offing. If positive changes occur - those that will begin to dismantle the errors of the past and, in an orderly fashion, replace them - it will only be because of (mainly) outside pressures put on these organizations by way of the demonstrations, books such as that by Stiglitz, through a host of respected journal articles, and because of "obvious necessity."
Perhaps the policies, procedures, and agendas of WB, IMF, and WTO will come to reflect the true needs of the desperately poor peoples and nations of the world, rather than the greedy desires of the special interests. But, I am not going to bet "my farm" on it happening.
Anything other than such policy, procedure and agenda changes invites cultural and social unrest, political instability and economic chaos. And, in case you (the readers) are invested in the stock market, a failure to make these changes will further erode the value of your portfolio; thus, bringing the issue right into your awareness by way of your pocketbook.
Better Ways to Help Countries: