“When the winds of change blow, some build walls, others build windmills.“ (Chinese proverb)
Globalization is once again being criticized. Its opponents are holding it responsible for nearly all the evils of this world. The list of sins is a long one: growing poverty, rising unemployment, stagnating prosperity, massive inequality, plutocratic democracies and incompetent politicians. All of this and much more is said to be caused by worldwide open goods and factor markets. The “End of History“ (Francis Fukuyama) dream is over. In truth, political adversity threatens globalization. Perhaps Mark Twain was right when he remarked that history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. Populist tendencies already ruined the first wave of globalization in the previous century. They sowed the seeds of intervention and protectionism. The two world wars did not just destroy open markets. Today as well, populist parties everywhere have the upper hand. They agitate from the left and right against open markets, and they have the sympathy of the enraged citizens. The Doha Development Round has been stalled for years. The fight against TTIP is a mass phenomenon. The primal fear of the strangeness of strangers gives rise to initiatives against immigration. Does an end to the second wave of globalization threaten?
„Populists and Globalization
Structural losers, abysmal politicians, and mobile workers“ weiterlesen