Globalization is good: Argues Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati
Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati
Globalization – the growing integration of economies and societies around the world – has been one of the most hotly-debated topics in international economics over the past few years. Rapid economic growth and poverty reduction in India, and other countries that had millions under poverty line, has been a positive aspect of globalization. But globalization has also generated significant international opposition over concerns that it has increased inequality and environmental degradation.
Many intellectuals have addressed this issue. However, it was Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor at Columbia University and Senior Fellow in International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, whose lecture on globalization at the Consulate General of India, New York, on Monday, January 7, 2008, that drew much attention from the media, the intellectual community, and the public.
In his long address that lasted nearly for 45 minutes, Prof. Bhagwati touched upon globalization, international trade, the planning process in India and the economic reforms India ushered in since 1991. Underlining that globalization was good not only for growth but also for poverty reduction, he dismissed fears of anti-reformers as unjustified. Supporting his argument with examples and anecdotes, he stressed that many social objectives could in fact be furthered with wise management of globalization. With solid data on growth and the millions of people who have helped come above poverty line in the case of India, Dr. Bhagwati said, economic reforms have helped reduce poverty in India in a very significant way. Bhagwati has said that economic globalization was perhaps the best way, if not the only one, to reduce poverty and promote egalitarianism in society.
Prof. Bhagwati said, “Globalization can be looked at from the perspective of two sets of issues in the public domain. First, I believe that it is desirable that India participate in the world economy in a much deeper way than it has done do far. Second, of course is the broader question that transcends India: whether the economic globalization that is steadily going on along many dimensions such as trade and direct foreign investment flows is desirable or whether it is a malign force, as alleged by anti-globalization critics.
Prof Bhagwati said, globalisation actually already "has a human face" and added that the argument that globalization entailed heavy social cost was actually false. Empirical evidence suggested that globalisation had benefited most poor nations. "The so-called social agendas were actually supplemented, complemented and accelerated by economic globalisation," Prof Bhagwati maintained.
He pointed out that a reasonable consensus has emerged that globalisation, barring a few occasional downsides, produced good outcomes. Elaborating on the social dimension of globalisation Prof. Bhagwati said the emphasis on social protection institutions and safety nets argument does not militate against the economic argument for trade liberalization.
The lecture was followed by a Question & Answer session. An audience of about 100 academics, media, prominent personalities and business community attended the event. Earlier, Consul General Neelam Deo, while introducing Prof. Bhagwati to the more than 150 academicians, businessmen, and community leaders from across the New York region, described him as the “world’s foremost expert” on globalization and spoke about the major areas of his work and his high international standing.
Jagdish Bhagwati, is University Professor at Columbia University and Senior Fellow in International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been Economic Policy Adviser to Arthur Dunkel, Director General of GATT (1991-93), Special Adviser to the UN on Globalization, and External Adviser to the WTO. He has served on the Expert Group appointed by the Director General of the WTO on the Future of the WTO and the Advisory Committee to Secretary General Kofi Annan on the NEPAD process in Africa, and was also a member of the Eminent Persons Group under the chairmanship of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso on the future of UNCTAD. Five volumes of his scientific writings and two of his public policy essays have been published by MIT press. The recipient of six festschrifts in his honor, he has also received several prizes and honorary degrees, including awards from the governments of India (Padma Vibhushan) and Japan (Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star). Professor Bhagwati's latest book In Defense of Globalization was published by Oxford University Press in 2004 to worldwide acclaim.
