Pranab Bardhan writes in Scientific American about whether globalization helps or hurts the world's poor. He writes that the macro evidence is ambiguous, but gives micro examples of how globalisation has benefited individual communities, though the transition can be wrenching.He highlights the complexity of the problem:In 1993, anticipating a U.S.ban on imports of products made using child labor, the garment industryin Bangladesh dismissed an estimated 50,000 children. UNICEF and localaid groups investigated what happened to them. About 10,000 childrenwent back to school, but the rest ended up in much inferioroccupations, including stone breaking and child prostitution. That doesnot excuse the appalling working conditions in the sweatshops, letalone the cases of forced or unsafe labor, but advocates must recognizethe severely limited existing opportunities for the poor and thepossible unintended consequences of "fair trade" policies.Bardhan is optimistic about the emergence of greater coordination among transnational companies,multilateral organizations, developing country governments and localaid groups on programs to help the poor. He discusses six possible measures to help share the benefits of globalization more equitably:
- short term capital controls to protect financial stability
- reduced protectionism by rich countries, especially on agriculture and textiles;
- trust busting - in particular, to prevent collustion to fix international commodity prices;
- social programs, particularly to help countries to adapt to change
- research, including for pharmaceuticals and agricultural products.
- greater immigration into rich countries, which he says would do more to reduce world poverty thanother forms of international integration, such as trade liberalization,can.
Bardhan concludes:
Simplistic antiglobalization slogans or sermons on the unqualifiedbenefits of free trade do not serve the cause of alleviating worldpoverty. An appreciation of the complexity of the issues and an activeinterweaving of domestic and international policies would be decidedlymore fruitful.
