From the scuffle over “Buy American” provisions in the most recent federal stimulus package, to concerns about declining exports in countries like China, to high-profile meetings of politicians and economists, it seems like anti-globalization sentiment is on the rise.
Advocates of isolationism, protectionism, and localism have decried the increasingly integrated global economy for years. But the sharpness of criticisms of globalization has sharpened in the context of the global economic downturn. Reflecting on the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, Adrian Hamilton concluded that “the political leaders of the world are going to have to start again to reforge an international consensus on trade and regulation. The internationalism of tomorrow — today indeed — will have to be recreated out of national concerns and a degree of national protection.”
This week’s PowerBlog Ramblings question is: “In what ways, if any, is globalism in retreat?”
Ramble on…