There are at present no alternative policies to globalisation Guyana and the wider world A new series on globalisation by Prof Clive Thomas Stabroek News September 10, 2000 Related Links: Environment Letters Menu Archival Menu Globalisation is one of the most publicly discussed issues of our time. It has generated intense debates, heated polemics, public demonstrations and street protests across the globe. This series of articles on globalisation begins almost a year after it was first conceived, and preparatory work started. The original idea was prompted by my conviction that the forces of globalisation had already enveloped all our lives here in Guyana, and it was therefore our duty to understand these, if we are to make intelligent choices. If this is the case, why then the long delay? Frankly it had nothing to do with the pressures of work and other commitments, as might normally be expected. Simply put, I had come to the reluctant conclusion that we are so taken up, if not obsessed, with our mounting domestic problems, that readers would view the series a 'luxury' they could do without. However, a chance encounter with the Editor-in-Chief two weeks ago, led to an 'about-face' and the spur-of-the-moment promise to start the series today. I hope that decision was a wise one, and that readers stay with the series! Two hurdles A series on globalisation has two immediate hurdles to cross. First, in light of the intense debates one must make clear what meaning the term globalisation conveys. And, secondly one should establish whether globalisation as described, represents something fundamentally different from all that has preceded it. As we shall note in the series, these questions are not as straightforward as they might seem at first. Meaning The problem with the term 'globalisation' is that it comes in the wake of a long list of catch words and phrases used to describe global trends and international development. This has made persons skeptical that globalisation is anything more than another fad. Compounding this, several writers have used the term carelessly. Often they do not provide a description of the way the term is used in their text and their arguments move between several different meanings. However, a careful reading of the voluminous literature on the topic indicates two general classes of meaning attached to globalisation. One is the 'narrow' meaning, which confines it to the economic, financial and technological changes now sweeping the global economy. The other is a 'broader' meaning, which embraces cultural, ideological, political and other changes, along with the economic ones. In this latter view, globalisation is a process that permeates every dimension of human society,in every country. Significantly, both approaches twin globalisation with specific types of economic policies. These are summed up as 'neo-liberal policies' or liberalisation, and they contribute enormously to globalisation. These policies emphasise the removal of barriers to foreign investment, and domestic and international trade in goods, services and finance. State controls, whether in the form of import quotas, subsides, foreign exchange permits, or directed credit are to be progressively removed. Private markets are promoted, and with these private enterprise as the engine of economic growth. State operated productive enterprises, wherever they exist, are to be divested and privatised as soon as possible. The almost universal commitment to liberalisation is captured in the roles of the WTO, IMF and World Bank at the apex of regulation of the global economy. We in Guyana are very familiar with these 'neo-liberal' policies. Already therefore, we can see how genuinely 'original' and responsive to domestic needs and priorities are some of the major economic policies we practise. The narrow meaning An excellent example of the narrow meaning is offered in the UNDP Human Development Report 1997. That Report states that "globalisation encapsulates both a description and a prescription". The description is "the widening and deepening of international flows of trade, finance and information in a single, integrated global market". The World Bank also describes it as the "growth in cross-border economic activities". The UNDP Report, however goes on to describe the prescription (liberalisation) as the aim "to liberalise national and global markets in the belief that free flows of trade, finance and information with produce the best outcome for growth and human welfare". The UNDP is careful to note that all this is presented with an "air of inevitability". It remarks that, not since the triumph of free trade in the 19th century has "economic theory elicited such widespread certainty". The narrow meaning concentrates on a number of basic trends in the global economy. One is the unprecedented growth of "international production". That is the global output of transnational firms (TNCs). These are firms based in one country, that invest in others. This production is growing faster that either total global output or global trade. The basis for this development is the explosion of new technology - particularly in the areas of information, communications and transport. The effect is a global shift in production and trade towards services and knowledge intensive activities. The second is the rising share of trade (especially trade in services) as a proportion of global output. The third is rapid expansion of foreign direct investment by TNCs, which causes international production to rise. Finally, the liberalisation of financial markets has had enormous consequences. It is now estimated that daily global financial market transactions exceed US$1.6 trillion. This is more than 100 times the value of these only a quarter of a century ago! The broader meaning My own academic writings support the broader meaning, and this will be reflected in the series. This meaning stresses the importance of locating these dramatic economic changes in a broader context. Some examples would indicate what I mean. For example, the dramatic economic changes referred to, have intensified with the end of the Cold War. The existence of one capitalist superpower has made neo-liberal policies, far more 'acceptable' than they were before. There are at present no serious contending alternative sets of policies to challenge the worldwide shift in favour of globalisation and liberalisation. A second example is the historically unprecedented development of sites of authority at the global level, which out-rival those at the national level, in many countries. The best examples of these are the United Nations, WTO, IMF and the World Bank. Finally, as a result of the rapacious, unregulated natural resource-based economic development of the past, there is now a serious threat to the environmental integrity of planet earth. These and other changes make clear that the forces of globalisation and liberalisation are as much material (economic), as they are non-material. The non-material forces shape our world outlook, our belief systems and religions, our ideas and institutions, and our culture and behaviour. In the long run this may well turn out to be the most permanent outcome of globalisation. Before we delve into these matters in the months to come, next week we shall examine the idea that globalisation is a new phenomenon, which is fundamentally different from all that has preceded it in recorded history? Liberalisation: policies in support of globalisation September 24, 2000 Globalisation and market dominance October 1, 2000 The outcomes of globalisation October 8, 2000 Two peas in a pod: the TNCs and globalisation October 15, 2000 The new bonanza: The business of buying and selling of firms October 22, 2000 Globalisation: more on buying and selling firms October 29, 2000 Globalisation: The costs and benefits of foreign investment November 5, 2000 Globalisation and the new trade order November 26, 2000 Globalisation and the Caricom external trade maze December 3, 2000 Globalisation and the free trade fiction December 10, 2000 Globalisation and the WTO December 17, 2000 Globalisation: New issues for the new millennium December 31, 2000 Globalisation and finance January 7, 2001 Globalisation, gambling and greed January 14, 2001 Globalisation: a life of its own January 21, 2001 The new financial instruments of globalisation January 28, 2001 Globalisation: From crisis to crisis February 4, 2001 'Finance: The Achilles heel of the global economic system' February 11, 2001 Globalisation: taking stock' February 18, 2001 Globalisation and food security February 25, 2001 Globalisation: food security and the agreement on agriculture March 4, 2001 Globalisation: food security and biotechnology March 11, 2001 Globalisation: The theory and practice of food security March 18, 2001 Globalisation and poverty: The best of times and the worst of times March 25, 2001 Globalisation: measuring poverty April 1, 2001 Globalisation: The measurement of poverty and the poverty of measurement April 8, 2001 Globalisation: what is this thing called global poverty? April 15, 2001 More on global poverty indicators April 22, 2001 Globalisation: human development, human poverty and the UNDP indicators April 29, 2001 Globalisation: gender, poverty and development May 6, 2001 Globalisation: The new millennium goals and targets May 13, 2001 Globalisation and comparative advantage May 20, 2001 Globalisation and double standards May 27, 2001 Globalisation: the fraying web of life June 10, 2001 Globalisation and ecosystems June 17, 2001 Globalisation and the doomsday scenario June 24, 2001 Globalisation and the erosion of culture July 1, 2001 Globalisation and the new health scourge July 8, 2001 Full circle: economy,nature, culture and life itself July 15, 2001 Globalisation and recent trends in human developement July 29, 2001 Globalisation and the millennium goals August 5, 2001 Globalisation: CARICOM and human developement trends August 12, 2001 Globalisation, technology and development August 19, 2001 Globalisation: The economist's view of technology August 26, 2001 Gobalisation: applying the economist's view of technology September 2, 2001 Globalisation: one year later September 9, 2001 Globalisation and global terror September 16, 2001 Globalisation: Economic lessons from the aftermath September 23, 2001 Globalisation: The mainstream and fringe in the aftermath September 30, 2001 Globalisation and Caribbean economic performance October 7, 2001 Globalisation: Some economic challenges for the Caribbean October 14, 2001 Globalisation: Differential Caribbean economic performance and size October 21, 2001 Globalisation and social development in the Caribbean October 28, 2001 Globalisation and social challenges in the Caribbean November 4, 2001 Globalisation: More on social challenges in the Caribbean November 11, 2001 Globalisation: Concluding the social challenges November 18, 2001 Real tiger or paper tiger: the WTO in action November 25, 2001 Globalisation and the new WTO principles December 2, 2001 Globalisation: Strategy at Doha December 9, 2001 WTO and intellectual property: owners versus users December 16, 2001 Globalisation: more on the intellectual property debate December 23, 2001 WTO: The bold move into services December 30, 2001 GATS: The time of services has arrived January 6, 2002 Global trade in services: The CARICOM perspective January 13, 2002 More on CARICOM priorities and trade in services January 20, 2002 CARICOM and trade in accounting services January 27, 2002 Enron: The dark side of financial liberalisation February 3, 2002 Taking note of the local business environment March 17, 2002 On preventing "Local Enrons" March 24, 2002 Putting in place the new global agriculture regime April 7, 2002 The third pillar of the new agriculture regime April 21, 2002 The third pillar of the new agriculture regime April 28, 2002 Caribbean agriculture in the new trade order May 5, 2002 How sweet it is: Sugar in the new trade order May 12, 2002 How sweet it is! More on Caricom's sugar industry May 19, 2002 Losing the war against food insecurity June 30, 2002 WTO: Buying and selling ideas and knowledge July 14, 2002 Torn apart: Sams, scandals, skullduggery and the US exchange July 21, 2002 Fraud in the USA: The limits of presidential intervention July 28, 2002 The stock market crisis: enter the dragon August 4, 2002 Corporate theft: ending the era of low standards and false profits August 11, 2002 Lesson one: The perils of cooking corporate accounts and national accounts August 18, 2002 Fool’s gold, snake oil and make-believe September 8, 2002 Globalisation in stress: Business ethics and the stock market disease September 15, 2002 Globalisation: The cost and pain of financial crises September 22, 2002 Exceptions that prove the rule: WTO escape hatches September 29, 2002 The backwardness of breaking rules: The WTO's dispute settlement system November 17, 2002 Regulating global trade: Developing countries and small states December 8, 2002 Developing countries in the WTO system December 15, 2002 'The United Nations is still becoming, still imperfect, but it is all we have' January 5, 2003 Feeling the heat: Globalisation and the Latin American-Caribbean Region January 19, 2003 The Latin American/Caribbean crisis and the ‘Guyana syndrome’ January 26, 2003 The Bush stimulus plan: Responding to globalisation's crisis February 16, 2003 The global crisis and economic consequences of the axis-of-evil March 2, 2003 Corruption, the shadow economy and the state March 23, 2003 The shadow economy in Guyana April 6, 2003 More on backward capitalism April 27, 2003 The misadventure of public sector reform May 25, 2003 Trapped in a vicious circle June 1, 2003 Corruption in aid and political attitudes June 8, 2003 Globalisation and the ‘failed state thesis’ of state mutation June 15, 2003 External intervention and the failed state June 22, 2003 More on the root causes of ‘failed states’ June 29, 2003 The failed state dilemma July 6, 2003 Past and present: authoritarianism and criminalisation July 20, 2003 The Achilles heel: Lessons from the past July 27, 2003 Putting it together: the state as criminal enterprise August 3, 2003 The heart of the matter: corruption, organised crime, and the shadow economy August 10, 2003 More theses on the criminalised state August 17, 2003 Grist in the mill of vested interests September 7, 2003 Concluding on governance and the criminalised state in the age of globalization September 14, 2003 9/11 and the rocky road from Doha to Cancun September 21, 2003 Conspiracy: From “abominable no-men” to the “not for sale” network October 5, 2003 The litmus test: Agricultural negotiations at Cancun October 12, 2003 Attacking WTO core principles: Special and differential treatment October 26, 2003 Preferences do not work! Long live preferences! November 9, 2003 Flaws in the case against preferences and SDT November 23, 2003 A rich and rewarding experience November 30, 2003 The big prize: Small countries and Special and Differential Treatment December 7, 2003 Blowing 'hot and cold': WTO responses to Special and Differential Treatment for small states December 14, 2003 Why small size counts in global trade December 28, 2003 Small states and the vulnerability debate January 4, 2004 Guyana and the wider world January 11, 2004 Under siege: Small states and the offshore financial industry January 18, 2004 OFCs, Financing Terrorism, and the 'Dutch disease' February 1, 2004 Biting the dust: The other side of Vision 20/20 'Brave New World' February 29, 2004 The darker side: Crisis and vulnerability in CARICOM March 7, 2004 Regime change: Caricom and the New Haitian Model March 14, 2004 After the massacres: 'Work with us or we overthrow you' - the new democracy in Haiti March 28, 2004 Too harsh or too true: Gutless leaders unable to look a principle in the eye At odds with itself: The scramble for territory in Caricom April 18, 2004 The maritime boundary disputes:Guyana enters the fray The saga of the Caribbean Court of Justice Rationalisation or reality: The law and development May 23, 2004 Guyana and the wider world:The ABC of high oil prices May 30, 2004 Once more how sweet it is: Sugar at the crossroad July 11, 2004 Lessons for the future: The myth of no relation between the world free market sugar price and its co July 18, 2004 The fall of King Sugar July 25, 2004 More on the regional sugar industry August 1, 2004 The decline of the Caricom sugar industry August 15, 2004 A tale of high costs: producing at a cost four times the 'commercial' price August 22, 2004 Sugar and shame: From imperial imposition to handout August 29, 2004 The Sugar Protocol: Quota size September 12, 2004 The EU's sugar reform proposals: Sham and scam September 19, 2004 Caught in the act: The WTO ruling and the EU's tangled web of deception September 26, 2004 Robbing Peter to pay Paul: More EU manipulation of sugar markets October 3, 2004 The ideology of 'there is no alternative' and the struggle for national policy space October 24, 2004 Policy space and the trade-off between global benefits and domestic constraints October 31 , 2004 Illusion or reality: The South and the new global division of labour November 7, 2004 China and the new geography of global economic power: Brave New World or more of the same November 14, 2004 The mechanisms of Guyana (Caricom)-type economies November 28, 2004 More on the Banks DIH and Ansa Mcal imbroglio January 16, 2005 After the great flood February 13, 2005 The Guyana economy before and after the great flood: Mired in an economic slump March 6, 2005 Sluggish export growth and the economic slump March 13, 2005 Oil imports, technology and the great slump March 20, 2005 Productivity decline and the economic slump March 27, 2005 Explaining Guyana's productivity decline April 17 , 2005 More on why economic growth is not forthcoming April 17 , 2005 Why all the fuss about competitiveness? June 5, 2005 Then and Now: The Transformation of Global Trade June 19, 2005 Transforming the geography of global trade June 26, 2005 Caricom then and now: Challenging the global division of labour July 10, 2005 Eye-pass July 24, 2005 The Walter Rodney conference and the changing world August 7, 2005 The health of the region is the wealth of the region August 15, 2005 HIV/AIDS and the threat to regional development August 28, 2005 Overwhelming the health system: Obesity and the development challenge in the Caribbean September 11, 2005 The United Nations at age 60 and the development challenge September 18, 2005 The second South summit: Making trade an engine of development October 16, 2005 Coming full circle: South-South trade and the continued dependence of poor countries on commodity exports November 6, 2005 China and South-South trade: Performance and pitfalls November 20, 2005 China: Threat or Challenge December 4, 2005 Countdown to Hong Kong December 13, 2005 Demonstrations without disagreements within WTO business as usual December 18, 2005 Verdict on Hong Kong: So much labour for so little! December 25, 2005 Looking backwards and forward: Guyana in a new year January 15, 2006 Seeking to make the obvious invisible: Stratagem or stupidity January 29, 2006 Politics in command: The economic consequences of senseless acts February 5, 2006 Economic sense and nonsense: Invoking the phantom economy February 12, 2006 The rise of the phantom economy and social decline April 9, 2006 The disposition of Guyana's forest assets January 29, 2007 Guyana's Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme (PRSP) and the forestry sector February 4, 2007 Guyana and the Wider World April 8, 2007 Regional Trends and Their Impact on State Formation: Guyana April 29, 2007 Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today