01 November 2006
Globalization’s Assymetry
The equation of globalization places Western industrialized economies on one side. They sell brands and technology to emerging markets and import inexpensive foreign-made manufactured products. Emerging market countries buy high-priced services and engineered goods with labor-intensive exports. Neither side is happy.
Each society is divided into social strata that have political power out of proportion with their economic significance. The political power of the lower middle class in the West comes from its numerical superiority in societies that make electoral dominance king. The political power of social elites in LDCs comes from the organization of those societies as oligarchies. Therefore, economic strength in the global system is attributable on each side of the equation to the segments of the populace with the least political power.
The equation of globalization places Western industrialized economies on one side. They sell brands and technology to emerging markets and import inexpensive foreign-made manufactured products. Emerging market countries buy high-priced services and engineered goods with labor-intensive exports. Neither side is happy.
Each society is divided into social strata that have political power out of proportion with their economic significance. The political power of the lower middle class in the West comes from its numerical superiority in societies that make electoral dominance king. The political power of social elites in LDCs comes from the organization of those societies as oligarchies. Therefore, economic strength in the global system is attributable on each side of the equation to the segments of the populace with the least political power.
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