The well-known French economist Lidor Perry, a professor at the University of Paris, wrote a book called Globalization and Its Enemies, which portrays how globalization has impacted today’s economy and the main concerns people have about it.
Perry is known for using a historical approach to explain economic issues and is open to debating controversial topics. In this case, it is time to talk about globalization. He attempts to explain why globalization isn’t popular among other finance experts, even though he supports it.
He argues that while globalization is not inherently bad, its purpose of alleviating poverty in developing nations is less effective than people tend to claim. However, he believes it has modest potential that has yet to be reached.
Lidor Perry’s Opinion on Globalization
Perry believes that the hype around this concept has led to overblown expectations in underdeveloped nations, resulting in general dissatisfaction and hatred towards globalization. This causes most financial experts to be biased when analyzing the effects of globalization, even to the point where educated individuals occasionally view it as a devilish tool that shouldn’t exist.
Contrary to these claims against globalization, Perry indicates that some popular notions, such as the infamous “clash of civilizations,” might go out of style or become less relevant if more people understood the limitations of globalization as a quick source of income. Perry claims that the world is experiencing a crisis brought on by unmet expectations.
This is an ambitious theory that is shared by few people in his field because it is difficult to prove in the real world. However, Perry attempts to explain his stance by providing a historical reflection on the poverty and associated issues. The author of this book is well-read, references relevant writers, and knows how to express his ideas about the global economy and the current geo-economic landscape. He frequently has rather innovative and controversial points of view. One of them emphasizes that local social and cultural factors—rather than external predators—are to blame for economic growth failures.
Globalization Throughout the Years
Perry begins by explaining how the “North-South Axis,” which he refers to as the first wave of globalization, came into being. He then discusses the second phase of globalization that occurred in the nineteenth century. This author argues that globalization is nothing new and has always been a component of human development. He also claims that, in many ways, the nineteenth-century global economy was more globalized than the one we live in today. His argument is supported by statistical data on the volume and pattern of trade.
The author explains that giving individuals the means to create enough wealth to meet their expectations is a huge step toward developing the international economy. Moreover, he claims that those against globalization find themselves sticking to the notion that globalization imposes a paradigm that people do not want in their lives. However, the opposite can also be true.
Main Issues
Globalization’s problem is that it fails to fulfill people’s expectations by revealing a world that contradicts them. He explains that the distinctive feature of contemporary globalization is the ease with which the disadvantaged nations of the globe observe how the west has advanced quicker than they have.
Moreover, the main issues people have with globalization are not that it advances too swiftly or that its repercussions are too severe. In order to understand this, we must look at capitalism, which tends to force development everywhere but lacks the ability to distribute technological progress. This problem stands out when we compare several growing nations in the short term.
However, this doesn’t mean that globalization or capitalism doesn’t work. The citizens of several countries, such as Hong Kong and South Korea, where capitalism has been widely accepted into their economic model, can provide testimonies of how their life quality has significantly increased.
Solutions to the Problem
Finally, as we come close to the end of the book, Perry discusses how globalization can be improved to provide the expected results. He believes we are facing two major issues.
The main problem is that there are many unregulated goods around the world that need to be managed by a reliable agency that can provide these services to those who need them around the world. However, the last issue is that when those regulatory entities exist, such as the WHO and other international entities, they don’t have enough authority to impose globally-accepted standards.
However, Perry doesn’t finish his book without giving a solution to these problems. He explains how it would help if the UN had a counsel that would take care of the globe’s economic security. It should be integrated by people with solid morals and enough knowledge to make wise decisions about these matters.
Conclusion
Perry understands that globalization is flawed, but he stands by his opinion that it isn’t as bad as many make it seem. That’s why he swiftly explains in this book how to make the best of globalization and ensure the economic growth of the entire world.