An interesting piece from the Economist on the recent experience of Eastern Europe. Could this be our future?
As someone on the center-right, I'm a big fan of globalization. Yet, we do ourselves a disservice if we simply glaze over the costs. They are very real, and we should do our best to quantify the effects of creative destruction wrought by market structures.
Communities are not what they used to be, and in many cases the roles that these groups have traditionally played are not being replaced by other structures. This is particularly evident in certain communities. Even in "healthier" communities, I've had at least 10 good friends come and go in the past 3 years. I knew DC would be this way when I got here, but it still has an effect. You invest so much in friendships, and then they largely disappear. The current rights-based discussion doesn't even allow me to be upset. This is not trivial.
I've yet to say anything about the blue-collar laborers who are really feeling the squeeze. It's hard to know how to help. Protectionism is surely not the answer, as prices w0uld skyrocket, and these people would be hit hardest. They also feel the crunch of competition for jobs from low-skilled immigrants, and the recent pressures of rising prices for everything but their homes due to inflationary monetary policy. If the Republican party cannot find a way to ease the anxiety of this group, they could be sitting on the sidelines for a long, long time.
I do believe that on the on the other side of the argument, there is a lot of discounting the benefits of globalization. We rarely discuss how much our lives have improved due to the democratization of things like hummus, Argentine malbec, lasik surgery, iPods, Plasma HD TV's, etc. They are hard to quantify. We talk of wage stagnation, but this doesn't generally account for the fact of falling prices.
For example, Apple is coming out with a new 3g iPhone for $200. They also recently came out with a 16g iPhone for the same price as their initial 8g was just one short year ago. It is hard to imagine either of these developments without free trade.
What are your favorite/least favorite things about globalization? Mine are food (I love all kinds of ethnic food), and Vietnamese haircuts, respectively.
