Summary Of The Globalization Paradox

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Following the Great Recession, the world has been facing complex global transformations. Dani Rodrik’s “The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy” portrays the challenges of the implications that our current model of globalization relies upon. Rodrik’s work reveals both the implications and connections of the relationships between markets, the states, and globalization in the currently changing world. Throughout the book, Rodrik argues the validity of five key points: markets require regulatory institutions, such institutions take on a variety of forms, societies should orient their market-supporting institutions to their own unique needs, markets that are responsive to democracy can avoid institutional convergence, and a world that is responsive to democracy will not reach full globalization. This book has made me question the long term sustainability of the already evolving economic globalization process. Rodrik explains that the process of globalization must be managed so that the entire world can benefit. The first point that Rodrik makes is that markets are limited by the scope of governance or regulation. He argues that markets and governments are most effective when they are operating in accordance with one another. This theory seems to stem from a theory earlier developed by the famous economist Adam Smith, which was that “the division of labor is limited by the extent of the market.” Rodrik expands on this theory by saying that not only is labor limited by the market, but that markets are limited by government. CHAPTER 4 & 5 After the failed International Trade Organization, Rodrik discusses the Bretton Woods Agreement, the transition from the General Agreement on Tariffs and T... ... middle of paper ... ...g taken is in the public interest. This would create “policy space” and therefore allow governments to regulate, making the trade system more legitimate. In conclusion, Dani Rodrik believes that globalization works best when it is not pushed too far. This allows domestic governments to hold on to some authority over trade alongside policy-making space. Free-market trade going unchecked through hyper globalization would present a problem because people undermine the regulations that citizens are so used to being protected by. This would lead to a problem concerning legitimacy. One solution would be to impose a set of regulations among all countries, but that would be advantageous to some and disadvantageous to others, making it an unfair solution. Creating policy-making space provides governments with some ability to keep trade legitimate as globalization expands.

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