Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38292 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 344 pages

Foreign Affairs
'A cogent, erudite, and, indeed, enjoyable discussion of economic globalization and its discontents.'

Review
An outstandingly effective book.... Until further notice In Defense of Globalization becomes the standard general-interest reference, the intelligent layman's handbook, on global economic integration. (The Economist )

Once again, Columbia University economist Jagdish Bhagwati has weighed into the increasingly partisan and ideological debate over trade, offshore outsourcing and globalization. And once again, it is worth listening to.... what's most important about this book is its caution about globalization --namely, that it has to be managed, both in terms of how quickly it proceeds and what policies are put in place to reduce its unpleasant economic and social side effects. (Washington Post )

Bhagwati combines the hard-nosed perspective of a liberal on trade and investment with the soft-hearted sensitivities of a social democrat on poverty and human welfare. He thus has an admirable ability to address patiently and sympathetically globalization's well-meaning but wrong-headed critics.... A cogent, erudite, and, indeed, enjoyable discussion of economic globalization and its discontents. (Foreign Affairs )

One of the world's leading international trade theorists.... Bhagwati takes on many antiglobalist arguments, showing them to be overblown or groundless. The lot of women and children improves with the opening of markets, and the environment too, not to mention the chances for democracy.... Accessible and clearly argued. There is, one might say, a wealth of material on every page. (Bruce Bartlett, The Wall Street Journal )

An important contribution to an often incoherent debate. As we expect of Mr. Bhagwati, it is cogently argued and well written. It sets out a persuasive case in favor of globalization. And because of Mr. Bhagwati's impeccable credentials, there is a better chance his book will be given a fair hearing than might be the case with some other authors. Put simply, Mr. Bhagwati has 'street cred'. (Anne Krueger (Acting Director of the IMF), Financial Times )

Critics of globalization will find a few things to admire in Bhagwati's outlook. He limits his defense of globalization to trade, direct investment and migration. The book's short chapter on capital markets echoes many of the concerns of globalization's critics. Bhagwati forcefully denounces 'the Wall Street-Treasury Complex' that cajoled developing countries into eliminating capital controls. His charming cosmopolitanism will also allay the fears of critics convinced that economists are incapable of appreciating non-economic values. Literary references flow from the pages, from Lady Murasaki to King Lear to Woody Allen. (Daniel W. Drezner, New York Times Book Review )

In this elegant book, one of the world's preeminent economists distills his thinking about globalization for the lay reader.... Armed with a wit uncharacteristic of most writing on economics and drawing on references from history, philosophy and literature as well as some 'state of the art econometric analysis,' he sets out to prove that the antiglobalization movement has exaggerated claims that globalization has done little good for poor countries.... This is a substantial study that is as about as enjoyable and reassuring a work of economics as may be possible to write in this uncertain age. (Publishers Weekly )

Mr. Bhagwati slams through fact after fact, statistic after statistic, demolishing those who claim the poor are worse off because of globalization. He warns that many problems of poor countries are self-inflicted, such as trade barriers against one another. If Mr. Bhagwhati doesn't get a much deserved Nobel Prize for economics, he should get one for literature. His writing sparkles with anecdotes and delightful verbal pictures. (Mike Moore, New York Sun )

Does the international market economy worsen poverty in developing countries? Does it erode democracy? Hurt the cause of women? Trash the environment? Exacerbate the exploitation of child labor? Bhagwati's answers to all these questions make for a supremely worthy read. (Business 2.0 Magazine )

...an excellent and even-handed analytic description of globalization and its side-effects for economists and even non-economists. (Eastern Economic Journal )

Eastern Economic Journal
'...an excellent and even-handed analytic description of globalization and its side-effects for economists and even non-economists.'

Customer Reviews

brilliant and terribly important
I heard Bhagwati speak on this book at LSE and was terribly impressed. The point to make is that he's not one of those free trade at all cost types. He believes, and has evidence to prove, that free trade helps the very people that most anti-globalization activists purport to be helping. At the same time, he emphasizes the need to control the speed at which markets liberalise, as well as for serious safety nets to cope with downsides.

This is a must read for everyone who cares about raising the standard of living in poorer countries.

A very good book and an important one indeed
In rather readable style - I just love his sense of humour - Professor Bhagwati (JB) sets out his case in favour of globalisation.

Part One sets out the arguments of the anti-globalisation movement. It would appear that a whole load of other issues not connected to globalisation found a home in the anti-globalisation movement, anti-Americanism being one of them. JB also notes that students of economics tend to be in favour of globalisation and that those opposed to globalisation rarely know anything about economics. Perhaps that situation could be remedied by spreading more knowledge of economics amongst the "anti-globalisationists".

In Part Two, JB examines the effect of globalisation on a number of issues including poverty, child labour, women and their treatment of, democracy, culture, wages and labour standards, the environment and multi-national corporations. He finds that globalisation is not a threat but rather beneficial to any of these subjects and that multi-nationals are not thriving by playing economies against each other or exploiting countries by abusing their corporate might.

Part Three deals with legal and illegal movement of labour and the challenges arising from it and the perils arising from the move of international capital where he also looks at the 1998 Asian crisis. Whilst I agree with JB that the reason for the crisis was not an end of the economic miracle experienced in the 30-odd years before the crisis I think that these countries' economic mismanagement played a large part in it. But you are of course free to read JB's book and make up your own mind.

In Part Four, JB discusses ways in which globalisation could be managed in such a way that potential downsides in the course of economic development could be met in a better way than is available at present. You will notice that JB is terribly impressed with the efforts of the IMF and the World Bank in helping countries in need.

In his conclusions, JB mentions that his book was written against the background of the mass demonstrations accompanying the WTO meeting in Seattle in 1999.

Also in his conclusion, JB tells of an argument put forward by the anti-globalisation movement that globalisation kills jobs in the industrialised countries. This line of argument would suggest that investment and economic development to the non-industrialised world must be denied because these jobs must be retained in the industrialised countries in order to secure `our future'. Who is the selfish party here, I wonder.

Jagdish Bhagwati's book should be compulsory reading for everyone because he proves that the arguments put forward by the anti-globalisationists are simply not true, including the one about killing jobs outlined above. I look forward to these people demonstrating in favour of globalisation, soon, or at least after they have read JB's book.

timely and topical
Professor Bhagwati is a well-known economist and here offers timely discussions on the pros and cons of globalization. In short, he sees that globalization will bring more benefits to the world. By this nature, his discussions go a long way "in defence of globalization." Worth read, but his discussions are somewhat rigid and bit too long, though a very important work. This book should go with another brilliant book: China's global reach: markets, multinationals, and globalization (the revised edition) by a Chinese journalist, which offers much more info and analysis, especially on a changing world production, investment and trade map -- all under globalization and capitalism. Furthermore, the book is very critical about the abusive Chinese bureaucratic power.