Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor, Economics and Law, at Columbia University, is the author of more than three hundred articles and fifty volumes.His latest book is In Defense of Globalization, which I asked him to put to the "page 69 test." Here is his response:
Page 69 is the second page of Chapter 6 which deals with the issue of Child Labor and whether (economic) Globalization increases it or reduces it.Many thanks to Professor Bhagwati for his input.
It is pretty much representative of the thesis of the book that Globalization helps, rather than harms, us when it comes to a variety of "social" agendas such as reduction of child labour in the world, advancement of women's rights and economic well-being (Chapter 7), the robustness of mainstream and indigenous culture (Chapter 9), the state of our Democracy (Chapter 8), poverty in the poor countries (Chapter 5), the wages and labor standards of the unskilled in the rich countries (Chapter 10), etc.
The book is unique in dealing with these issues that are at the heart of the debate on Globalization whereas many of the others that are in the "anti-globalization" genre address (and that too without any nuances whatsoever) sideshow issues like the conditionality imposed by Bretton Woods institutions. It takes seriously the myriad worries that Globalization sets us back on several social agendas and shows systematically that, on balance, these agendas are advanced, not set back, by Globalization. In short, Globalization HAS a Human Face; it is not true that Globalization LACKS a Human Face.
Read his recent Op-Ed in the Financial Times, "Technology, not globalization, driving wages down."
Among the endorsements and reviews for In Defense of Globalization:
The new century’s major economic issue is Globalization, Yes? or Globalization, No? Columbia University’s Bhagwati, long regarded as a master economist by all trade experts, has prepared for the intelligent public an even-handed analysis of the pros and cons. Read and ponder.Previous "page 69 tests:"
--Paul Samuelson, Nobel laureate in Economics
This is the book that everyone has been waiting for. Jagdish Bhagwati thoughtfully considers the arguments of the anti-Globalization movement and shows the peril they pose to world development.
--George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics
Jagdish Bhagwati has written a brilliant book… You may not always agree with him -- I don’t -- but In Defense of Globalization is bound to become a classic.
--Richard Sennett, Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics
In Defense of Globalization is an important contribution to an often incoherent debate. As we expect from Mr. Bhagwati, it is cogently argued and well written. It sets out a persuasive case in favour 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, Financial Times
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. This book offers a cogent, erudite and, indeed, enjoyable discussion of economic globalization and its discontents.
--Richard Cooper, Foreign Affairs
Up to now, anti-globalist works have had too much the upper hand. Many pro-globalization books are so badly argued, so keen to deploy anecdote not evidence, that they discredit their cause. So far as credentials go, note that anti-globalists would regard Joseph Stiglitz’s bestselling “Globalization and its Discontents”, published in 2002 (and not too kindly reviewed in the Economist of June 6th that year), as mostly taking their side… Mr. Bhagwati’s new book, “In Defense of Globalization”, will help to restore the balance-in sales and readers, it is to be hoped, as well as in other ways. Mr. Bhagwati has ample reserves of academic eminence: he is a pioneer in trade theory and the author of numerous scholarly works. But what matters more is that he has written an outstandingly effective book-his best popular work to date. Until further notice “In Defense of Globalization” becomes the standard general –interest reference, the intelligent layman’s handbook, on global economic integration… Balanced , compelling and thorough in its use of evidence , there is much here to make globalists and anti-globalists alike think again , and perhaps even to narrow the difference between them.
--The Economist
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