Does globalization disadvantage the poorest countries?
Globalization is a modern word for a process that has been going on for centuries. New technologies in the fields of transport and communications, from advances in sailing and navigation to the steamship and the telegraph, have often reduced the cost of shifting goods around the world in the past, leading to increased economic integration. Recently, such technologies have included roll-on roll-off container systems and the Internet, while lower trade barriers have further eased the movement of goods and capital. Globalization has brought lower prices to consumers, and investment and employment to newly industrializing countries. But it has also raised widespread public concern over the fate of the poorer developing countries, which are alleged to have been left further and further behind as the rest of the world advances. There is strong evidence that countries can be disadvantaged in the global marketplace by their geographical endowments. Lack of infrastructure can make it hard to ge
