Engaging polemic makes case for global capitalism

BROUGHT TO BOOK: Founded in 1843 as an advocate of free trade, the Economist still argues that fewer trade barriers and controls will benefit rich and poor alike. This book is a collection of articles on globalisation, almost all written by Economist journalists, and delivers trenchant arguments in favour of global capitalism.

Globalisation (Making sense of an integrating world)

The Economist

£20 (UK)

The terrorist attacks on the US last September provide a backdrop in that Uncle Sam got an almighty kick in the ass and some would argue it was coming to him. According to this viewpoint, terrorism thrives on poverty.

The argument put forward here is that market forces are good for society. Sure, private enterprise is only interested in making profits but competition civilises business because it has to worry about its good name, turning it into an engine of social progress.

The book argues that interference in developing economies forces sweatshop employees out of work. Multinationals can pass on any embargo cost to consumers in the West who willingly pay more because it is in a good cause.

One of the main arguments against globalisation is that it is anti-democratic in forcing left and right-of-centre political parties into the centre - the "golden strait-jacket" - which means voters switch off because all politicians are terrified of offering anything that annoys the big bad wolf in the International Monetary Fund.

Globalisation points out that the drift to the centre is largely the work of politicians themselves - especially by the left - and that blaming multinationals for the corrosion of politics is dishonest and damaging for democracy.

In dismissing Tony Blair's "third way", the book points to the strength of feeling behind the anti-capitalist protests of recent years and says political leaders are deceiving the public in blaming globalisation for voter disempowerment.

The idea that global capitalism is destroying the planet gets short shrift. It is argued that the facts simply do not stack up - even the greenhouse effect would not pose a devastating problem for mankind if there was an appropriate response.

Prosperity cuts pollution. The best data available for air pollution relate to London, whose problems peaked around 1890. Today, apparently, the air is cleaner than at any time since 1585.

Globalisation is a polemic in defence of classic liberalism and free trade - no quarter is given and none expected. The contributions are punchy but elegant and considered. Everyone interested in the economic future should check it out, from anarchists to futures traders.