The case for the global economy
By Maria Livanos Cattaui,
Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce
Paris, 21
September 1999 - Globalization
is today's reality. Like it or not, the move to a world economy is a fact of
life. At some point in the 1990s the process achieved critical mass and people
started to sit up and take notice. Many were apprehensive.
Today, almost all of us
are aware that our lives are being shaped by an interconnected world economy
of cross-border flows of trade, finance and technology. In our hearts, we know
that there is no going back.
Trade liberalization negotiations,
which until the 1990s progressed in near obscurity, capture world headlines
as the century ends. Special interest groups are preparing mass protests and
demonstrations to oppose the launch of a new trade round at the World Trade
Organization's ministerial meeting in Seattle in November.
An array of non governmental
organizations, from environmentalists to labour unions and consumer organizations,
are mounting what they are calling a "mobilization against globalization."
The International Chamber
of Commerce, representing thousands of businesses of every size and sector around
the world, is convinced that the gradual emergence of a global market economy
will bring enormous benefits to mankind in the 21st century.
Technology and the global
market place have opened up prospects for personal advancement that were undreamed
of only a few years ago. The internet provides limitless scope for forging business
links and makes information instantly available. Falling transport costs are
conquering distance and increasing people's mobility. Consumers are able to
buy products from all parts of the world at competitive prices.
But powerful forces who
claim to represent "civil society" are determined to put the clock for a variety
of motives - fear of change, suspicion of new technology, concern about the
environment, economic nationalism, hostility to business.
As these web pages will
demonstrate, the benefits of globalization are already apparent, reflected in
increased trade, greater availability and variety of goods, higher living standards,
and the transfer of technology. To quote the economist Keith Marsden, writing
in The Wall Street Journal: "The human condition has impro
ved in almost all
nations over the past two decades."
Or as The Economist puts
it, in a perceptive survey of the 20th century in its 27 September edition:
"The replacement of central planning by market-based economies and a general
lowering of trade barriers have begun to lift millions of people around the
world out of poverty, given them more income, more education and more freedom
of choice."
That is why ICC has always
supported trade liberalization and has expressly called on governments to set
ambitious objectives for the "Millennium Round" of trade negociations, which
should be completed by a strict three-year deadline.
But this does not mean that
we shrug off the costs and risks of globalization - the volatility of financial
flows, the uncertainties associated with more rapid economic and social change,
the spread of cross-border crime, and in particular crimes that exploit the
Internet.
ICC accepts that, just as
democracy needs rules in order to function well, so does the global economy.
The challenge is to find the right balance between rules and freedom. Business
is seeking solutions, for example through ICC recommendations on best practices
in risk management, on reducing the threat to financial stability posed by "hot
money", and through our new special unit set up within Commercial Crime Services
in London to deal with cybercrime.
Now we intend to present
the case for the global economy, and how business is facing up to its challenges,
on a special section of the ICC web site. We shall include our own statements
as well as references to relevant articles and quotations that have been published
elsewhere.
Our editors welcome outside
contributions. Sometimes, we shall provide full texts, at others we will provide
extracts, summaries and quotations. We shall be grateful to learn of suitable
articles for inclusion and to receive suggestions for the site's improvement.
The
case for the global economy