"globaliztion" is a myth

[Jane Sweet]

Otto wrote:
> 
> But they need a real opening of the markets.
> I suspect that American efforts on free trade are mainly to increase
> exports, not imports of industrial goods or of cultural artefacts. 

This debate should not assume that there is such a thing as
"globalization," a propaganda term cluttered with myths and
exaggerations. There is not a grand conspiracy. Concerns,
even MNC, have very different, often contradictory
internationalization strategies. First, very few
multinationals are really globalized, most are only
regionalized. And as I have posted, the facts, the trade
figures, do not support the theoretical claims of
"globalization," but  support what is
happening--regionalization. 

In terms of labor, cheap, slave or whatever, Greenspan
argues against claims that international trade will create
jobs because the facts are, that jobs and  wage costs are
often not, contrary to the propaganda from extreme Left and
Right, an important factor in determining where investments
are made. These wild caricatures about "globalization" by
the Lefty extremists are simply that.

In Europe, it is a fact and not a myth that exports and
imports between the EU and the rest of the world are stable
or even declining--regionalization.  We have to look at the
facts and  history,  when we do we see that the degree of
openness of the EU to the world economy is relatively small
and broadly similar to that of the United States and Japan.
The degree of openness of the EU (average of exports and
imports of goods and services as a percentage of nominal
Gross Domestic Product), about 10 percent, as compared to 12
percent for the USA, and 9 percent for Japan, suggests that
that the "globalization" of trade directly affects only a
limited part of the European economy and that the fears
fanned by corporations and politicians that have failed to
succeed in these good economic times are unwarranted. Like
the propaganda peddled here in the States by idiots like
Ross Perot and Pat Buchcannon, the same nonsense was given a
platform in Europe, where the decline of "European
competitiveness" claims remind me more of the Nazis than
anything coming from free trade advocates, this is the
garbage that European citizens are still prone to and it
seems to be a ready and easy formula for brainwashing.
Europe, as EU,  has had higher labor productivity growth
than the United States and, in recent years, higher than
Japan (there are a lot of political/economic lessons still
be learned from Japan's success and current problems), while
maintaining external equilibrium. The supposed consequences
of "globalization" and the threat of competition from low
wage countries are being used by the damned corporations,
can't people see this is what is happening, to force trade
unions to make even more concessions and to weaken Unions,
again such propaganda peddled to Unions (Unions here are
traditional supporters of the Democratic Party, but
conservative, Union members vote Democratic but are far from
liberal in the USA)  as  nationalistic protectionism by the
extreme Right here in the States is far more damaging than
any real internationalization of financial markets and
regionalization of trade. The statistics show that the EU,
like the USA,  is a virtually closed economy. Again, the USA
trades with Canada and to lesser extent with Mexico and then
with Japan. 
How can the USA dominate the EU when it's a closed market.
Pragmatic, practical activity is needed, not sending
children to fight mythological creatures that have taken on
life, it will only be when the true Left, trade unions, and
other social movements join hands to mobilize for a
different social and economic agenda, and take initiatives
to Europeanize not "Globalize" struggles and campaigns, that
policy shift that can reduce unemployment and raise living
standards will become possible. In the USA, the story is
very much the same. Here we have United states, and also a
virtually closed, domestic market. Union membership is down
ton 13% and under the Bush administration it will decline
further, but fighting a myth called "globalization" is not
serving anyone. Sure, it's nice to care about Africa, to
watch and report human rights violations in China, but to
blame slave labor in China on a myth called globalization is
foolish and it's exactly, imho, what Pynchon draws attention
to in his fiction.