Globalization Versus Labor

Abstract

A specter is haunting the workers of the world—the specter of globalization. In recent years the term globalization has been bandied about so much that its meaning seems self-evident. This globalization trend is discussed and accepted as readily as the law of gravity, but the notion itself is seldom called into question. For example, in his discussion paper entitled "A Framework for Economic Policy" Canada's Finance Minister Paul Martin notes three trends that we are told Canadian policy-makers must heed: (1) globalization; (2) the growth of the newly industrializing countries; and (3) the so-called information economy. The unquestioned assumption for Martin and others is that these trends are forces to which we must all adapt and adjust. But why? we should ask.

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