The two faces of globalization

Fears about economic globalization overlook the fact that the growing inter national division of labor can be beneficial to all participants-as may be seen in the spectacular strides that have been made recently by once-impove rished developing countries. Free trade does threaten some, but the negativ e effects of international trade even on developed countries such as the Un ited States have been vastly overstated. Western workers are rich because o f their high productivity, not (primarily) because of their insulation from competition. Ignorance of these facts, however fuels support not only for specific trade barriers, but for Seattle-style activism that threatens to h arm the very people it is intended to benefit.