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January 25, 2007
The shifting sands of economics
Telling dispatches from Davos:
America no longer owns globalization - International Herald Tribune:
This year's theme at the World Economic Forum annual meeting here — "the shifting power equation" — confirms the view of many participants that power is draining away from the United States to multiple centers as countries from Brazil to China move beyond "emerging" market status to establish themselves as major players on the world scene.
The conference theme also acknowledges the panic in traditional business circles as power shifts from the producer to the consumer thanks to the Internet and the digital distribution revolution.
Far from some kind of conspiracy of the global elite plotting the future as they whisk down the Alpine slopes, Davos is in fact a back-end barometer of their evolving worldview. It does not break new ground but consolidates opinion. It does not generate new trends but codifies them into conventional wisdom. That is its power and its importance.
Just How Good Is Globalization? - WSJ.com:
A new refrain is emerging in Davos this year: Globalization isn't working for everyone. Stagnating wages and rising job insecurity in developed countries are creating popular disenchantment with the free movement of goods, capital and people across borders. If unchecked, popular fears could turn into a political backlash that could lead to protectionism -- or at least make broad free-trade agreements harder to achieve in the future.
You might want to also check out Bruce Nussbaum's blog, which has a running commentary on Davos. This Includes a summary of the Twelve Power Shifts That Are Changing The World - based on the first day's sessions.
Posted by Ken Jarboe at January 25, 2007 12:25 PM
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