----- Original Message ----- From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu>
>
> It seems to me that "the multitude of particles, atoms, and
> singularities" is an apt name for the masses of consumers, more
> likely status-conscious rather than class-conscious, who experience
> hardships, can articulate particular grievances, but have yet to
> discover sources of their exploitation and oppressions, much less
> uniting in solidarity with other members of the class nationally and
> internationally.
> --
> Yoshie
======================
Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan Globalization At George Washington University, the Robert P. Maxon Lecture, Washington, D.C. December 3, 2001
Chairman Greenspan presented identical remarks at the Institute for International Economics' Inauguration of the Peter G. Peterson Building, Washington, D.C., October 24, 2001
[snip]
A more pronounced distinction separates both of these groups from a third group, which views societal organization based on the profit motive and corporate culture as fundamentally immoral.
This group questions in particular whether the distribution of wealth that results from greater economic interactions among countries is, in some sense, "fair." Here terms such as "exploitation," "subversion of democratic choice," and other value-charged notions dominate the debate. These terms too often substitute for a rigorous discussion of the difficult tradeoffs we confront in advancing the economic welfare of our nations. Such an antipathy to "corporate culture" has sent tens of thousands into the streets to protest what they see as "exploitive capitalism" in its most visible form -- the increased globalization of our economies.
Though presumably driven by a desire to foster a better global society, most protestors hold misperceptions about how markets work and how to interpret market outcomes. To be sure, those outcomes can sometimes appear perverse to the casual observer. In today's marketplace, for example, baseball players earn much more than tenured professors. But that discrepancy expresses the market fact that more people are willing to pay to see a ball game than to attend a college lecture. I may not personally hold the same relative valuation of those activities as others, but that is what free markets are about. They reflect and give weight to the values of the whole of society, not just those of any one segment.
Market doubters sometimes respond that consumers' values are manipulated by corporate advertising that induces people to purchase goods and services they do not really want. Most corporate advertising directors would wish that were true. Instead, they will argue that the evidence suggests that only the best products in the marketplace win over time. Consumers are not foolish; indeed, it would be an act of considerable hubris to argue otherwise.
What are the dissidents' solutions to the alleged failures of globalization? They are, in fact, seemingly quite diverse. Frequently, they appear to favor politically imposed systems, employing the power of the state to override the outcomes arrived at through voluntary exchange. The historical record of such approaches does not offer much encouragement. One would be hard pressed to cite examples of free and prosperous societies that shunned the marketplace.
Contrary to much current opinion, developing countries need more globalization, not less. Such a course would likely bring with it greater economic stability and political freedom. Indeed, probably the single most effective action that the industrial countries could implement to alleviate the terrible problem of poverty in many developing countries would be to open, unilaterally, markets to imports from those countries.
Setting aside the arguments of the protestors, even among those committed to market-oriented economies, important differences remain about the view of capitalism and the role of globalization. These differences are captured most clearly for me in a soliloquy attributed to a prominent European leader several years ago. He asked, "What is the market? It is the law of the jungle, the law of nature. And what is civilization? It is the struggle against nature."
[snip]
< http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2001/20011203/default .htm >