And the corporate media blitz about the benefits of globalization are misleading, she claims. Corporations, for example, always tout the number of jobs they are able to provide as trade barriers fall and investment regulations ease. This liberalization has allowed them to tap into new markets from Mexico to Thailand. With Nafta, a lot of the small Mexican companies have been wiped out by large companies. Nafta is the North American Free Trade Agreement signed by Mexico, the United States and Canada.
Analysts also point to a shift in the mind-set of many developing countries.
Twenty years ago, foreign investors were often viewed with suspicion. Now, many Third World countries from China to Bolivia are competing fiercely for multilateral investment. This places more power in the board room, some fear. But Mr. Lawrence sees the shift toward competition for foreign dollars as positive. In the days of closed markets and state-owned monopolies, countries and their consumers had far fewer choices and often were the victims of their domestic companies.