Perhaps the critics of globalisation are trying to say that the benefits of globalisation mean little to ordinary people. After all, no one has ever manned a barricade demanding that efficiency be maximised. But although the terminology may not have a human face, the reality does. Maximising efficiency means getting the most out of what you've got. It means enabling people to fulfil their potential and helping countries to make the most of their resources and conserve their environment.
Efficiency is just another word for conservation.
The evidence of people doing better for themselves is captured in economic statistics. There is overwhelming evidence that trade boosts economic growth. Just compare the protectionist nightmare of the 1930's with the long boom in America and Europe as trade barriers fell in the 1950's and 1960's. At that rate, open economies double in size every 16 years, while closed ones must wait a hundred. Or cast an eye on the countless country studies that support their results.