You can view this Webcast using Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, or your telephone. From the streets of Seattle to the barricades of Quebec City, the angst over globalization is rising. Up until now, this discontent has occurred against the backdrop of a generally constructive economic climate. But now, as the world teeters on the brink of a rare synchronized recession, the backlash could take a new and ominous twist.
History is replete with examples.
America s Great Inflation of the 1970s was very much a by-product of the complacency that took hold during the low inflation of the 1960s. Japan s stunning fall from grace came right after it had been anointed the world s new powerhouse in the late 1980s. The globalists tell us that there is no turning back the clock on this powerful trend. Talk is in the air about expanded trade liberalization, widely viewed as the driver of globalization. Whether it s the possibility of an expanded free-trade area in the Americas, the issue on the table in Quebec City, or the chances of a new round of global trade negotiations, the authorities seem intent on making the world a smaller place.