And the Asian economic crisis of the past few years has exacerbated the marginalization of the poorest countries. Within nations, the income gap has been growing as well. Income inequalities have also grown dramatically in China, Indonesia, Thailand, other East and South-East Asian countries, and in the industrialized countries, especially Sweden, Britain, and the United States. The assets of the world's three richest people, notes the Human Development Report, are more than the combined GNP of all least developed countries on the planet. One major source for the growing inequality and the global suffering is the spread of markets.
Markets also undermine the environment.
Despite widespread public support for environmental action, the driving forces of globalization still put profit before environmental protection, preservation and sustainability. The World Trade Organization, the international body responsible for aligning environmental and trade policy, has instead acted to protect the trading system from government policies designed to protect the environment. But it should not be thought that the rich countries and the multinational corporations are consistent defenders of markets. They favor markets except when it advances their interests to favor state action on their behalf. And so a major aspect of the current globalization is extending the reach of patents to enhance corporate profits.