are the criticisms vague, vested, or valid?
Introduction Economic globalization is a surprisingly controversial process. Surprising, that is, to the many economists and policy makers that believe it is the best means of bringing prosperity to the largest number of people all around the world. Under this belief, proponents of economic globalization have had a tendency to conclude that dissent and criticism is the result of ignorance or vested interest1. They argue that anti-sweatshop campaigners do not understand that conditions in the factories owned by multi-nationals tend to be better than those in comparable domestic firms in developing countries; that environmentalists are denying the world’s poor of the right to develop freely; and unionists in developed countries are protecting their interests at the expense of the workers in poorer parts of the world. Bhagwati (2000, p.134) provides a good example of way that some proponents of globalization have reacted to critics: “No one can escape the antiglobalists today…..This mot
