The forces are gathering for the first truly globalized depression. True, the Great Depression of the 1930s was not confined to the United States. But there were large chunks of the world — typically underdeveloped agricultural societies — that escaped the full brunt.
The coming crisis is not likely to spare any nation. It will be global because its very roots are in the globalization of the world economy. Here’s why and how. In a market economy — call it capitalism if you like — there must be a balance between the power to produce and the power to consume. When the balance is upset, the economy is hit by “overproduction” or “underconsumption,” two sides of the same coin.
Globalization has cut deeply into world consumption, while advances in technology continue to expand production. A quick look at automaking tells the story: An American autoworker was earning, including fringe benefits, about $50,000 a year at last count; his counterpart in China or India earns about $5,000 a year.
The optimist will urge patience. In due time, the earnings of autoworkers in developing countries will rise.
But a bit of modern history suggests that things don’t necessarily end that happily. Japan was one of the first countries to outsource production, shipping work to nearby Taiwan. Wages did begin to rise in Taipei. Japanese companies then moved production to coastal China from Taiwan. As wages rose, the work was moved to interior China. The latest news is that Japanese producers are eyeing Africa. Learned folk have been tracking this “race to the bottom” for years.
Can anything be done to head off this coming crisis? Well, yes. America, the European Union and Japan could work together to force the merger of two United Nations agencies — the World Trade Organization and the International Labor Organization. It would then be possible to establish uniform codes of wages, labor rights, child labor and slave labor. The WTO could enforce those rights through its power to impose sanctions on nations violating the code. But don’t hold your breath.
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THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT LEFT OUT OF THE ABOVE OPINION IS THE DESPERATE EMERGENCY NEED FOR WORLD POPULATION CONTROL, PARTICULARLY IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES - EXCEPT FOR CHINA WHICH IS ALREADY PRACTICING A VERY STRICT POLICY. THIS IS NOT TRUE OF THE MUSLIM COUNTRIES WHERE SEVERAL WIVES AND HOARDES OF POOR CHILDREN, ARE FLOODING THE WORLD WITH UNEMPLOYED YOUNG MEN WHO CANNOT AFFORD A HOUSE, A WIFE, OR A FAMILY. JIHADISM OR MARTYRDOM OFFERS THEM ALL THIS IN "PARADISE". AMERICA, LIKE EUROPE, IS BEING FLOODED BY HOARDES OF CHEAP EXPLOITABLE ILLEGAL ALIENS (NOT IMMIGRANTS WHO WAIT THEIR TURN IN LINE!) MANY AFRICANS AND ASIANS ARE DROWNING TRYING TO GET TO EUROPE. THEY LEAVE BEHING AN OVERPOPULATED HOMELAND IN DROUGHT AND FAMINE, AND GENOCIDE - AND MILLIONS OF SICK AND DYING INFANTS! WITHOUT BIRTH CONTROL, WE ARE FLOODING THE PLANET WITH MILLIONS OF ANGRY YOUNG MEN FULL OF HATRED FOR THE DEVELOPED WORLD, AND THE FACT THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE SUCH FULFILLMENT IN THEIR LIVES. THUS, THEY WANT REVENGE, AND WE SEE THIS WORLD-WIDE. MUSLIMS JIHADISTS ARE KILLING HINDUS IN INDIA AND BALI; BHUDISTS IN THAILAND; CHRISTIAN PHILIPINOS; CHINESE IN NORTHEAST CHINA; RUSSIANS IN THE CAUCASUS; AS WELL AS JEWS; AMERICANS; AND EUROPEANS; AND EACH OTHER SUNNIS VS. SHIITES! AMERICANS WERE TAKEN INTO GLOBALIZATION BY POLITICIANS WHO PROMISED RETRAINING AND A SAFETY NET - WHICH WE NEVER GOT; AND CORPORATIONS WHICH WERE PROMISED CHEAP LABOR AND BIG PROFITS WITH EXORBITANT SALARIES AND BONSUSES - WHICH THEY DID GET! JUDAISM TEACHES SOCIAL JUSTICE. GLOBALIZATION IS NOT SOCIAL JUSTICE, IT IS SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST! AMERICANS WILL TRY TO CHANGE THIS TREND DEMOCRACTICALLY IN THE 2008 ELECTIONS - WHICH SEEMS TO INDICATE A RETURN TO MORE ISOLATIONISM, IF NOT A FORTRESS AMERICA. EUROPE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO. INDIA IS BUILDING WALLS ON BOTH ITS PAKISTAN AND BENGLADESH BORDERS; SAUDI ARABIA IS WALLING UP ITS IRAQ BORDER; AND OF COURSE AMERICA IT GRADUALLY WALLING OFF THE MEXICAN BORDER! YES, ISRAEL IS NOT THE ONLY COUNTRY BUILDING A WALL TO KEEP OUT TERRORISTS! LAST WEEK SAUDI ARABIA ARRESTED ABOUT 200 TERRORISTS PLANNING TO DESTROY THE SAUDI OIL INDUSTRY! IRAN MAY THREATEN TO WIPE ISRAEL OFF THE MAP, BUT PAKISTAN COULD DO IT IMMEDIATELY IF MUSHARIFF WAS KILLED! BRITAIN AND THE USA CANNOT EVEN AGREE ON ALLOWING PAKISTANIS BORN IN BRITAIN TO BE EXEMPTED FROM COMING TO AMERICA WITHOUT VISAS, EVEN THOUGH BRITISH PAKISTANIS GO FOR TERRORIST TRAINING BY THE PAKISTANI SECRET POLICE IN KASHMIR. WE NEVER HEAR ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PAKISTANI MURDERER WHO SHOT UP A MEETING OF FIVE HADDASAH WOMEN IN SEATTLE, LAST SUMMER. IT IS NOT PC. BUT MUSLIMS TAXI DRIVERS IN MINNISOTA CAN REFUSE TO TAKE PASSENGERS WHO HAVE LIQUOR; A DOG; OR AN "IMPROPERLY DRESSED WOMAN" AS IT IS - THEY CLAIM - AGAINST THEIR RELIGION. AND OUR LEADERSHIP TELLS US WE SHOULD SUPPORT ILLEGALS. GLOBALIZATION HAS PRODUCED A WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN! THAT IS THE NAME OF THE SONG THE BRITISH PLAYED WHEN THEY SURRENDER AT YORKTOWN. GLOBALIZATION HAS TURNED THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN AND FOR THE WORSE! BUT, AS USUAL ARE UNELECTED JEWISH LEADERS WILL FAIL US AGAIN, UNFORTUNATELY.