The Moral Case for Globalization

American economists fall into the trap of evaluating every theory solely on the basis of outcomes in the US. The greatest achievement of the past 25 years has to be the rise of the global middle class (driven by China’s economic reemergence).

Steven R. Weisman makes the case for considering the pros and cons of international trade from a global perspective rather than from a purely American perspective:

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/articles/2016-03-18/trump-cruz-sanders-and-clinton-miss-the-moral-case-for-trade

Weisman observes:

“The moral case for globalization rests on the proposition that the system has raised the living standards of billions of people, including some of the world's poorest citizens. With due respect to Thomas Piketty for highlighting the issue of inequality, the evidence suggests that on a global basis, economic inequality is declining, even as it increases within rich nations. Those in the bottom third of the world’s population except for the very poor, who earn as little as $1.25 a day, have become significantly better off, as demonstrated by Branko Milanovic, the former lead economist at the World Bank’s Development Group.”

Related:

We’re Experiencing the Greatest Reshuffling of Income Since the Industrial Revolution by Branko Milanovic

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/branko-milanovic/economic-power-west-asia_b_7849724.html

Also, see:

http://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2016/03/trade-balance-and-international.html
http://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2016/03/tackling-widespread-misconceptions.html