The first major protest in Seattle, Washington
against the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its role in promoting
economic globalization came as a surprise to many, considering the
positive impacts globalization was supposed to bring. According to
Stiglitz, this was the first step in a wide-spread recognition that
globalization was all “too good to be true.” Along with globalization
comes a myriad of concerns and problems, says Stiglitz.
The first concern being that the rules governing globalization favors
developed countries, while the developing countries sink even lower.
Secondly, globalization only regards monetary value of items, rather
than other factors involved; one being the environment.
The next concern is how developing countries are
controlled by globalization and the negative effects it can have on
their democracies. Developing countries borrow a large amount of funds
from other countries and the World Bank which essentially causes them
to give up the benefits of their democracy because of the strings
attached to the loan repayment. The fourth concern regarding
globalization is the notion that it does not live up to its original
expectations. Globalization was advertised to boost countries
economically; however, it has not shown improvement in developed nor
developing countries. Last but not least, the new system of
globalization has basically forced a new economic system on developing
countries. This new economic system is seen as the “Americanization”
(Stigilitz, Page 9) of their policies as well as culture. This has
caused quite a bit of damage financially as well as resentment.
