The World in 2030

The World in 2030 31
between the haves and have-nots. Transnational corporations,
with the help of the G7 nations, are lobbying
to change government regulations and statutes
that, they argue, restrict freedom of trade. Anti-globalists
are taking to the street in greater numbers to
protest what they contend is the systematic gutting
of environmental and labour standards designed to
protect the Earth’s ecological and human communities
from corporate rapacity. 57
Globalisation is also seen as an excuse for multinational
corporations to use dirt-cheap labour in the developing world
to sell ever cheaper products (yet still profitable products) to
greedy consumers in rich western societies.
But on the other hand, offshoring, outsourcing, free
capital flows and free international trade (which is a less
provocative way of describing the process) have the potential,
if pursued fairly and in a sustainable manner, to both reduce
poverty in the poorest nations and to bring benefits to
consumers in the rich world.
The World Bank claims 58 that globalisation could spur
faster growth in average incomes in the next twenty-five
years than occurred during the period 1980-2005, with
developing countries playing a central role. However,
the Bank warns, unless managed carefully, it could be
accompanied by growing income inequality and potentially
severe environmental pressures.
Driven by globalisation from 1974 onwards, exports have
doubled, as a proportion of world economic output, to over