Poll: Saying 'no' to globalization
A new poll finds that consumers on both sides of the Atlantic feel their lifestyles are threatened by cheap labor in China and India. Well-heeled executives should pay more taxes, too. Stephen Beard reports.
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Doug Krizner: Globalization is deeply unpopular on both sides of the pond — that's the message from an opinion poll commissioned by the Financial Times.
The poll published today also reveals most Americans and Europeans want the rich to pay more in taxes. From London, Stephen Beard reports.
Stephen Beard: The poll surveyed opinion in the U.S. and five large European countries. Hostility towards globalization is running high — around 50 percent of the Europeans and Americans polled see free trade as a threat.
Fear of globalization is even higher in the more free-market economies of the U.S. and Britain. A worrying result, says Chris Giles of the Financial Times. Most western economists believe that free trade is good for everyone — but the people seem to disagree.
Chris Giles: The public in rich countries don't see it. They don't see the cheaper goods they buy. All they see is that their pay and their jobs are under threat from poorer countries like China and India.
He says the issue will be a big theme in the next U.S. presidential election. The FT survey also indicates concern about rising inequalities — a large majority in the U.S. and Europe supports heavier taxation for highly paid company bosses.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
