Why Globalization Is Overrated

There is a detail that I have to mention before I go on. The interview was weak in my opinion because the interviewer stuck to the headline that we already know about. When she tries to draw a conclusion in her second question something wasn't right. She attempted to summarize what Dr. Helliwell, it was expressed in such a way that it was unclear what she was talking about.

"So for those businesspeople who are worried sick about competing on a global scale, relax." This article doesn't merit this claim. In order to justify this call to "relax," the article would have to address the volume of international vs. domestic trade within some of the hardest hit industries--for example, in the shrimping industry. Is the volume of domestic trade vastly greater than that of international trade in the hardest hit industries? Or does this call to relax exclude the hardest hit areas of commerce?

I don't know how it is in Canada but in the US practically all durable goods other than major appliances in stores are imported. Even much of the food in supermarkets is imported. A few weeks ago I failed to find garlic powder not from China. In my neighborhood (New Rochelle, NY) the majority of cars are either imported or assembled in the US from imported components. So what is all this high-volume local trade? The last leg of car's or TV set's trip from the Far East? Gardeners or roofers crossing from one municipality to the next?

Much is imported, including 50% of new cars, but the percentage for trucks is much lower. Garlic might represent the exception in the food area, because nearly 100% of wheat, corn, cereal, bread, milk, etc. are domestic (a word with much more meaning than "local"). Clothing is mostly imported, but building materials are 90%+ domestic. That represents the three main categories of expenditures for many people. And because of the significant costs of shipment within the country are domestic costs (except for imported oil), Helliwell's thesis is rather on-target. Except, from an historical perspective, 95%+ of our economic goods were domestic a century ago, and the current pattern of downward change is significantly moving us toward globalization.