Go, go, globalization!(Book Review)

Why Globalization Works By Martin Wolf Yale University Press, 398 pages, $30

A casual search for "globalization" on Amazon.com turns up more than 14,000 titles. Because the global economy has produced an oversupply of books about itself, anyone who wants to make a splash with an additional work has to be exceptionally insightful.

In his new book, Why Globalization Works, economist and Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf displays courage in tackling territory so often tread before. But when it comes to new insights, the reader has to hunt for them.

This is a "Globalization, go go go!" survey, a popular sub-genre in the field (with other favorite genres being the "Globalization, no no no!" book and a host of impenetrable technical tomes written by fusty academics for the benefit of other fusty academics).

Wolf's premise is simple: "The problem today is not that there is too much globalization, but that there is far too little." From there, he proceeds to tackle common criticisms of economic globalization, at times in mind-numbing detail.

And therein lies the problem. Much of the volume is a recitation of previous economic research that supports the premise that globalization leads to vastly improved quality of life for everyone everywhere. Wolf debunks the arguments that globalization increases inequality, that it destroys the environment, that it invariably leads to a regulatory "race to the bottom" between states competing for new foreign investment.

All of this is accurate and important, though it's already been said many times. Wolf's greatest virtue is his ability to transform somniferous academese into plain English, but he applies this gift unevenly. His discussion of the true lack of corporate power in a globalized economy sparkles with engaging prose.