Barnett writes an interesting piece, however, what I think he misses is the notion that globalization doesn't equate with multinational corporate success.
Europe is stagnating and their industries are not creative or adaptive enough to compete in the new economy. There are a few exceptions, but that's the problem, only a few.
China is growing rapidly and will eventually become an economic giant due to their population size and growth rate, but it's yet to be determined whether any Chinese company can compete with an American or Japanese one on a global basis. Hiding information from the public the way China is doing in regard to the Internet will significantly hamper their progress in competing globally.
India is far from an information superpower. They are doing well, but it's far from certain whether American corporations will supercede their dominant positions in this field, or whether American corporations will maintain their lead by partnering when the opportunities make sense. Major advantage American software engineers still have is code is written in English. And cracking that barrier and competing with the Silicon Valley start-ups has yet to happen. I remember about 15 years Chirac visited Silicon Valley and vowed that France would create its own version. It never happened. Is it any wonder given the French elites aversion to English?
England is doing much better in this area. All one has to do is travel around Europe and use a few e-commerce sites which are dominated by English companies to see the trend. I expect that trend to continue for some time to come.
So the trend is toward globalize products and services. And thus far American corporations are proving more than up to the challenge. It's quite astonishing to witness first hand the success and lines around Europe at any McDonalds, Starbucks, Subway shop and a host of other easily recognizable American corporate places. It's also fascinating to see how completely Hollywood is dominating the television airwaves, movie houses and musical sounds emanating from every nook and cranny of this planet.
American cultural influence is on the march, and it will do more to ensure world peace and prosperity than a million meetings in Brussels or at the U.N.
We shouldn't pretend it's not happening, and be embarrassed about it. We should embrace it and hope other nations begin organizing corporations and institutions like the Japanese have done to compete with us and keep us on our edge to improve.
That should be our challenge to the world fearful of American globalization; you don't like it, fine, than compete. |
