Going global: are poor nations getting a fair deal on free trade?

The U.S. economy stumbles, and countries around the world feel the bump. In far-off India, schools that were teaching teens how to write HTML code or program in C-sharp began folding last summer. The reason? With U.S. high-tech companies cutting back, demand for code writers tanked.

Meanwhile, rioters protesting a severe recession in Argentina forced the resignation of four presidents in two weeks at the end of 2001. The problems in Argentina, which has the world's seventh-largest economy, could drag down other South American economies. That, in turn, could slow the U.S. recovery by reducing trade.

So goes the interdependent world of globalization--the catchall phrase for the economic policies adopted by many of the world's richest nations to encourage unrestricted trade and business growth in poor countries.

Advocates of globalization say it helps U.S. consumers save money on goods that can be made more cheaply overseas--Nikes, parachute pants, Nintendo games, and even SUVs. They argue that the only way for developing nations to escape the cycle of poverty is to join the free-trade movement.

"What we've learned," says Charles Calomiris, a globalization expert at the American Enterprise Institute, "is that if you want to liberate people from poverty, you set up clear rules and let the governments get out of the way."

JUST SAY NO TO GLOBALIZATION

But opponents say globalization tilts the playing field in favor of the world's wealthiest nations, leading to harsh working conditions in many foreign countries and often trapping those nations in continuing poverty. Critics say many of Argentina's problems stem from large debts the country owes to wealthy nations; but others say the crisis has more to do with low farm prices and ill-considered government policies.

Anti-globalization protesters have targeted the World Trade Organization. The WTO comprises 144 nations that have pledged through a series of treaties to reduce regulations and tariffs, which are taxes placed on imported goods to protect local products from competition. The protesters have also taken aim at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Those organizations were created by the U.S. and its allies in 1944 to help poor countries develop.

Teens are in the forefront of anti-globalization protests. They argue that economic policy is set by wealthy nations to favor some of the world's largest businesses. Says anti-globalization activist Nathan Wyeth, 16, "It's creating a global economy that's all about enhancing corporate profits."