World Opinion Supports Globalization

[Toro]

Well, global opinion still favours globalization, or at least its instruments. You still have your work cut out for you, anti-globalizers!

The composition of the poll

The poll of 37,572 people was conducted for the BBC World Service by the international polling firm GlobeScan together with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland. The 32-nation fieldwork was coordinated by GlobeScan and completed between October 2005 and January 2006.

It excludes China and most of Saharan Africa, but includes Nigeria, Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, India, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Indonesia.

But first, the bad news. World opinion on economic prospects is mixed.

As the World Economic Forum meets in Davos this week to talk about the international economy, a new BBC World Service poll of 32 nations finds highly divergent economic perceptions in countries around the world. In 15 countries majorities or pluralities see conditions in their country getting better, while in 17 they see conditions getting worse.

Evaluating the global players

NGOs 60% mainly positive v. 12% mainly negative
UN 59% v. 16%
World Bank 55% v. 18%
News media 48% v. 24%
IMF 47% v. 21%
Global companies 41% v. 26%

Rating of Global Players

The poll also asked respondents to evaluate a number of economic global players and found surprisingly high levels of approval for the World Bank given the level of criticism it has received. On average 55 percent rated it as having a positive influence in the world, while just 18 percent rated it as having a negative influence. Among the 32 countries polled, in 30 a majority (17 countries) or a plurality (13) rated the World Bank as positive. In only one country—Argentina—did a plurality (47%) say it is having a negative influence.

World Bank

Nigeria 83% mainly positive v. 6% mainly negative
Kenya 81% v. 5%
Tanzania 79% v. 8%
Ghana 76% v. 6%
Congo 75% v. 6%
Senegal 74% v. 6%
South Africa 58% v. 5%
Zimbabwe 43% v. 19%
Indonesia 80% v. 12%
Afghanistan 79% v. 7%.
India 51% v. 9%
Iraq 44% v. 18%
Iran 42% v. 21%
USA 47% v. 28%
Canada 43% v. 28%

Global companies received the lowest positive ratings (average of 41%) compared to all other global players, and the highest negative ratings (26%). In only 6 countries did a majority rate global companies as having a positive influence, though in another 16 a plurality did. Eight countries rated them negatively—7 by pluralities and one by a majority. Two countries were divided.

The International Monetary Fund is not as well regarded as the World Bank, but still, on average a plurality of 47 percent see it as having a positive influence and just 21 percent see it has having a negative influence. In 29 countries a majority (13 countries) or a plurality (16) views it positively. The only two countries in which a majority views it negatively are Argentina (60%) and Brazil (57%), which have recently paid off their loans from the Fund so as to free themselves from its influence. A plurality of 49 percent is negative in Turkey as well.

Of all the global players examined in the poll, NGOs (“Non-governmental organizations such as environmental and social advocacy groups”) got the highest grades with an average of 60 percent rating them as having a positive influence on the world, just 12 percent negative. NGOs were rated positively across all 32 countries polled, in 25 by a majority.

The United Nations was close behind with 59 percent rating it positively—however, this is down from last year’s BBC World Service Poll in which 66 percent rated it positively. Just 16 percent rated it negatively this year. In 30 countries a majority (23 countries) or a plurality (7) sees it as having a positive influence.

http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Economy/GlobalPlayers_Jan06/BBCPreDavos_Jan06_rpt.pdf

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Glob, most support its economic element. It sounds hip and sexy. "Yeah, I'm global. We're a global company. We buy as cheap as possible." Can consumers buy what they want from anywhere in the world without duties or taxes levied on products? Of course not. Not even corporations can, but they can outsource more than consumers.

I have the 2005 edition of the Canadian Global Almanac, there is no entry or definition of global or globalization in it. Bit odd.

Are free trade and economic globalization the same thing?