Mondialisation économique et financière : de quelques poncifs, idées fausses et vérités

Globalization arouses debates and controversies. Supporters of the process stress its benefits; opponents find it harmful. In this paper, the current movement is first set into historical perspective. We then review the major sources of globalization: comparative advantage and specialization, scale and scope economies, consumers? taste for variety, the reduction in transportation and communication costs, and the deregulation and liberalization of markets. Globalization yields benefits: mutual gains from trade and exchange, gains from specialization and from the international diffusion of technical progress, thus maybe favoring catching-up. However, globalization also has costs, most notably because of the consequent economic restructuring, induced macroeconomic and financial instability, and of inequalities. We then turn to the issues of world economic governance of the world, by international institutions such as the IMF or the WTO, and by regional integration processes, in particular Europe. JEL code : F02.