Democratizing Global Economic Governance

The need for democratic governance of the global economy is increasingly apparent to growing numbers of people around the world. This is a core goal of the diffuse popular movement that is often labelled ‘anti-globalization’and more accurately described as a movement for global justice. In the political arena, global justice requires a more equitable distribution of power; in the economic arena, it requires a more equitable distribution of wealth and income. The problem, of course, is how to get from here to there. In this comment, the author discusses three of Keith Griffin’s recommendations. The first is his insistence, in common with many economists, that trade policy instruments should ‘almost never’ be used to protect the environment. The second is his endorsement of the creation of United Nations ‘peace enforcement’ units, a step proposed by UN Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali in 1995. The third is his suggestion that the World Bank be scrapped and replaced by a tax-and-transfer scheme that would redistribute income automatically from rich countries to poor countries. The article concludes with some thoughts on what ‘democratization’ means, and why it is important. This is an electronic version of an article published in Development and Change: complete citation information for the final version of the paper, as published in the print edition of Development and Change, is available on the Blackwell Synergy online delivery service, accessible via the journal's website at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=00 12-155X&site=1 or http://www.blackwell-synergy.com