For some, global capital
is little more than gambling with other people’s
treasure. For others, it remains simply a fact of life,
no more reversible than the weather and perhaps
just as capricious. Whatever one’s views, and
certainly even the most ardent
advocates of free market versions
of globalisation are today
visibly shaken, its impacts
on social life and institutions
raise questions not only of
what can be done to prevent
such catastrophes but also
what must be done. Desperately
needed are criteria that
include as overhead costs the
negative social impacts of globalisation.
A first step would
suggest programmatic criteria
based on standards of justice
in order to assess the social
costs of public risk, uncertainty,
impoverishment, the
loss of one’s patrimony, displacement and other
negative consequences.