Book Review: Has Globalization Gone Too Far? By Dani Rodrik. Washington, D.C

To this debate comes Dani Rodrik, an economist on the faculty of Har- vard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. In his brief and intriguing book, Has Globalization Gone Too Far?,2 he seeks to make the race-to-the- bottom story respectable for those who take economics seriously. Rather than preaching radical opposition to globalization, however, he proposes moderate and incremental resistance. He outlines policy responses to what he argues are legitimate concerns about the growth of the world economy, encouraging targeted trade barriers based on a demonstrated national con- sensus about legitimate and illegitimate means of production.

I will begin by describing Rodrik's arguments about why we should take seriously some aspects of the critique of globalization. I then will question some of his claims, more out of skepticism than opposition. Fi- nally, I will discuss the links between globalization and technological inno- vation. I will describe how the world we are making might be one that many could fear, but why Rodrik's policy prescriptions almost certainly are the wrong ones.