"This is a basic requirement the meaning of globalization is that we should admit that the economy of each country is dependent on the economy of all the others"
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Globalization is not a slogan but a discipline: accepting that prosperity and risk now move through the same networks. Richard Grasso, who led the New York Stock Exchange during the 1990s surge of cross-border listings and capital flows, voiced a lesson learned on trading floors as much as in cabinet rooms. When finance, supply chains, and data connect economies, no country can pretend to stand alone. A drought in Brazil shifts coffee prices in European supermarkets. A rate hike in the United States tightens credit in Nairobi. A factory shutdown in Taiwan ripples through carmakers in Detroit and Stuttgart.
The word requirement matters. It demands a mental shift for policymakers, executives, and voters. Domestic choices send shocks abroad, and foreign shocks boomerang back. Cooperation is not charity but self-interest: shared standards for banks, transparent data, and crisis backstops reduce the cost of inevitable turbulence. Episodes like the Asian financial crisis, the 1998 hedge fund collapse, the 2008 meltdown, and the pandemic all showed how quickly contagion travels and how coordination, however imperfect, limits damage.
Interdependence brings gains too. Open markets spread technology, expand consumer choice, and lift productivity. But the connections are uneven. Some nodes wield outsized influence through reserve currencies, critical technologies, shipping lanes, or rare earths. That asymmetry grants leverage and imposes obligations, complicating debates on sanctions, trade policy, and security.
Admitting dependence does not mean surrendering sovereignty. It reframes it. Smart sovereignty balances openness with resilience: diversified suppliers, robust safety nets, financial buffers, and clear rules for crisis response. For businesses, it means managing geopolitical risk and building redundancies rather than chasing the last cent of efficiency. For citizens, it means resisting the temptation to blame outsiders for structural shifts and instead demanding institutions that make interdependence safer and fairer.
The basic requirement is honesty about the world as it is. From that starting point, better strategies become possible.
The word requirement matters. It demands a mental shift for policymakers, executives, and voters. Domestic choices send shocks abroad, and foreign shocks boomerang back. Cooperation is not charity but self-interest: shared standards for banks, transparent data, and crisis backstops reduce the cost of inevitable turbulence. Episodes like the Asian financial crisis, the 1998 hedge fund collapse, the 2008 meltdown, and the pandemic all showed how quickly contagion travels and how coordination, however imperfect, limits damage.
Interdependence brings gains too. Open markets spread technology, expand consumer choice, and lift productivity. But the connections are uneven. Some nodes wield outsized influence through reserve currencies, critical technologies, shipping lanes, or rare earths. That asymmetry grants leverage and imposes obligations, complicating debates on sanctions, trade policy, and security.
Admitting dependence does not mean surrendering sovereignty. It reframes it. Smart sovereignty balances openness with resilience: diversified suppliers, robust safety nets, financial buffers, and clear rules for crisis response. For businesses, it means managing geopolitical risk and building redundancies rather than chasing the last cent of efficiency. For citizens, it means resisting the temptation to blame outsiders for structural shifts and instead demanding institutions that make interdependence safer and fairer.
The basic requirement is honesty about the world as it is. From that starting point, better strategies become possible.
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| Topic | Money |
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