09 February 2010
Philip Booth talks on the benefits of globalisation at St Martin-in-the-Fields
Philip Booth spoke on globalisation, development, poverty and fair trade to St. Martin-in-the-Fields recently. The talk can be downloaded above. An extract follows:
It is human nature to always want to perfect the imperfectible – and not to remain content with the state of our world. Indeed, Christians should always be mindful of the condition of other people – especially of the poor. As such, if we see suffering, we will not be content and will want to do something about it. But, tonight, I want to look on the bright side of economic life in the world. In doing so, it is also worth issuing a warning. Attempts to perfect the human condition by apparently rational economic planning and intervention very often have precisely the opposite effects of those we intend. Sometimes the best we can do is to create the economic, legal and political framework that provides the best chance of human flourishing or of promoting the common good. It is not just the road to hell that is paved with good intentions, the road to poverty is often paved with good intentions too.
My contention will be that a general environment of free trade, combined with societies living under the rule of law with benign governments, provides the best conditions for human flourishing. If we want to see further improvements in the living standards of the poor and further reductions in the number of very poor people, the best way of achieving these objectives will be to broaden further the scope of free economic activity, economic opportunity and the right to economic initiative.
The achievements of globalisation
So let us first just consider what has been achieved. For the vast majority of human history, not only did the planet support very little human life but the majority of people did not even have a subsistence income. For a few thousand years, up until 1800, it is likely that 80% of the world’s population could barely feed and clothe themselves. In today’s terms, 80% of the world’s population lived on $1.50 or less. Then, in the early nineteenth century, the first phase of globalisation began. This was limited in scope. Nevertheless, in 150 years, the proportion of people in absolute poverty was cut by about half - and this was of a much larger population. More was achieved in 150 years than in the previous several thousand years. But then we see something much more dramatic. The second phase of globalisation started, arguably, in 1980. This was more comprehensive. During just 25 years, the proportion of the world’s population living at or below subsistence incomes fell by half again to 25% - though the unreliable nature of the data may mean that this estimate is probably double the actual number of very poor: so the achievement is greater still. Other measures of standard of living show similar success stories. In terms of reducing absolute poverty, more has been achieved in the last 25 years than was achieved in the previous several centuries, if not millennia. [See Dan Griswold's book, “Mad About Trade” – published by the Cato Institute...See above for the full text of the talk.
See also Catholic Social Teaching and the Market Economy
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