WHAT ABOUT THE STEEL TARIFFS?:

McWorld gathers steam in East Asia (Jim Lobe, 2/26/04, Asia Times)

Despite concerns that an economic slowdown and protectionist measures would lead to globalization's end, globalization is far from dead, and in fact, according to a recent report, the world is now more integrated than it's ever been.

Not only this, but developing countries are becoming increasingly globalized. For the first time, Singapore came in second on a list of the world's most globalized nations and East Asia came in just behind Europe and North America as the world's third most integrated region, according to the fourth annual edition of Foreign Policy magazine's "Globalization Index", released here on Tuesday. [...]

As in the previous three surveys, smaller Northern and Western European states outperformed the field, accounting for 12 of the first 20 rankings.

But for the first time, North America as a region outranked Europe, as the United States moved up four spots, from 11 in last year's Index to 7; Canada moved up one, from 7 to 6; and Mexico moved up six places, from 51 to 45.

The greatest declines in the rankings included Sweden (from 3 last year to 11); Morocco (from 29 to 47); South Africa (from 38 to 49); Kenya (from 44 to 54); and Egypt (from 48 to 60). Both China and India, whose combined populations account for more than one-third of the world's total, fell four rankings over the year.

The greatest gains were made by the Philippines (from 54 to 33); Argentina (from 50 to 34); and Peru, Australia and New Zealand, all of which rose eight rankings to 52, 13 and 8, respectively.

Besides Europe and North America, the world's most integrated region was East Asia, led by Singapore and Malaysia, which were followed by Japan (29), South Korea (32), the Philippines (33), Thailand (48) and China (57). Taiwan ranked 36, but its score would have been considerably higher had the political-engagement variables not applied. Taiwan ranked 62 in membership in international organizations, United Nations peacekeeping and treaty ratifications because China, which regards the island as a renegade province, strongly opposes international recognition of Taiwan as an independent nation.

Among the Latin American countries ranked in the Index, Panama (27) took the top spot, followed by Argentina (34), Chile (37), Mexico (45), Colombia (50), Peru (52), Brazil (53) and Venezuela (58). Overall, Latin American countries performed better than in the past largely due, however, to steep currency devaluations during 2002, which in effect shrank their economies' GDP, at least in US dollar terms. Thus, as a share of economic activity, the region's trade and investment flows were magnified.

Only six African countries were rated in the survey. Led by Botswana (30), they included Uganda (38), Senegal (40), Nigeria (42), South Africa (49) and Kenya (54).

As in previous years, the least integrated regions were South Asia and the Middle East-North Africa. While Israel and Tunisia ranked 22 and 35, respectively, all other countries in the two regions, with the exception of Saudi Arabia (41), fell into the bottom 12.

Yet people cling to the myth of a protectionist George Bush as fiercely as to the myth that there are both an Eric and a Julia Roberts.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 26, 2004 8:48 AM