A Downer on Globalization

I came across the blog entry on WSJ, A Downer on Globalization, focused on the talk by Josef Ackermann Chairman and CEO of Deutsche Bank AG on "future of of Globalization" at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. recently. The summary seems to be that "We are running a risk of the disintegration" of the global economic order because "The Great Recession" is making everyone risk averse. Mr. Ackermann was quoted saying "Globalization isn’t a natural force. It is a man-made and can be destroyed by our own hands."

Atlantic Council blog summarizes "Ackermann closed by predicting that although discussions about alternatives to the Western capitalist model may intensify as a result of the present crisis, a truly new model is unlikely to emerge. He also cautioned that the EU must keep Eastern Europe, especially hard hit by the crisis, connected with Western Europe no matter what the cost. Finally, Ackermann urged for more transatlantic economic cooperation, stating that the EU and the U.S. should use strengths from each of their economic models to create new and better regulations for addressing the crisis."

Note to self: Is it because the forum was Atlantic Council that Mr. Ackermann focused his talk on EU, the U.S and Eastern Europe alone? What about rest of the world that are also reeling under the weight of slowdown? (Mr. Ackermann`s Deutsche Bank is a multinational, and claims "Unparalleled financial services worldwide 1,984 branches in total)
ping