Fed Chief Backs Global-Wealth Sharing; Bernanke Says Policies, Technology Can Help Reduce Poverty Rate
Government policymakers should work to make sure the benefits of economic globalization are widely enjoyed to maintain political support for free trade, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said today.</br></br>Political and technological changes are likely to keep spurring global economic integration -- the growing exchange of goods, capital, workers and ideas around the world, he said in a speech here.</br></br>That trend creates the potential to elevate living standards and lower poverty, but also the likelihood of resistance by groups or nations that feel threatened by change, Bernanke told an international gathering of central bankers, analysts and academics.</br></br>"The challenge for policymakers is to ensure that the benefits of global economic integration are sufficiently widely shared," Bernanke said. "The effort is well worth making, as the potential benefits of increased global economic integration are large indeed."</br></br>He did not propose specific policies to counter efforts to restrict trade, but suggested as one general example the need to retrain people who have lost jobs because of globalization.