A New Politics Born of Globalization; Leaders Coming to a Consensus on the Need for Rules to End the Excesses of Free Trade
CORRECTIONS: The name of Jeffrey E. Garten, dean of the Yale School of Management, was misspelled in a story on globalization in the Oct. 1 Business section. (Published 10/06/2000)</br></br>It may be only a slight exaggeration to say that nobody has profited more from globalization than George Soros, who made billions speculating in financial markets around the world, in some cases bringing entire national economies to their knees.</br></br>But there he was last week, standing among top financiers from Citicorp and Deutsche Bank, in a magnificent rococo ballroom of the old Hapsburg palace here, denouncing the excesses of the new global economy.</br></br>"It is in our enlightened self-interest to make sure that the losers in this global system--and right now there are billions of them--get a chance to participate," he said between bites of a tangy chicken goulash. "Why? Because otherwise the people who are disadvantaged will use their political clout to capture the system."</br></br>Two days later, much the same warning was delivered by a young, multi-pierced anarchist as he hurled a cobblestone at the head of a Czech riot policeman guarding the entrance to the annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. On a nearby building, one of his comrades had scrawled, "Kill Capitalism Before Capitalism Kills Us."