The International Monetary Foundation defines globalization as "the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services, freer international capital flows, and more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology" (World Economic Outlook,
Globalization is a buzzword with many and sometimes contradictory meanings. It has economic, cultural, and technological aspects. Some see it as the panacea for
humanity's problems, solving world poverty through so-called æfree trade', and bringing the blessings of democracy and an American-style consumer society to the roughly half of the world in dire poverty. Others see it as corporate imperialism, in which the sovereignty of nations and their prime duty to look after the interests of their citizens are subverted through the influence of undemocratic quasi-governmental organizations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and treaties as NAFTA and CAFTA.
There is much truth to the ironic criticism of globalization that it seeks to privatise profit and democratize costs. Through globalizatio
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