Criticisms of globalization have increased in recent years. “It has become painfully clear that the benefits of international trade are unevenly distributed anyway,” says De Jong. ‘Low-skilled people may even have lost out because they have increasingly had to compete with people from low-wage countries and their jobs have partly disappeared. They are not compensated enough for it.’
But De Jong argues that globalization brings prosperity, because it benefits the division of labour. “That is beyond doubt.”
Trade War
The fragmentation of the economy, as a counter-reaction to globalization, has been going on for some time, says De Jong. As President of the United States, Donald Trump ignited a trade war by taking protectionist measures to protect industrial jobs in America. The Democrats were strongly against it, but now that they’re in power, they’re enforcing that policy.’ The United States is currently pursuing a very active policy to promote its industry.
‘Globalization brings prosperity. Which stands like a pole above the water’
Another example of this is China’s ban on the export of modern technology and rising geopolitical tensions. “Because of the war in Ukraine, ties with countries that are not our friends are cooling off. And we would like to promote ties with friendly countries.’
obvious consequences
These effects are also evident for the Netherlands. “Every day we experience firsthand what will happen if we no longer receive Russian oil or gas. This is an example of fragmentation. And if you look a little further, you see that a company like ASML is no longer allowed to sell the most advanced machines to China under pressure from the United States. For such a company, it’s a blow, because China is their biggest market after all.’
We don’t notice it much in everyday life, says De Jong. It’s just a missed opportunity. As a country you lose prosperity because of things like this.’