Globalization is sometimes seen as a modern phenomenon – if fact it began when our ancestors left Africa and started spreading out over the globe.  In the past phases of global growth have often ended in geo-political crisis – think of the fall of the Roman and the British empires to see how apparent stability can end in financial and social disorder. The upswings have been driven by technological advance, the downswings by social and economic failure.   Is the latest wave of globalization, which has undoubtedly helped to reduce poverty levels across much of the world, any different?  The upswing was driven by two things (apart from greed and credulity which are common factors through the ages), the creation of increasingly complex and opaque financial instruments and the global internet which provided the capability for a worldwide market of instant and repetitive trades.

With the collapse of the global banking system and the resultant national rather than international bail-outs,  will the global financial system remain in place or will more protectionist national centered systems take its place?  What has changed in this downturn I believe is the interconnectedness of the world.  We are now, thanks to technology, all more intimately connected than we have ever been and that connectedness will be very hard to break.  Markets have opened in ways that would have been unimaginable not long ago, and information flows globally and instantaneously.  Even if financial protectionism is put in place it is hard to see how the march of globalization can now be halted.  The problems that confront the world are increasingly global, from climate change to terrorism and need a global response.  For those of us whose life has been spent building ever more connected environments that spells challenge and opportunity.

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