News Release

July 27, 2000

Spread of Global Capitalism Will Lift the World's Poor
New Cato Institute book refutes opponents of globalization

WASHINGTON—Recent books by financier George Soros, journalist William Greider and philosopher John Gray have taken aim at economic globalization, arguing that free markets are best taken in limited doses. But a new book from the Cato Institute says the critics are wrong. The book's authors explain how capitalism created a century of unprecedented prosperity and why its spread is necessary to lift millions more people out of poverty.

In Global Fortune: The Stumble and Rise of World Capitalism, authors from four continents review the record of and prospects for the world's conversion to capitalism. They examine the financial crises in Asia, Russia and Latin America and refute the view that over-reliance on markets caused the turmoil. Edited by Ian Vásquez, director of Cato's Project on Global Economic Liberty, the book shows how flawed policies-such as close ties between government and big business-caused the crises. The book argues for more market reform rather than a retreat from globalization.

Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa writes in his chapter that classical liberalism, more than any other doctrine, "symbolizes the extraordinary advances that liberty has made in the long course of human civilization" and warns proponents of liberty not to become complacent about its late-20th-century gains.

Renowned development economist Deepak Lal argues that there is no "third way" between socialism and the free market but cautions the West not to impose its values on the developing world. "If the West ties its moral crusade too closely to the emerging process of globalization, there is a danger that there will also be a backlash against the process of globalization," he writes.

Rudiger Dornbusch, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, explains that the 20th century saw a remarkable rise in living standards despite the Great Depression and two World Wars, which were tragic but temporary setbacks. During the past 30 years the improvement in human welfare has begun to spread to poor countries.

Andrei Illarionov, a key economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, reviews the failure of Russia's transition to a market economy and explains how the International Monetary Fund and other lending institutions actually helped retard the process of reform.

Global Fortune contains 14 chapters, including chapters on the future of the IMF by Onno de Beaufort Wijnholds, an executive director at the IMF, and by Cato's Ian Vásquez. Other contributors include Brink Lindsey, director of Cato's Center for Trade Policy Studies; Argentine economist Martín Krause; Korean economist Byeong-Ho Gong; and the late Julian Simon, who was a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.

"Global Fortune: The Stumble and Rise of World Capitalism"

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