The world has become a human laboratory for the momentous social experiment called neoliberalism. Its proclaimed purpose is to reduce global poverty, its protocols are derived from the orthodox theory of competitive free markets and its policies are enforced by the full weight of the rich countries and global institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This book is a critical examination of this ongoing enterprise, of its history, theory, practice, and most of all, of its outcomes.

An international team of contributors has been assembled including Lance Taylor, Ha-Joon Chang and Ajit Singh.

1. Introduction

Part I: Globalization and Free Trade

2. Kicking Away the Ladder: The Real History of Free Trade

3. Globalization and the Myth of Free Trade

4. Globalization and Free Trade: Theory, History and Reality

Part II: Globalization and Economic Development

5. External Liberalization in Asia, Post-Socialist Europe and Brazil

6. Exports and Foreign Investment in Latin America: Skepticism by Way of Simulation

7. Real Exchange Rates, Labor Markets and Manufacturing Exports in a Global Perspective

Part III: Globalization, Gender and Inequality

8. The Great Equalizer?: Globalization Effects on Gender Equality in Latin America and the Caribbean

9. Poverty and Growth in Least Developed Countries: Some Measurement and Conceptual Issues

Part IV: Globalization, Capital Mobility and Competition

10. Capital Account Liberalization, Free Long-Term Capital Flows, Financial Crises and Economic Development

11. Globalization and Profitability Since 1950: A Tale of Two Phases?

Anwar Shaikh is Professor of Economics at the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science of the New School University, USA.