CHAPTER III

MARKET INTEGRATION
Introduction
 Have you heard the phrase “When the American economy sneezes, the
rest of world catches a cold”? This means that world economies have
been brought closer by globalization. But it is important to remember
that it is not just the economy United States that has a significant impact
in the global market and finance. This is for example, in the global
impact of the financial crises that struck Asia and Russia in 90’s.
However, it remains the case that the more powerful the economy, the
greater () of its crises on the rest of the world. In the same manner,
crises on weaker economies have effect on other countries.
This chapter it shows the contributions of the different financial and
economic solutions that facilitated the growth of the global economy. As
we discuss the history of creation, interaction, and characteristics, we will
able to see significance as well the controversies in which they became
involved. We will also a look at the multination corporations that are
emerging today’s world economy.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DURING AND AFTER WORLD
WAR II

 Frieden sees the development of economic globalization after WWII in

the context his prior of economic globalization, as well as its collapse as
result of WWII the depression, and WWII. All of these events had
negative effects on almost all major economies (the US economy was a
major exception, at least in terms of the effect of the two world wars) .
Of particular importance in the 1930’s was the movement of many
countries –notably fascist Italy and Germany– in the direction of autarky,
or the turn inward of a nation in order to create as much economic self-
sufficiency as possible. Such in turn inward, of course, anathema to
globalization, which requires that various entries– including nation-
states be outward looking, rather inward looking, not only in the way
they view the world but also in their actual dealings with other parts of
the worlds.
However, even in the midst of WWII, the Western world, especially the US
and Great Britain, began planning for a more open international economy. A
great fear was the recurrence of the Depression after the end of WWII,
especially because of the difficulties those societies would have in
absorbing the massive manpower created by the demobilization of the
military when the war ended There was also fear of a resurrection of
barriers to trade and the free flow of money that had become
commonplace prior to WWII. The focus of the planners was an reducing
trade barriers and on creating conditions necessary for the free flow of
money and investment.
BRETTON WOODS AND THE BRETTON WOODS
SYSTEM

A key factor in the depression was thought to be a lack of

cooperation among nation- states. That lack of cooperation was
associated with high tariffs and other import restrictions and
protectionist practices. As well as the propensity of
governments to devalue their currencies in order to gain an
edge in global trade over other countries. The latters also made
exchange rate wars among the nations involved more likely.

Those concerns were the backdrop for the creation of the

Bretton Woods system and its Five keys Elements.
1. Each participating state would establish a “Par value’ For its currency
expressed in terms of gold or (equivalently) in terms of the gold.
2. The official monetary authority in each country (Central bank or its
equivalent) would agree to exchange its own currency for those of other
countries at the established exchange rates, plus or minus a one-percent
margin. This made international trade possible at or near the exchange
rate for the currencies of the countries involved the needed for any
outside intervention.
3. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created to establish,
stabilize, and oversee exchange rates. Forty states became IMF
members in 1946 and were required to deposit some of their gold
reserves with the IMF.
4. T he Member states agreed to eliminate, at least eventually, “all
restrictions on the use of its currency for international trade’’
5. The entire system was based on the US dollar (at the end of WWII) the
US had about three-fourths of the world’s gold supply and eccounted for
over other currencies or gold at the fixed par value.
In terms of global trade, a key was the idea of the “unconditional most
favoured-nation” which “required governments to offer the same trade
concessions [reductions in trade barriers, non- discrimination against a
nation’s product]
In terms of Monetary order, it was the IMF that took center stage. The global
was to provide security, as well as flexibility, to the monetary order. What
emerged between 1958 and 1951 was a system in which the US could not
change the value of its dollar, while all other countries could, but as
infrequently as possible.
In terms of global investment, a key role was envisioned for the World Bank,
but massive US aid through the Marshall Plan and Rapid European post-war
recovery made its work in the period of much less significance than had been
anticipated. A key development in terms of investment involved MNS,
especially American-based firms in field like automobiles and computers,
constructing their own plants and/ or investing in indigenous companies in
other country.
The combinations of all these aspects and dimensions of Bretton Woods
satisfied many different and constituencies and in the process “oversaw the
most rapid rates of economic growth and most enduring economic stability in
modern history.
General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT)
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was a system for the
liberalization of trade that grew out of Bretton Woods and came into
existence in 1947 (Hudec 1975). It operated until 1995 when it was
superseded by the World Trade Organization (WTO). While Gatt focused on
trade in goods, the WTO also took on responsibility for the increasingly
important trade in services. While Gatt was simply a forum for the meeting
of representatives of countries, the WTO is an independent organization.
Gatt was deemed more acceptable than the international Trade
Organization (ITO) by the US and other countries; and in 1947, a number
of initial trade agreement have been negotiated by 23 nations. Since then,
multinational trade agreements have been negotiated under GATT’s (and
later the WTO) institutional umbrella. Over the years, a number of “rounds”
of negotiation were completed.
 While GATT has been superseded by the WTO, many of its elements were incorporated
into the WTO. Negotiations on trade have continued under the auspices of the WTO and as
of its writing the highly disputations Doha Round has just ended in failure. Over the years,
WTO negotiations have deal with such issues as reducing tariffs on the trading of goods,
dealing with non-tariffs barriers and liberalizing international trade in agriculture.
More recently, attention has shifted to such issues as “international trade in services,
trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS), and trade-related investment measures.
Trade related Aspects of intellectual Property Right (TRIPS) was negotiated through
the WTO , as a result of the 1986-1994 Uruguay Round of negotiations. This involves
intangible ideas, knowledge, and expressions that require their use to be approved by their
owner. Involves here is a wide range of intellectual property, such as movies, books, music
recordings, and computer software, which exist, or other material product, such as
pharmaceutical and advance technologies that are also viewed as having a significant
intellectual component.
Trade-Related investments Measures(TRIMS) “are a range of operating or performance
measures that host country governments impose on foreign firms to keep them from
having a distorting effect on the trade in goods and services”. There are number of
restriction and constraints on foreign firms that can be included under this heading,
including requirements for minimum amounts of local content or sourcing, how much of a
foreign producers output must be exported, and limits on the value of goods imported by a
foreign firm in relation to the amount it exports and so on.
 WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
The WTO is a multilateral organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland
with 152 member of nations as of 2008.its focus on trade places It at the heart
of economic globalization and has made it a magnet for those opposed either
to the broader process of trade liberalization and promotion or to some specific
aspect of WTO operations.
Each member state in the WTO has an equal vote. To a large extent, the WTO
is the organization of these member states and not (with some exceptions) a
supranational organization. Agenda items to be voted on generally flow from a
number or more informal groups.
These are stresses and strains between developed and developing nations in
the WTO that manifest in and between these groups, as well as in WTO as a
whole. Once bone of contention has meeting of the larger trading powers in
the so-called “Green Room” and the exclusion of smaller powers from these
meetings. Protest over such matter shave led to greater transparency in the
internal operations of the WTO. There is also no mechanism for involvement of
international nongovernmental organizations (INGO’s) in WTO’s decision-
making and this led INGO’s to stage regular protest and demonstrations
against the WTO.
 While GATT focused on Tarrif reduction, the WTO has come to focus more on
non-tarrif-related barriers to trade. One example is the differences between
nations in relation to regulations on such items as manufactured goods or
foods. A given nation can be taken to task fir such regulations if they are
deemed to be an unfair restraint on the trade in such items. However, the
WTO has been criticized for not going far enough in countering the trade
barriers by developed countries in such domains as agricultural product and
some services.
Of course, the WTO continues to be concerned with tariff barriers, as well as
restrictions on trade in service. The WTO also deals with other types of
protectionism. Overall, WTO operations are premised on the neoliberal idea
that all nations benefit from free and open trade and its dedicated to reducing
and ultimately eliminating barriers to such trade, while there are winners
under such a system there are also losers.
 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF)
The goal of IMF is macroeconomic stability for both member nations and
the global economy. More specifically, the IMF deals with exchange rates,
balances of payments, international capital flows, and the monitoring of
member states and their macroeconomic policies.
As a result of global economy, the nature and functions of the IMF have
change since its creation in 1944. in the beginning, it manage the exchange
rate system created at Bretton Woods. The IMF closely watched a nation’s
balance of payment in order to be sure it could sustain the agreed upon rate
for its currency. If there were problem in the latter, the IMF concerned itself
with two matters. The first was policy errors by a nation, which presumably
could be corrected. The second was more fundamental economic problems
(relating for example, to productivity). Above all, the IMF wanted to be sure
that a nation did not use such problems an excuse to lower its exchange
rate and therefore improve its competitive position vis-à-vis other nations.
 The IMF could also give adjustment loans to nations (initially, largely
developed countries) the fund was created on the basis of quotas for
member nations. The quota for each nations was related to the limits on its
borrowing (it become necessary,) as well as its voting power in the IMF.
When the fixed, albeit, adjustable, exchange-rate system collapsed in the
early 1970s, the first IMF’S functions change so that it was in charge of the
much more amorphous goal of seeking stable exchange rates in order to
prevent exchange rate wars among its member nations. By the end of
1970s, developed nations had fully recovered from WWII and ceased
seeking adjustment loans; such loans were now given to developing
countries with balance-of-payment problems.
As the IMF became the lender of last resort for developing countries in
the late 1970s and 1980s, underwent further change. Such countries were
unlikely to be able to achieve a balance of payments in short period of
time, Thus longer-term structural adjustment programs were required.
 The IMF adopted general models of the requirements for the operation of a
market economy and these tended to be imposed on developing economies
without regard for the differences among and between their economies. They
also become highly controversial and ultimately a target of groups opposed to
globalization. At least as it was conceived and practiced by the IMF.
Such protests were also related to the IMF governments structure, which is
dominated by the US with about 17% of the total IMF vote and veto power
over any strategic decision; developed nations control model 50% of the votes.
The Managing director of the IMF usually comes from western Europe; the
deputy managing director from the US. In order to cope criticisms of this
structure. The IMF has been moving in the direction of greater transparency in
its dealings with member nations. Dealing more with nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), and being more concerned with social issues in its
dealing with developing nations.
 In the 1990s, the IMF was actively involved in helping resolve the economic crises in Latin
America, Asia and Russia. It loaned large amounts of money, but as the countries involved
repaid their loans, income to the IMF declined and by 2007, with interest income declining, it
found itself running a deficit about 400 million a year. It cut 380 members of its staff (it
employed about 4,000 people in 2007) and saved a considerable amount of money as a result
(Economist 2008: February 7).
The IMF increasingly seemed marginal or irrelevant. It had about $300 billion in reserves and
credit lines, but it confronted a global economy where trillions of dollars flowed throughout the
world every day. In lights of its increasingly marginal economic position, the IMF began to focus
on other issues such as working to “prevent crises, monitoring the global economy and
providing technical assistance”. Other thought it should focus on date gathering and the
dissemination of financial information in order to forestall economic surprises. The IMF faced
other problems such as protests from the rest of the world over the continuing dominance of
the IMF by the western powers. Further, the countries bailed out in the 1990s had become
powerful economically and increasingly resented being dictated to by the Fund.

The IMF face other problems such as protest from the rest of the world over the continuing
dominance of the IMF by the Western Bank powers. Further, the countries bailed out in the
1990s had become powerful economically and increasingly resented being dictated to by the
Fund. As the Russian IMF representative described it, the resentment was over the traditional
approach of the IMF –”you need our money, we tell you what to do”.
 WORLD BANK (WB)
The World Bank, officially the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (IBRD) is most important element of the World Bank Group
(WBG). The IBRB or the Bank was established in 1944 at Bretton Woods and
began operations n 1946.
Membership is open to all members states of the IMF. And as of this writing,
it includes 184 nations. It provides fund to government (Sponsored of
guaranteed programs in so-called Part II counties (Member states that are
middle-income of creditworthy poorer nation). It also provides advise and
analytical services to such states. Among the missions of the Bank are;
● Encouraging development of productive facilities and resources in less
developed countries;
● Funding for productive purposes in private capital cannot be obtained on
reasonable terms;
● Encouraging international investment in order to promote international
trade and development and equilibrium in balance of payments;
 ● Helping member countries improve their productivity, standard of living and
Labor conditions;
Over the years, the Bank has expanded far beyond its original focus on
projects involving physical infrastructure (e.g., transportation ,
telecommunication, and water project, among others) capable of generating
income. It now deals with a broad range of issues related to economic
development including “population, education, health, social security,
environment, culture… aspects of macroeconomic policy and structural reform
and poverty alleviation ’’ in addition, it now makes loans to deal with a variety
of governance matters such us “public sector management, corruption, legal
and judicial reform, and some aspects of human rights and broader policy
reforms’’. Support is also given to help woman deal with gender inequality and
discrimination.
Decisions are supposed to be made on purely economic, not political grounds
and the bank is not supposed to interview in the political affairs of the member
states. However, exactly what is deemed political is not defined and it is often
difficult to ascertain whether, and to what degree, political considerations have
been involved in bank decision.
 The resources of the Bank include both a relatively small sum paid in by
member countries and, if necessary, a much larger amount that can be called in
by the Bank from the members. the Bank uses its potential access to the latter
to issue highly related bonds and in this way, raises about 25 Billion per year. It
is this money that provides the bulk of the funds that uses to finance loans of
various sorts. Since its money to pay back those loans. Its lending decision are
based on a given country’s ability to repay loans.
Over the years, especially since the 1980’s the operational of the bank have
become increasingly controversial.
1. The Bank is seen as dominated by rich developed nations, and less
developed countries and non-states have little say in it.
2. There are concerns that the bank serves certain interests the nation-state,
international capital, and wealthy nations.
3. As a result of its expanded mandate described above, the Bank is seen as
having lost focus and encroaching on the activities of other agencies.
In spite of a wide range of difficulties, the Bank is an important force
globally.
1. It is a forum for a vast number of nations to discuss development and
development financing.
2. It remains a significant source of funds for developing countries.
3. It is an important source of information on development and provides
valuable advice and support to the nations that are its members.
CHANGE IN BRETTON WOODS ERA
ORGANIZATION
In the twenty-first century, the organization that were spawned by Bretton
Woods– the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World
Trade Organization– are undergoing dramatic changes. A former US
secretary of Treasury commented; “The Bretton Woods System has been
outmoded… it has served us very well for a long time, but these institutions
haven’t change with the times. They need to be rethought and restricted”.
Recent changes in the organization are traceable to several major forces
including globalization, major trade disputes, and the increasingly power
and ambition of growing economic powers, especially in Asia. In terms of
the latter, the World Bank has been loaning large sums of money to
countries whose the economies did not need such loans (e.g., China,
including $710 million in early 2009 to help rebuild areas hit by a 2008
earthquake).
 Even in terms of the funds that do not go to poor countries, the World Bank is
an increasingly small player in comparison to various international and private
aid organizations. The bank argues it is helping large numbers of the poverty-
stricken in less development countries, while its critics sat it is opening of
markets there, and not bank loans, that has helped in poverty reduction.
Then there is the issue of the leadership of these organizations, especially the
preeminent position occupied by the US. This has become increasingly
controversial for various reasons including the fact that the US is not contributing
as much money as it used to, at least in comparison to other nations.
The IMF is saddled with such problems are relentless criticism of past austerity
programs imposed on poor countries in exchange for bailouts, and the bailouts
themselves for legitimating and supporting bad policies by countries receiving
them; on the other hand, there are those who argue that although things are
relatively calm for the moment, the IMF will be needed during the next global
financial crises.
The biggest problem facing the WTO is the possibility that the failure of the
Doha Round could lead to reversal of the long trend toward more open trading
systems.
Other Important Economic
organization
The European Union (EU) is a product of the WWII era, well as the Bretton
Woods era, and now encompasses 27 member states. It is largest domestic
market in the developed world. The Euro Zone encompasses those nations in
Europe that have adopted the euro as their basic currency. Most, but not all
nations using the euro are member of the EU. Some Western European nations
(e,g., Great Britain, Sweden, and Denmark) have never accepted the euro, and
retain their traditional currencies. There is also growing opposition to the euro in
some of the nations that have accepted it.
The criticisms of the euro are mounting and as I write, it is being threatened by
economic problems in Greece and looming difficulties in Portugal and Spain.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect on January
1, 1994. it was based on the idea that the US, Canada, and Mexico were to
eliminate most barriers to trade and investment over the ensuing 15 years.
 The US, especially under former President George W. Bush, sought to
expand the idea to include all 34 countries in the Western hemisphere except
Cuba in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). This idea has not only
caught on, but also encountered increasing opposition from Latin American
Leaders such as Hugo Chavez of Valenzuela.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was formed in
1960 and include the major oil exporters of the day– Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi,
Arabia, and Venezuela (there are now 11 members: Indonesia, Algeria, Libya,
Nigeria, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates have been added). It was
motivated by the comparatively low price being paid for oil at the time and
the fact that oil prices had long failed to keep up with inflation. OPEC has
succeeded in greatly increasing the price of oil and its member nations have
growth rich, (e.g., Saudi Arabia) incredibly rich.
The Multinational Corporation (MNC)

By the most accounts, the other major player in economic globalization

(beyond the nation-state and the organizations discussed above) is the
multinational corporation (MNC). Also of important are transnational
corporations (TNC’s). While TNC involve operations in more than one
country, MNCs operate in more than two countries, we will generally use
the term MNC in this book to encompass both MNCs and TNCs. There are
many who believe that the MNC has grown more powerful, perhaps much
more powerful, than the nation-state and any of the organizations
described above that are based on nation-states. For example, dela Dehesa
(2006:85) argues “We have to get used to the fact that, thanks to the
globalization process, companies rather than states will be the leading
actors in the world economy”.
 There is no question the MNCs are increasingly important on the global scene.
Adapting Dicken’s definition of a TNC, an MNC is “a firm that has the power to
coordinate and control operations” in more than two countries, “even if it does
not own them”. This means that they operate in an array of economic,
political, social, and cultural environments.. While MNCs have proliferated and
grown in recent years, companies that operate, have interest, and have
activities outside a home country’s are not new, and this was exemplified by,
among others, the East India Trading Company and the Hudson’s Bay
Company.
Defined in this way, MNCs are hard to quantify, but if we rely on ownership
data– a more restrictive criteria than those posed in the definition above– there
are about 61000 MNCs in the world today carrying out production through over
900,000 affiliates. They account for about a tenth of the world’s Gross National
Product (GNP) and about a third total world exports. While there are many
MNC’s, the fact is that relatively small number of “globalization corporations”
(e.g., Toyota and IBM) predominate. And the vast majority, 96 of the top 100, is
in the developed world. However, as we will see, MNCs from developing
countries are increasing in number and importance.
 MNC activity is usually measured by foreign direct investment (FDI). This
involves investments by one firm that exist abroad in a different nation-state,
with the intention of gaining control over the latter’s operations. It can also
involve setting up a branch (subsidiary) operation in another country.
Another form of MNC activity is Portfolio Investment. This involve the
purchase of equity in companies in other countries, but the motivation is
financial gain and not to obtain control over those companies.
Why do companies become multinational or transnational? One set of reasons
relates to market- oriented investment made necessary by the geographic
unevenness of markets. A company may reach a saturation point in its
domestic market; identify new markets that require its direct presence; find
that unless it becomes transnational or multinational it will have its markets
restricted because of political regulations; find that the foreign market is so
idiosyncratic that it can deal with it only by being physically present in it; or
discover that there are strong cultural and political reasons for it to be present
in other countries.
 However they are created, MNC lead to the development of far more complex
networks. For a start, the film’s internal network now needs to be tied into
networks in other countries. These larger, more complex networks now needs to
be inherently more difficult to control. There are difficulties involves in finding a
balance between centralized control and local sensitivity; economies of scale in
production and responsiveness to local market conditions; core and peripheral
knowledge; and global integration and local responsiveness. Then are more
specific issues such as the location of corporate headquarters (usually the home
country); core research and development centers (also usually the home
country); sales and marketing (usually dispersed globally); and production
activities (also usually dispersed).
In terms of production activities, there are various possibilities:
● Globally concentrated production in a single location produces economies of
scale, but it maximizes transportation cost and doesn’t make use local expertise.
● Production of specifically for a local or national market limits economies of
scale.
● Production of a specialized product for a regional market (e.g., the EU)
● Segmenting production and locating different parts in different geographic
locations, producing a form of transnational vertical integration.
 TRANSNATIONAL CAPITALISM
Leslie Sklair (2002) made distinction between two systems of globalization
capitalism system of globalization in now the predominant one. The other one is the
socialist system. It is not yet in existence but is indicate by current anti-globalization
movements, especially those oriented toward greater human rights throughout the
world.
These anti-globalization movements came of frustration to the dominant system.
The capitalist system, as being argued, cause further inequality in the world and
heightens environment degradation.
Economic transnational practices are able to transcend geographical boundaries.
This eventually undermined the status of nation-states as key players in a globalized
system. Although the nation-states remains important, Sklair focuses on
transnational practices that are able to cut across boundaries--- including those
created by states—with the implication that territorial boundaries are of declining
importance in capitalist globalization. One of the central aspects of his analysis
predominate . Underlying this emphasis on transnational system(because the nation
state is of declining significance) and toward becoming a globalizing system that is
decoupled from any specific geographic territory or state.
 The second transnational practice of great importance is political, and here,
the transnational capitalist class predominates. However, it is not made up of
capitalists in the traditional Marxian sense of the term--- the transnational
capitalist class does not necessarily own the means of production. Sklair
differentiates among four “fractions” of the transnational capitalist class
1. The corporate fraction made up of executives of transnational corporations
and their local affiliates ;
2. A state fraction composed of globalizing state and interstate bureaucrats
and politicians;
3. A technical fraction made up of globalizing professionals;
4. The consumerist fraction encompassing merchants and media executives.
 The third transnational practice is culture-ideology. Here, Sklair accords great
importance to the culture-ideology of consumerism in capitalist globalization.
Although the focus is on culture and ideology, the emphasis on consumerism
ultimately involves the economy by adding an interest in consumption to the
traditional concern with production and transnational corporations in economic
approaches in general and in Marxian theories in particular.
PROVERBS 3-5

“TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR

HEART AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN
UNDERSTANDING”

Thank you for listening 

STIGLITZ OFFERS A LONG LIST OF MORE SPECIFIC IMF errors
and blunders;
1. The privatizations of state- run system (e.g., steel mills) was often done too quickly and
the new privatized business were often ineffective, in part because they weren’t ready
to operate on their own. As a result, consumers suffered, as did workers as privatization
brought with it job loss. Privatization often also went hand –in-hand with corruption.
2. The push to liberalize financial and capital markets, and to reduce barriers to trade,
often hurts small emerging countries (e.g., through higher unemployment) and
contributed to the financial cries of the 1990s.Furthermore, resentment was generated
in those the pressure to liberalize them came restrictions on finance, capital and trade.
3. The emphasis in foreign investment often adversely affected indigenous business in
less developed countries.
4. The IMF failed in the sequencing and pacing of the changes: “forcing
liberalization before safety nets were put in place, before there was
adequate regulatory framework, before the countries could withstand
and adverse consequence of the sudden changes in market sentiment
that are part and parcel modern capitalism; forcing policies that led to
job destruction before the essentials of job creation were in place;
forcing privatization before there were adequate competition and
regulatory framework”( Stiglitz 2002;73)
5. The IMF failed to deal with a variety of issue such as job creation, land
reform, improved education and health services, and helping worker’s
adversely affected by its policies.
Other Important Economic
Organizations

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) 8 is

a abroad group of, at the moment, 30 developed nations. The OECD is “ the
most encompassing ‘club’ of the world’s rich countries” ( Ougaard
2007:914-17). While the OECD ha little formal power, it is highly influential.
The European union (EU) is the product of post WWII era, as well as the
Bretton woods era, and now encompasses 27 members states. It is the
largest domestic market in the developed world (soon to be surpassed by
China), with over 500 million citizens. The Euro Zone encompasses those
nation in Europe that have adopted the euro as they basic currency.