Taking a stand Problem 1: Is economic globalization a positive trend? IMF staff and Nancy Birdsall In this issue, IMF staff and Nacy Birdsall explain and discuss the impact of globalization on the world economy. Globalization essentially means that the world interacts more. From an economic perspective, this means that global trade and international investment have grown exponentially while tariffs have fallen. Free trade is encouraged, particularly by the United States, in the hope of maximizing profits for all countries involved. The United States also helped found the International Monetary Fund. Their article, “Globalization: A Brief Overview” supports the position of economic globalization. In the research of the International Monetary Fund they find thatAccording to the author, inequality on a global scale is high and continues to grow. Birdsall admits that in some countries inequality has actually not changed and in some countries it has even decreased. His point is simply that globalization increases the likelihood of higher rates of inequality. Birdsall outlines three ways in which globalization achieves this goal. First, countries with more and better productive assets will perform better in the global economy. Productive resources include having a secure government as well as physical resources. This means that some countries will already be advantaged over others. Secondly, Birdsall believes that global markets are imperfect and lead to some failures. He writes: “The classic example of market failure is that of pollution, in which the polluter exploits the benefits of pollution without paying the full costs” (21). Third, Birdsall argues that globalization only helps make the rich richer. Birdsall concludes regarding globalization: “Although it is not the primary cause of global inequality, it tends to exacerbate inequality, all other things being equal” (24). She believes that for globalization to reach its potential as a useful rather than harmful tool, global politics needs something big