NEW YORK, Feb 7: The majority of people in 22 out of 34 countries around the world believe that “economic globalisation, including trade and investment,” is growing too quickly, according to the results of a BBC/PIPA world survey released on Thursday.
In the G-7 countries — whose finance ministers are meeting this weekend — an average of 57 per cent say globalisation is growing too quickly, the survey said.
Related to this unease is an even stronger view that the benefits and burdens of “the economic developments of the last few years” have not been shared fairly. Majorities in 27 out of 34 countries hold this view — on an average 64 per cent.
The survey was conducted for the BBC World Service by an international polling firm GlobeScan together with the Programme on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland.
Only 19 per cent overall said globalisation is growing much too quickly, while 32 per cent say it is growing a bit too quickly. Steven Kull of PIPA comments, “Few want to slam the brakes on globalisation, though many want to press the brakes lightly. Also, people in some developing countries still want to accelerate globalisation and appear to believe that this will help break down some of the inequities in their country.”
On average one out of two (50%) hold this view, while 35 percent say globalisation is growing too slowly.
In contrast, in some developing countries, those who perceive such unfairness are more likely to say globalisation is proceeding too slowly. These include Turkey, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil, Kenya, Mexico and the countries of Central America, the survey said.
OTHER FINDINGS: Perceptions of domestic economic conditions vary widely. In ten countries, a majority perceives improvement (led by China 84%, Canada 72%, Australia 71%, UAE 69%, Russia 63%, and India 56%), while in twenty-one a majority perceives their country worsening (led by Italy 86%, the Philippines 76%, Indonesia 76%, USA 74%, and Portugal 72%).
The perception that the benefits and burdens of economic development have not been fairly distributed in their country is highest in South Korea (86%), Italy (84%), Portugal (84%), Japan (83%), Chile (82%), Lebanon (82%), and Turkey (82%).
In just six countries, majorities perceived their economy as fair — UAE 72, Australia 58, Canada 58, China 58, Ghana 53, and Nigeria 53 per cent.