While the world looks on to see how the battle with Iraq shapes up, other pressing issues have disappeared from the headlines. Does anyone still recall the heated controversy between globalists and anti-globalists just a year ago? Has the issue of poverty fallen out of fashion? Surely the question of the century was: "How can we prevent a violent class struggle between the world's poorest and richest people? Between two billion people who are trying to survive every day in a fight against hunger and disease, and a half billion others whose main concern is to second-guess the plot of their favourite soap opera. Today, the difference in income between the two groups is, on average, 30:1. The problem is that this difference is not shrinking; it is growing.
Between these two extremes, there are around three billion people who have also benefited from globalisation. In the space of a single generation, these peoples - especially in Asia - have escaped from their daily struggle to ensure a roof over their head, clothes on their back and food in their stomach.
They are evidence that globalisation, the free market and free trade are the best method - indeed, the only proven method - for driving off poverty.
They are evidence that globalisation, the free market and free trade are the best method - indeed, the only proven method - for driving off poverty.