-In 1997, Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohamad was outraged by the economic turmoil his country faced as a result of the global integration of markets. Small, developing countries were exploited by the large, developed countries.
-He accused the global markets, and large financiers, like George Soros of devaluing their currency, along with other currencies in East Asia. He stated, “I am saying that currency trading is unnecessary, unproductive, and immoral” (Frieden 393). He ultimately accused the rich of getting richer at the expense of the poor countries getting poorer.
-However, after harsh criticism, the entire dilemma had been forgotten within a few years and integration continued.
-Mahathir stated, “We want to …show more content…
-1950s: transistor, 1960s: microchip, and the 1970s chips could hold thousands of mini transistors. Friedman emphasizes, “Miniaturization allowed for cellular telephones, handheld computing and communications devices, and other powerful tiny machines” (395). -Technology was modernizing and creating possibilities that did not exist before.
-The finance sector was impacted the most by new inventions, which allowed international finance transactions to occur at a more rapid pace than ever seen before. Money could be transferred faster than ever and this made it difficult for governments to have a hand in the flow of money.
-If the world economy continues to grow, nations will remain committed to world markets. -Global integration of markets continued despite the economic downturn of the 1970s. Also, world trade, international finance and investment, and foreign investment by MNCs continued to grow, which led to more economic openness.
-Unlike the 1930s, the foreign lending and new investments by MNCs rose in Latin America during the economic downturn of the 1970s and 1980s. It went from half a billion to fifteen billion dollars per year. As foreign lending increased, the countries’ debt experienced the same …show more content…
and Europe with investments abroad and corporations that already relied on international integration, opposed the protectionist policies. This started a conflict between economic nationalists and economic internationalists. -For example, “International banks, oil companies, and high technology firms grouped themselves into lobbying groups like the Emergency Committee for American Trade to fight growing protectionist sentiment” (Friedman 404).
-Eventually the protectionist policies were defeated by the growing power of the globalized countries and trade, investment, and finance continued to integrate.
George Soros makes markets
-Soros knows how to use global markets to benefit his interests: he could devalue currencies, like we saw in Malaysia, and he could bribe governments with billions of dollars to influence them politically.
-Born in 1930 in Hungary. His family was Jewish and went into hiding during WWII. He later moved to London and then New York where he found a job on Wall Street in investment banking.
-1967- Soros established his first investment bank
-Two years later, he established a hedge fund, investment vehicle in the Caribbean called, Double Eagle Fund. Soros and the wealthy investors enjoyed minimal government