Who Have Been The Principal Winners And Losers From Globalisation?

'Globalisation is an irreversible reality characterized by the growing interaction of all countries in the world, their economies and peoples' . However one economic and political discourse has emerged triumphant and therefore is an essential feature of what we understand globalization to be. This is capitalism. Globalization 'develops today under the aegis of neoliberal policies that impose unregulated markets and unbridled privatisation' . Who the winners and losers are can only be understood in the context of capitalism (an economic system whereby people are said to be motivated by individual gain and where all capital is preferably owned privately) and its' development.

The winners from global capitalism are the owners or controllers of capital (the bourgeoisie), who are normally from the developed nations, whereas the losers are the proletarian class (who do not own the means of production and become the labour force). To explain this we must first show the capitalists domination of the most influential states and international bodies. Then we must understand the trend in capitalism that sees production and capital concentrated into the hand of fewer and fewer 'winners' first domestically and then inevitably internationally. This is characterized by the development of large international capital, mainly multi-national (MNCs) and trans-national corporations (TNCs) whose influence in the economy marks the end of 'free competition' capitalism and the beginning of 'monopoly' capitalism. This defines capitalism, therefore globalization. It determines the consequences (less economic power, therefore lower living standards of the proletariat) for the less developed countries where the biggest 'losers' live.

Capitalism, or the economic policies that the capitalists prefer (neo-liberalism, privatization and deregulation) are so dominant that they become an integral feature of globalization. Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist, developed a concept of hegemony that can be used to show how capitalism is maintained as the ideology behind globalisation. He argued that 'a dominant group uses so-called 'private institutions' like the media, the education system and different cultural organisations to circulate its' ideas and values in an effort to manufacture consent' . This can be applied to international institutions where the bourgeoisie, due to their power, are able to promote their ideals and provide little alternative to their way of thinking. For example, the most dominant state in the world is the USA. They have shown great animosity to groups that don't support free market capitalism, for example Cuba, Venezuala, Nicaragua under the Sandinistas, the African National Congress (before the end of apartheid) and Chile (pre-Pinochet). They also have huge control over international institutions that also support this dominant ideology. The USA has over 17% of the vote in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a result of its' wealth, giving it a veto power over all decisions as a motion needs 85% of the vote to pass. They also have a veto in the World Trade Organisation who also promote the dominant ideology. Gramsci's ideas are somewhat mirrored in French Marxist, Louis Althusser's theory about ideology. Like Gramsci, Althusser implies that social institutions or what he called Ideological State Apparatus' (ISAs) perpetuate the continuation of their ideology. He claimed that ISAs reproduce the relations of production through ideological enforcement; he gives the church as an example. This helps them to perpetuate the capitalist mode of production . In the context of globalization, the ISAs are the international institutions that preach free markets and private ownership of wealth, mainly the World Bank, the IMF and the United Nations where the US has a veto. Economic threats also make it very difficult for nations to break away from the ISAs, for example the World Trade Organisation can apply a 1000% tariff to exporting nations that aren't members of the organization. Ideological hegemony is also mentioned by bourgeois academics. R. Keohane noted that after the Second World War there was a period of 'Assymetrical cooperation' where the USA decided what was best for the European powers and Japan (then indirectly the rest of the world) for them to develop along with and join the 'Americanocentric system' .

It is now important to highlight capitalism's development, particularly the trend that sees the concentration of capital and the rise of finance capital. As the 'economic policy of the proletariat is fundamentally opposed to that of the capitalists' , concentration of capital determines that the bourgeoisie will be the winners from globalization at the expense of the proletariat because concentration entails increased influence and power for the bourgeoisie.

The concentration of production trend began in the late 19th century domestically and it became international in the early 20th century. When economic power is held by so few groups and individuals they 'win' at the expense of those who hold no economic power. There are a number of methods that capital employs to ensure this, for example domestic and international cartels. Lenin noted in 1916 that 'cartels become one of the foundations of the whole economic life' . Cartels are formed by cooperation between large capital, they 'come to an agreement on the condition of sales, terms of payment, etc. They divide the market among themselves' . Lenin gives examples of the shift from 'free competition' capitalism to monopoly capitalism in the early 20th century. The General Electric Company in the US and the General Electric Company (AEG) in Germany were so dominant that Heinig wrote that at that time no other electric company was completely independent of them . Lenin also remarked 'In 1912, it was calculated that this company [General Electric Company] had shares in from 175 to 200 other companies, controlling them, of course' . This has not changed in the electricity industry, for example the recent energy price hike (the company that increased its' prices the least was EDF, a nationalized industry). Lenin also noted this trend towards cartelism with the International Rail Cartel where railway companies agreed not to delve into each other's markets. The foreign markets were divided to the following quotas; 66% Britain, 27% Germany, 7% Belgium, however India was solely British . Bourgeois academics also realize similar economic methods employed by developed nations that stunt developing nations' development. R. Keohane likened developed countries policy of protectionist cooperation to cooperation of oligopolistic corporations .

This trend becomes even clearer with the rise of finance capital (the merging of bank capital and industrial capital) that R. Hilferding noted. 'Finance capital signifies the unification of capital' . Banking, like other industry becomes concentrated in fewer establishments and through debt and investment industrial capital becomes controlled by the banks.

In 1912-13 in Germany 49% of all deposits were in 9 of the big Berlin banks compared to 3% in small banks that had capital of less than 1 million marks. Large banks and financial institutions, Lenin notes, absorb smaller ones that cannot compete (shown by the recent takeover of The Cooperative Bank by the hedge fund Aurelius Capital) or buy their shares, in 1910 Deutsche Bank participated in 17 banks fully and permanently, it 'comprises, directly and indirectly, partially and totally, no fewer than 87 banks' . The banks and financial institutions invest heavily in industrial capital (which includes multiple spheres of the economy), fusing the two together further concentrates capital, as Hilferding explains 'the banks have to invest an ever-increasing part of their capital in industry, and in this way they become to a greater and greater extent industrial capitalists' . An example of the merging of bank and industrial capital can be shown with reference to the MNC Credit Agricole that acquired Credit Lyonnais in 2003. In the early 20th century Credit Lyonnais organized a financial research service (Service des Etudes Financieres) that was divided into eight sections dealing with for example; industrial establishments, railway and steamship companies, this leads to 'a transformation of the banks into institutions of a truly universal character' . Credit Lyonnais' involvement in research into multiple different areas of the economy represents the trend towards monopoly in capitalism that ensures strength for the bourgeoisie. It safeguards their position as 'winners' from capitalist globalization.

Concentration of capital and production affords more political and economic power to fewer individuals. This helps distinguish the winners and losers from globalization. Without ownership of capital (the means of production) labour must sell itself or face complete poverty. However, capital has greater privileges, especially when it is increasingly concentrated. Not only does it extract surplus value from labour (in order to make a profit the capitalist cannot pay the worker the full value of his labour) but it also pressurizes governments and regulating bodies to lower wages, loosen safety regulations and allow it unrestricted access to unexploited 'new' capital. Hence as capital becomes concentrated into fewer hands the growing labour force sees their living standards drop significantly.

It is important to draw the distinction between the proletarian 'losers' from globalisation in developed and developing nations. Labour in developed nations is a 'winner' when contrasted with labour from developing nations however labour in developed nations is being disenfranchised by the lobbying and economic pressures of capital. Noam Chomsky notices the growing political power of concentrated capital in the US, 'The court has just handed much more power to the small sector of the population that dominates the economy' , in reference to the Supreme Court ruling on January 21st 2010, that the government cannot ban corporations from political spending on elections. Indeed in the 2012 election Goldmann Sachs were Mitt Romney's top contributor and Obama's were Microsoft and Google. Hence the bourgeoisie, due to their wealth from international concentration of production, disenfranchise even the developed nations' proletariat.

Although all proletarians lose from capitalist globalisation, proletarians from developing nations are clearly the biggest 'losers' from this form of capitalist globalization. Through a more connected world, due to the lower wage demands and lower general expenditure (for example health regulations) for capital in developing nations, much of production is now exported to these developing nations. This cements the developing nations' proletariat as the biggest losers from this form of globalization. Not only do they not enjoy the higher wages afforded to workers in developed nations but once they conform to the capitalist economic world order they cannot compete with the developed capital from developed nations. This means losing their own national infrastructure and local businesses, therefore their labour creates revenue for external actors which won't then be invested back into their country. This also increases their reliance on foreign capital for development (shown by the increased foreign investment therefore influence from the richest nations, for example OECD states account for 58% of all foreign investment). This is undemocratic as the large foreign capital, due to the government reliance on it, is able to unduly influence government policy maintaining the capitalist mode of production which will strive for more profit at the expense of the workers, where for many poverty is unavoidable. As Castro says; as a result of capitalism there are now '800 million hungry people. 1 billion illiterates, 4 billion poor. 100 million homeless and 11 million children under 5 years of age dying every year of malnutrition, poverty and preventable or curable diseases' .

In conclusion, globalization has been characterized by the growing strength of capital and inevitably its ideology through its hegemony promoted through ISAs. Therefore the winners are the bourgeoisie because the current system is geared towards concentration of production therefore removing the ability of the proletariat to freely compete. The bourgeoisie not only see the largest financial benefits but also see greater influence over democratic governments further increasing their financial benefits and continuation of government policies that benefit them. This retards development for the losers from globalization, the proletariat particularly in developing nations. Their national infrastructure and local business cannot compete with the developed monopolistic capital therefore their governments become reliant on foreign capital, which leads to workers' rights being eroded due to foreign capital's influence.