The Positive/Empirical Analyses of the Political Economy Unit at Waseda University invited Professor Richard Baldwin from the Graduate Institute of International Development Studies as the speaker for the Top Global University Symposium “The Great Convergence: Information Technology and the New Globalization” held on December 15,2016.
Professor Baldwin is one of the most prominent scholars in international economics, who has published a number of papers in international trade, economic growth, and economic geography. In recent years, he has garnered attention for building an analysis framework related to the development of global business networks and has served as not only an academic but a policy advisor to countries worldwide.
Based on his recent book under the same title, Professor Baldwin discussed a new kind of globalization driven by information technology encouraging technology transfer to less developed countries, which accelerates rapid industrialization and catch up with developed countries. Professor Baldwin argued that as a result of this great convergence, workers in developed countries face economic anxiety, fragility, and disenfranchisement. As a result, countries like the United States and United Kingdom have recently implemented protectionism policies. However, he claimed, such protectionism cannot stop the offshoring of knowhow but will raise costs of industrial inputs within the country. Therefore, Professor Baldwin proposed to package open-trade policies with strategies that help the economically disenfranchised to deal with problems arising from the great convergence.
Because his talk was extremely timely, the 150 participants, mostly faculty members and students of Waseda, learned a great deal from this symposium.
