Inequality Threatens the World Economy.

• Position: Speech by Yashwant Sinha, India's Minister of Finance - Brief Article

Protests against economic globalization are becoming increasingly prominent around the world and should be a cause of concern for people who believe in and profit from the "globalized economy," Yashwant Sinha, India's minister of finance, warned in a speech at Stanford (Calif.) University. "Global social stability is at least as important as global financial stability," he argued.

Sinha complained that developed countries are erecting barriers to open trade regimes that penalize poorer Third World nations and threaten to undermine the globalized economy. "The world trading system is more open than ever before and traditional barriers are falling, but these new nontariff barriers are coming up with an adverse impact on the poorer developing countries. [They] put our craftsmen and artisans at a disadvantage for competing in markets."

There is need for "a basic change in the mindset of decisionmakers and those who influence these decisions. Despite our global...