Say yes to globalization!

• Author: Davidson, Larry

Economic integration across borders offers more promise than pain.

It happened in Sydney, Australia. Protesters rallied and used another very public stage to cry out against globalization. Globalization brings great benefits despite its real and imagined side effects.

Until this summer, who had ever heard of Jose Bove or Millau, France? Apparently the farmer and nine other Frenchmen decided to trash a McDonalds restaurant in Millau--to the tune of about $100,000 in damage. Supporters of Mr. Bove were quoted as saying, "We're making it the trial of globalization...we say no to the World Trade Organization. No to globalization."

Coming on the heels of protests in the United States of the WTO, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Millau and Seattle became rallying cries for many people around the world who fear the big G--Globalization.

Globalization itself is really nothing ominous or mysterious; it simply means integration. The United States has been undergoing integration since the country's birth. Today, our 50 states are much more integrated than the loose federation that hooked their wagons together more than 200 years ago.

We have benefited greatly from this integration. We have a transportation system that lets us zip from the Washington Monument to the Seattle Space Needle in a few hours. Workers can move from Atlanta to Fort Wayne, buy a house, find a new school and integrate into society with few impediments. As a result, U.S. citizens have seen their quality of life improve; we have more goods, more conveniences and more freedoms than ever.

These benefits weren't free. Adjustments within America impacted many people at many times. The whole textile industry deserted the northeast U.S. for better digs in the South. Industrial migration continues in the U.S. as companies evaluate the best locations for competitive advantage. Many automobile companies, once largely agglomerated around Detroit, are now locating in places like Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama.

I remember taking family driving vacations as a kid. We...