Free trade, business strategy and globalisation

This paper links the economist's analysis of free trade with the business strategist's analysis of the forces behind the globalisation of competition. It is argued that, although the drive to globalisation may seem different from the seeking of superior outcomes in competitive markets, this may be only because the modem reference point for competition is inappropriate. However, reference back to classical ideas of competition shows that both the advantages of globalisation, and its disadvantages, had been anticipated by classical writers of the eighteenth century, most notably by Adam Smith.