The myth of economic globalization: notes from a European perspective

Patterns of commodity trade and foreign direct investment are not consistent with the proposition that European economies are experiencing a process of increasing ‘globalization’. Internationalization takes place as economic integration within the European Union and the European Union apparently does not become more integrated with the World’s other two trade blocs. Moreover, other than globalization theory might cause us to predict, the share in foreign direct investment taken by low-wage countries shows little growth. We try to explain such findings, using arguments about the nature of the process of technological change.