Global exchanges need to be fairer

Much of the world has come to a standstill as countries struggle to limit the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These are highly trying times, for sure, and our prospects have been dampened further because we don't know when the pandemic will be contained and at what cost.

It is therefore natural to see people being increasingly worried about economic globalization. Many are asking whether globalization will survive the pandemic. In fact, "de-globalization" has been trending as a theme on some social media networks for some time.

True, the development in the four decades before the pandemic struck cannot be seen as the norm in terms of global interactions, exchanges or integration. The years since the early 1980s, especially the post-Cold War period, characterized by "excessive" globalization, saw capital, especially Western countries' capital, make huge gains from globalization. But the working people in those countries, despite benefiting from lower prices of goods imported from developing countries, have seen their wages stagnate and job opportunities diminish.