Current Event Focus 1
For my current event focus I decided to examine the article named: Free Trade and Globalization by Anup Shah because it talks in great detail about how the world is becoming more globalized, there is no doubt about that. While that sounds promising, this article describes how the current form of globalization, neoliberalism, free trade and open markets are coming under much criticism (Shah, 2011). The interests of powerful nations and corporations are shaping the terms of world trade. In democratic countries, they are shaping and affecting the ability of elected leaders to make decisions in the interests of their people (Shah, 2011). In addition the author describes that elsewhere they are promoting narrow political discourse and even supporting dictatorships and the “stability” that it brings for their interests. This is to the detriment of most people in the world, while increasingly fewer people in proportion are prospering (Shah, 2011).
In consequence, the author makes the reader aware of how the western mainstream media, hardly provides much debate, gladly allowing this economic liberalism (a largely, but not only, politically conservative stance) to be confused with the term political liberalism (to do with progressive and liberal social political issues) (Shah, 2011). Margaret Thatcher's slogan of “there is no alternative” rings sharply. Finally, I loved this article because it left me with a great question in mind; perhaps there is no alternative for such prosperity for a few, but what about a more equitable and sustainable development for all? (Shah, 2011)
Furthermore, I was very surprised with the way the author described how after following a period of economic boom, a financial bubble—global in scope—has now burst (Shah, 2011). The extent of this problem has been so severe that some of the world’s largest financial institutions have collapsed. Others have been bought out by their competition at low prices and in other cases, the governments of the wealthiest nations in the world have resorted to extensive bail-out and rescue packages for the remaining large banks and financial institutions (Shah, 2011).
Finally, Shah finishes his article by saying how some of the bail-outs have also led to charges of hypocrisy due to the apparent socializing of the costs while privatizing the profits. Furthermore, the institutions being rescued are typically the ones got the world into this trouble in the first place (Shah, 2011). For smaller businesses and poorer people, such options for bail out and rescue are rarely available when they find themselves in crisis (Shah, 2011). There is the argument that when the larger banks show signs of crisis, it is not just the wealthy that will suffer, but potentially everyone because of the ripple effect that problems at the top could have throughout the entire economy. Fig. 1 illustrates the authors concerns about the crisis:

References
Shah, Anup (2011). “Free Trade and Globalization.” Global Issues.. Web. 24 Sep. 2012. <http://www.globalissues.org/issue/38/free-trade-and-globalization>.