The global economy--myths and realities

Hirst and Thompson's Globalization in Question is the key text questioning claims of economic globalisation. This review of its revised second edition examines its main claims: that contemporary levels of international integration fall short of the Gold Standard period; genuinely global companies remain exceptional; capital mobility is not shifting economic activity to developing countries wholesale; international economic activity is primarily regional rather than global; and that international economic activity is sanctioned by nation states and remains subject to their political power. This review argues that, while their evidence provides a useful corrective to extreme globalisation views, focusing on this view understates changes in the international economy.