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The Revolt of the Political Man

Published on The National Interest (http://nationalinterest.org) Source URL (retrieved on Nov 9, 2011): http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/revolt-political-man-6136 The Revolt of the Political Man |More[1] | November 9, 2011 Leon Hadar [2] Nation-states would have to give up some of their sovereignty to accommodate the forces unleashed by the flow of capital, labor and information, insisted globalization cheerleader Tom Friedman during the height of the booming 1990s. If a state wanted to attract investment and create an environment conducive to economic growth, its government had to sacrifice some of its freedom to make economic policy, allowing global entities such as capital markets and multinational corporations to direct the government’s monetary and fiscal policies. As Friedman put it, governments needed to be tied in “the golden straightjacket;" otherwise, capital would flee to more capital-friendly economies. Since it was inconceivable that governments would ask the he